Don't Be Scared: These Games Are Super Fun on Easy Mode

We’ve talked plenty about super-hard video games in the past. Sometimes, you can look past a game’s lack of story or short play time for a fun, thrilling experience that requires you to persevere, and that’s awesome.

Other times, though, the gameplay runs second fiddle to the story and environment, and you don’t want to have to reset a tough scene ten times to advance the narrative. This is especially true if you’re a new gamer or one without much time to spare.

Plenty of games that have easy PlayStation trophies qualify as easy, but some of these games aren’t even good and most don’t have a difficulty selection. In today’s list, we’re going to look at games that give you a choice of how challenging you want things to be – choose Easy and relax for once!

Uncharted Series (PS3)

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is simply one of the best titles to grace the PS3. With a world-spanning story, gorgeous graphics, and fun characters, the series is one of the strongest PlayStation exclusives, but it’s also a great entry point for new adventurers.

Arguably, Uncharted is at its best on Easy, anyway. Higher difficulties follow the artificial difficulty pattern and just introduce more enemies that do more damage while making you weaker. This gets annoying, as enemies become sponges and take over an entire clip of ammo to kill.

Do yourself a favor and enjoy the game on Easy, where the bad guys aren’t superhuman and you can still enjoy an awesome story. If you can, play the entire franchise, but those pressed for time should skip straight to Among Thieves, as it’s the finest of the existing three. Time will tell if the upcoming fourth game, A Thief’s End, will surpass it.

If you try out Uncharted on Easy and enjoy it, check out The Last of Us, the smash hit from creator Naughty Dog, for a similar experience (though it may make you cry).

Rock Band / Guitar Hero Series (PS2, PS3, Wii, X360)

While Rock Band and Guitar Hero span many games and many systems, the one thing they all have in common is accessibility. Besides being a great game for dorm co-op, the multiple difficulty levels mean even someone who doesn’t play many video games or has no musical ability can still start rocking out. Take a look at a “Through The Fire And Flames,” typically considered to be the hardest song in Guitar Hero, on Expert:

Now compare that to its Easy counterpart:

After some practice, that won’t seem so bad, right? The early songs in the game won’t be nearly that complex, of course, but by making the game open to any skill level, you get an awesome sense of progression once you’re finally at the toughest tracks. Though the plastic instrument frenzy has mostly died down, these games are still awesome choices for taking it slow.

Don’t stop at guitars, either; there are tons of musical games that are beginner-friendly. From the alternative DJ Hero where you’ll be spinning a turntable to funky mixes, to the classic Dance Dance Revolution that lets you exercise while you play, beginning your game journey with music titles could prove to be the start of something great!

Interestingly, we’ll be getting a new game in both rockin’ series this fall, so lovers of the genre need not wait long for a new experience.

BioShock Series (PS3, X360, PC)

BioShock is a special series. While most FPS games in this generation are concerned with keeping you hooked on multiplayer for hundreds of hours and crafting a cinematic experience with prolific voice actors and big setpieces, BioShock takes a different approach.

Instead of being another tired Call of Duty clone, the trilogy is all about the engaging environments and gripping story, which means the gameplay isn’t the prime focus here. Throw in an Easy difficulty meant for players who haven’t played shooters before, and you have a fantastic series that fresh gamers must experience.

BioShock and its sequel (which wasn’t created by the same studio as the first and third games) take place in the underwater utopia of Rapture. Infinite, the third title, takes to the skies as you explore the floating city Columbia. Your best bet is to play the first game then skip to Infinite, as BioShock 2 doesn’t have any relevance to the continuity of the other two games. Though you’ll be hooked right from the opening scene, be sure to avoid reading any spoilers, as they would ruin some of the best moments in the franchise.

Mega Man 10 (Wii, PS3, X360)

The Mega Man platformers aren’t known for being particularly easy. In fact, the only main title to feature an Easy mode before the tenth installment was the much-loved Mega Man II (which made our best platformers of all time list), but your choice was between Normal and Difficult.

After the downloadable Mega Man 9 rocked modern gamers with its tough-as-nails difficulty, Capcom decided to give rookies a break and introduced a true Easy mode. They deserve some kudos, because instead of just slapping more health on your character and calling it done, they actually modified the game to make platforming easier and death less of an ever-present threat.

Sometimes classic series don’t hold up when they receive a new entry after so many years, but with Mega Man 10 the blue bomber proved that he still deserves a place in our hearts. It’s not a cakewalk, but this is a great platformer to get your feet wet, and more developers should take cues from its hand-crafted Easy mode.

The Easy Route

As you can see, you don’t have to be afraid of these great video games. This list didn’t even take into account games that are easy on their own without a difficulty selection, such as children’s games. If you don’t care that the game doesn’t offer you a choice of difficulty, games such as the Kirby series are also perfect for those who don’t want to break a sweat on their controller.

Need to brush up on your skills to move onto the next difficulty level? Learn how you can get better at video games, or if you’re ready to go hardcore check out insane self-imposed challenges for the true experts.

What are some other games that have a great Easy mode? Do you tend to play games on Easy? Why or why not? Let’s talk about game difficulty in the comments below!