The 20 HARDEST PS3 Games

The 20 Hardest PS3 Games

Welcome to MojoPlays and the PS3 might be almost 20 years old but we’re still thinking about the ass whooping these games handed us back in the day.

“Vanquish” (2010)

Vanquish might be one of the greatest action games ever created but you need to get past a pretty steep learning curve to fully enjoy it. The game has a ludicrous amount of mechanics and combat options available for the player and early in the heat of battle, it’s pretty easy to get overwhelmed and enemies will not take it easy on you just because it’s your first time playing. Between the constant gunfire, explosions and unending waves of enemies, your health will hit the critical line almost as soon as you step foot into the combat arena. Difficulty settings can help ease this frustration, but until the combat clicks with you, you’re going to be fighting an uphill battle every time you pull the trigger.

“Catherine” (2011)

On the surface, the most difficult part of Catherine is deciding which Catherine will be your Catherine. Unlike more traditional dating or life sims, Catherine forces the player to confront their decisions head on in nightmare puzzle scenarios. Between juggling the multiple Catherines as well as other social situations, players are dropped onto massive puzzle walls in which they must plan their path up the wall of shifting blocks all while the many layers collapse beneath them. This alone can already lead to many players scratching their heads with the increasing difficulty and stress of each puzzle. However, it’s when the game wants you to not only find a way up but do so while being pursued by monsters born of Vincent’s subconsciousness. And you thought just navigating everyday life was a struggle.

“Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance” (2013)

Mostly leaving the series’ trademark stealth tropes behind, Revengeance is by far one of the most high octane and unrelenting action games of the last decade. With numerous enemy types, all with their own unique attack patterns and mechanics, even playing on normal difficulty will challenge even the most seasoned hack and slash fanatic. Bosses offer their own set of difficulties as well with many even leading to as many broken controls as a typical Dark Souls playthrough. However, all of this is only exacerbated if players are unable to get a handle on the game’s all important parry mechanic. In some cases, many enemies and bosses simply cannot even be beaten without nailing this too crucial to overlook system. And even if you think you’ve mastered it, all it takes is one slip up to send you back to the beginning of an intense boss encounter.

“Terraria” (2011)

While at first glance Terraria might appear as a 2D Minecraft-clone, it’s more hardcore than Minecraft’s hardcore mode. Terraria’s procedurally generated world offers its own challenges with each dive into the depths throwing new enemies and obstacles at the player. The drive to find and collect better items and gear constantly drives players to dig deeper but the randomized enemy encounters which are affected by time of day, depth and sometimes just good old rotten luck means that players will be fighting for every scrap they find. Even as players can recruit NPCs into the dungeons to offer much needed aid, these NPCs are often just as particular about where they’re forced to set up shop or home base and could even end up hindering the player’s progress more than helping. Basically, everything in Terraria is actively fighting against the player, but that only seems to drive players to dig even deeper.

“XCOM: Enemy Unknown” (2012)

For anyone familiar with the tactical strategy series XCOM, you already know what we’re talking about. However, for those unaware, the first entry in the relaunched series Enemy Unknown is HARD. The game allows you to completely customize your squad as they are sent out on missions to combat the many invading alien species and despite your best laid plans, there’s a very good chance not everyone is coming home thanks to the game’s permadeath system. While the game’s combat scenarios are the main focus, players will also need to research their enemy to develop better weapons and gear, as well as maintain their base operations and depending on how well and how quickly they respond to threats will affect how much money they receive for resources or risk losing the support of the world’s nations and losing the game through democracy. Rough stuff.

“Spelunky” (2010)

We can’t talk about Terraria without talking about another of the OGs of mining roguelikes and Spelunky is arguably even more difficult than its contemporaries. Spelunky makes great use of its procedurally generated levels and punishes players for getting careless with its devastating permadeath system. Much like the best roguelikes, you don’t win, you just do a little better each time, but Spelunky seems to revel in its difficulty, sending players back to the beginning with nothing but the basics to start all over again. The game refuses to hold players’ hands resulting in a steep learning curve which can immediately put off only the most die-hard roguelike enthusiasts, and the game’s unrelenting waves of enemies can oftentimes force even the most dedicated to need a break. You’re going to die, and die a lot, but you’re going to have a hell of a good time doing it!

“Resistance 3” (2011)

Insomniac’s Resistance series might not have been the “Halo-killer” Sony was hoping for, but over the course of 3 games, it managed to tell an incredibly engaging story of a world-wide alien invasion. While the first two games put players in the mutated boots of Nathan Hale, Resistance 3 set players out to travel across America as one of the last members of Hale’s squad, Joseph Capelli, who also happens to be a normal human. Which means, without the regenerative health fans of the series had become familiar with. This wasn’t the only significant change either. While the game’s arsenal made up for Joseph’s lack of superhuman abilities, the Chimera were arguably their most dangerous and downright terrifying in the series’ final entry. With overwhelming odds stacked against the player and Joseph one health pack away from death, Resistance 3 significantly upped not only the stakes but also the challenge.

