Subscribe to download
JubeyJubster's Hardcore Difficulty Mod

This mod aims to make Half-Life: Alyx a much more difficult game. This game is great, but I felt that once getting the hang of the controls I was able to beat the whole game on hard on my first playthrough without too much hassle. For those who want to replay this great game but want more of a challenge, this is the mod for you.

I felt that mods that aimed for a more "realistic" damage model in the Half-Life series, have made the game too easy. For example in this game, if the zombies only take a few bullets to kill, it's just too easy. It's already easy enough to avoid their hits, the zombies should be bullet spongey, and it should be a strategic decision whether to spend the ammo to kill them or not.

Might not work past map loads right now. I'm trying to find a work around for this but so far it seems to be something on Valve's end. Download from here: https://www.nexusmods.com/halflifealyx/mods/7/ and follow the instructions to install it manually and it will work 100% of the time.

Half Life: Alyx 1.4.1 patch notes: "Fixed a bug which was causing transitions between Valve maps to disable any loaded addons, and level transitions to not work at all when transitioning between maps within an addon." Finally fixed! Let me know if you have any other issues! My headset is currently being repaired so I cannot test anything at the moment.

It is recommended to start a new game with this addon. Continuing a current save seems to be working for me but it still needs further testing. The easiest way to test this is to see if barnacles take 7 or more pistol shots to kill, let me know how it goes for you.

-Ammo is more rare on all difficulties
-Enemies (except the combine soldiers) take many more bullets to kill
-Combine soldiers deal more damage and take less damage to the stomach, arms, and legs
-There is a cap on how much ammo you can hold at a time (not sure if this works, needs more testing)
-Headshots in general deal more damage to most enemies
-Health vials give much more health to balance out the amount of damage you'll be taking

These changes I feel reward a more careful playstyle. Precise aiming is much more important, along with ammo management.

-Sometimes it's not worth it to kill all enemies! I took inspiration from Resident Evil 2 Remake zombies, so sometimes it's best to deal with headcrab and headcrab zombies by running around them, or making use of your environment instead of unloading bullets into them.

-Aim for the head! Headshots do more damage, while stomach, arm, and leg shots do less to combine soldiers. Chest shots are the next best option!

-Avoid barnacles! They now pose much more of a threat, as they take many more bullets to kill. It is best to avoid their tongues entirely. If one blocks your path, use the gravity gloves to throw an object into their path. This will give you plenty of time to get past them.

-Utilize cover during encounters with soldiers!

All difficulties have changes, although only hard mode has been thoroughly tested at this point.

This mod is still in the early stages and needs some more testing. So far by utilizing a more cautionary playstyle, I've been able to traverse through the game without getting unfair deaths. Let me know if you have any issues or suggestions, I'm open to make further changes!


This mod started as an edit of the "Lethal Combat Rebalance" mod by Slugga17 on NexusMods. Almost all values have been changed at this point but I still feel I should give credit. https://www.nexusmods.com/halflifealyx/mods/2