General Info

This section is dedicated to the game's "Nightmare Mode", which is exactly what it sounds like. Ugh... being a guide writer isn't all fun and games, I suppose.

Nightmare Mode is unlocked by beating the game on Survivor and cannot be chosen before then. That means that by the time you go into this, you will have beaten the game once already and will have a good idea of how to play and what to expect.

There are a few certain truths to Nightmare Mode, which we want to list below. Some are obvious. Some aren't. Some are related to what you can expect out of reading this section.

NOTE: While we say "Nightmare Mode" a lot in this section, everything here applies to Akumu 100%. After all, Akumu is Nightmare Mode with a "one-hit death" rule.

o Enemies hit harder and are harder to kill. You likely knew this going in though... Not only that, but they also move faster and often use longer attack animations (think 4-5 swings with a weapon instead of two). In addition to all this, many foes move in ever more unpredictable ways, which makes them harder to hit.

Note that one extremely effective way of handling foes that have all these buffs is to aim for the legs: drop them and burn them. Sometimes that can be your most effective attack.

o Enemy layouts have changes, as have the amount of enemies. In some areas, even the room or map itself has changed. For example, in Chapter 3 you will be faced with a Ruvic clone who patrols the main village area. I can't make this stuff up! As far as maps go, just as an example, the Sadist escape section of Chapter 1 has new obstacles that makes escape much harder. We detail more layout and enemy changes down below.

o There is no EYE to tell you if enemies can see you or not. This of course makes sneaking and stealth a lot harder. Instead of the eye, go by audio and visual ques. For example, enemies still tend to point at you when they see you.

o Despite the eye being gone, stealth is even more important on Nightmare Mode. This is mostly due to the lack of items and ammo (see below), but also due to the often increased number of enemies. Make no mistake: in order to survive you need to take out whoever you can with stealth attacks to conserve ammo and (hopefully) gain new resources.

o There is less ammo given at times. In fact, there are less items period. Remember the ammo parts you could find up in the watchtower and barn in Chapter 3? Yep, they plain aren't there anymore. Various items just plain aren't there. We don't list every missing item in this section, but if you can't find something that was on Survivor Mode when you go and look, this is why.

o You can often find more bottles lying around. Perhaps this is their attempt to make up for the lack of items and ammo? Hope you are good with throwing a bottle and then sneak killing enemies. Bottles are also excellent distraction tools that let you sneak by foes and make them go to where you want them to.

o Gel values are often lowered, which makes leveling up attributes and weapons even harder. Given that fact, certain priorities when leveling have to be established. Things like running speed (2-3 levels) and handgun and shotgun critical damage are a must. Stock in agony bolts and some ammo are a must to make sure you aren't leaving items. Magnum Damage (along with enough bullets) can make the bosses near the end cake. Be smart about how you spend.

Speaking of being smart, two Upgrades are utterly important in later chapters. Namely, the max harpoon bolt upgrade (fire special) and the max magnum damage upgrade. The harpoon bolts with fire can take out Ruvik clones in a single hit, which you will be VERY thankful for when the time comes. The max magnum upgrade can take out keeper foes quickly and will downright make harder challenges like the freezer fight and the Chapter 15 keeper(s) battle a cake-walk. Seriously.

o Save and abuse checkpoints when you can. The main guide has [C] listed when you hit a checkpoint. These are the times on Nightmare and Akumu to be brave, as you won't lose hardly any progress if you mess up.

o KEYS! Utilize this guide's key section. With the reduced gel amount and lower amounts of gel and items dropping, you will want to get all of the keys you can. The gel in lockers isn't reduced at all, so you can get in some great upgrading by focusing on collecting keys.

o Last but not least: if you don't have to fight, don't fight! If you can get away with running away, do so. Enemy drops just aren't worth it. Instead, focus on your objective and any optional items you want to get. There will be times you HAVE to fight, and that's OK, but if you don't have to, don't!

We should also note that COLLECTABLES SHOULD NOT BE GATHERED OR WORRIED ABOUT IN NIGHTMARE MODE. Seriously, save that stuff for a Survival or Casual run. We have enough problems here without worrying about any collectable items...