“Warhawk” (2007)

Large scale combat games are nothing new, but Warhawk encouraged players to become a jack of all trades, master of none with numerous gameplay mechanics players were expected to learn to fully enjoy the scale of Warhawk’s battles. Everything from boots on the ground, to vehicular and tank combat, as well as taking to the skies were all available for players to engage in so they could rise through the ranks to unlock better equipment and customization options. The massive scale of the battles themselves often led to a lot of frustration as battles could often become so chaotic, it was impossible to tell where you were being shot from at any given time, leading to a lot of unfair deaths and restarts. The forced use of the Sixaxis motion controls also actively work against the player at all times, making certain flying controls almost impossible in the heat of battle.

“Trash Panic” (2009)

Tetris is one of the most cloned puzzle games of all time, but Trash Panic manages to put an interesting spin on the genre. Instead of slotting a specific set of blocks into place, Trash Panic instead wants players to design their own blocks using a myriad of gadgets to smash, break and bend their many pieces of rubbish into usable shapes to solve the escalating rows of refuse. This unique approach encourages experimentation and allows players to solve the puzzles their own way, but the further into the game you progress and with the ever-increasing scale of the puzzles themselves, the more increasingly difficult the puzzles become, leading to some truly head scratching moments that could have you throwing the game in the real bin for pickup.

“Drakenguard 3” (2013)

Before they created the incredibly successful Nier Automata, the same team was testing players’ patience and goodwill with their Drakenguard series, and arguably their third entry is by far their most demanding. Featuring the traditional hack-and-slash combat fans of the genre are familiar with, the game demands near perfection in every combat encounter, despite the game’s incredibly clunky implementation. Boss fights offer another substantial hurdle as the game’s combat system is especially unforgiving during these encounters and even one slip-up can result in a game over screen. Drakenguard 3 is also ridiculously grindy, requiring players to replay the same maps multiple times and with frequent drops in the frame rate, the game’s demanding combat becomes even more tedious and infuriating. Sadly, unlike their future success with Nier Automata, despite an intriguing story if you stick it out, there’s very little rewarding or worth the effort with this one.

“God of War III” (2010)

Kratos’ final confrontation with the gods of the Greek Pantheon was never going to be a cake walk. As the God of War challenges and faces down each of the remaining Gods, the stakes and difficulty continue to escalate. Even with Kratos’ god-like powers and abilities, the sheer numbers of powerful basic enemies the game throws at him can make it extremely difficult to maintain the upper hand. Numerous mini bosses will become regular enemies later on, and the game relishes in throwing multiple of these are Kratos at once alongside generic fodder foes in an attempt to overwhelm the player. Each boss often requires their own specific strategies with the final confrontation with Zeus proving to be an especially demanding multi-stage gauntlet. On higher difficulties, this can oftentimes result in near impossible odds and can leave even the most dedicated enthusiast contemplating lowering the difficulty.

“Tokyo Jungle” (2012)

Survival games pit the player against the elements and tell them to survive by any means necessary and will often give them the tools for their survival. In Tokyo Jungle, however, not only do you battle the elements, but the food chain itself. The game features numerous rogue-like elements like permadeath, meaning your little creature is literally fighting for their life as they explore the world and scavenge for food while narrowly surviving encounters with creatures just as hungry but far deadlier. The species you start the game with also has a direct effect on the game’s difficulty as playing the game as a herbivore will make you prey for almost every other species in the game. The game also doesn’t scale difficulty, making it all too easy to be minding your own business and end up face-to-face with a hungry lion that will send your little critter back to the start screen.

“Wipeout HD” (2008)

Racing games tend to offer their own version of difficulty that usually revolves more around the difficulty of your opponents rather than the race itself. While Wipeout HD still offers this option to a point, the game is still relentlessly aggressive against the player. The speed at which players whip around the track is almost impossible to comprehend, often leading to the player ping ponging off the walls and restarting the race rather than playing catch up. Wipeout HD is also very lenient when it comes to teaching players the intricacies of its mechanics, leading to quite a lot of frustration until they find the sweet spot and are able to effortlessly glide around the track at breakneck speed. You’ll find your moment of zen, but you’re going to have to fight for it.

“Killzone 2” (2009)

Another “Halo-Killer” that ended up as a solid franchise, Killzone 2 is not only the series’ strongest entry, but also its most challenging. Killzone 2 actively encourages the player to seek cover from the unrelenting gunfire of the Helghan forces. With this new focus on cover-based gameplay, the cover system is not only somewhat uneven, but cover is also temporary and can be rapidly destroyed if you don’t continuously stay on the move. However, considering the player is invading the planet of Helghan this time, and the enemy is on their native turf, the opposing numbers are far greater. The enemy AI’s sole focus on the player while almost completely ignoring the rest of your squad further adds to this frustration. Killzone might very well be one of the most realistic depictions of actual combat, with the amount of sheer chaos and death raining down from every direction and death a single lucky bullet away.

“Heavenly Sword” (2007)

While initially dismissed as a “God of War” clone, Heavenly Sword still has its fair share of fans, but few can argue that one of Ninja Theory’s first titles has the same polish as the God of War series. Much of the game’s difficulty stems simply from the game being unbalanced and the camera being a greater threat to the player than the enemies themselves. That’s not to say the game itself can’t be challenging. Many of the game’s boss fights will test even the most dedicated fan’s patience, especially the big bad King Bohan himself. The throws multiple powerful enemies at the player simultaneously, and given the titular swords limited range, it's all too easy to get caught in a downed state you can’t recover from. The secondary character Kai is also especially frustrating given her lack of defense and focus on imprecise sniping controls.

“Helldivers” (2015)

Long before Helldivers 2 became the legendary fight for democracy and ultimate combat simulator fans know and love today, the original Helldivers offered players a different perspective on the fight for democracy. A top-down twin stick shooter, Helldivers would relentlessly overrun players and their squad with innumerable bugs and other enemies just waiting to squash your efforts to save the galaxy. As in real combat scenarios, ammo management is key as well as managing friendly fire as it’s all too easy to end up as the last man standing if you get careless with your spray and pray. While not nearly as intense as its modern counterpart, Helldivers still offers enough challenge to get the blood pumping, the palms sweaty, and knees weak all in the name of democracy.

“Hotline Miami” (2013)

Gamers have been conditioned over the years to bust in guns blazing and emerge as the complete and total video game badass that they are. Well, Hotline Miami said, “Not anymore.”. While you can still break into every room guns blazing, this is a quick and easy way to get sent back to the start screen. Enemies are relentless and the one HP of the player means death is always watching just over your shoulder. Nailing a perfect run oftentimes requires numerous tries and memorizing the layout of the rooms as well as enemy placement adds additional strategic depth alongside its glorious, pixelated ballet of blood. Hotline Miami will test every ounce of will you have and if you even attempt to get on the leaderboards, the game can and will become the main source of stress in your life.

“Ninja Gaiden Sigma” (2006)

Ninja Gaiden was Dark Souls before Dark Souls, and Ninja Gaiden Sigma, the PS3 exclusive port of Ninja Gaiden Black, remains not only the best game in the series, but also its most challenging. Punishingly difficult, oftentimes to the point of being unfair, Sigma somehow managed to up the stakes from its original with new more powerful versions of enemies, bizarre implementation of the much-maligned PS3 Sixaxis controls, and additional chapters with all new bosses. The game focused more on precision strikes than a traditional hack-and-slasher but still threw multiple enemies at the player at once, leaving very little room for any mistake or even a counterattack. And the fixed camera angles make it all too easy to be struck or killed by some enemy or projectile fired from off screen. The Ninja Gaiden series has a reputation for its crushing difficulty and only the truest Ninjas can complete the game unharmed.

“Hard Corps: Uprising” (2011)

For our money, there’s no old school series more difficult than Contra, so naturally, a spiritual successor to that bullet hell would make the list of most difficult PS3 games. Hell, the term “hardcore” is right there in the title! 2D run and gun shooters have been testing players’ skills and patience since the days of the NES, and Hard Corps Uprising continues that tradition with great enthusiasm. Besides the typical onslaught of enemies and artillery assaulting players from every direction, players will also need to contend with back-to-back boss fights that can easily send you back to the start of a level as the game offers no checkpoints in between. Couple this with numerous unexpected quick time events and Hard Corps truly is only for the most hardcore. At the very least you can still use the classic Konami code, for whatever little assistance that might offer.

“Demon’s Souls” (2009)

While the original Dark Souls easily could have taken this spot, we’re giving the nod to the OG Demon’s Souls that introduced the world to the phrase “Git Gud”. For those taking their first steps into the world of Boletaria, Demon’s Souls seems to actively work against the player. Even basic enemies can easily lay you out for even the most minor mistakes and lore so obtuse and hidden, you could often find yourself at a loss for what all this suffering is for. However, for those who persevere, Demon’s Souls becomes more rewarding the more you play, forcing the player to come to grips with the game’s mechanics to survive, reminiscent of older generation RPGs that didn’t hold the player’s hand. While understandably not for everyone given the game’s difficulty curve, Demon’s Souls is one of the most difficult but rewarding experiences for those who live long enough to “Git Gud”.

Which video game did you struggle with the most back on the PS3? Share your frustrations down in the comments.