Square Enix has released the version 1.03 update for Left Alive, which adds a new “Casual Mode” difficulty, adjustments to all difficulty levels, and bug fixes.
Here are the details, via Square Enix:
Casual Mode – a new option for those who want to go in all guns blazing
The biggest addition is an entirely new difficulty option: Casual Mode.
While Left Alive remains an intriguing tactical stealth and survival experience, there are some players who want to also be able to play through the story as a more straightforward action game.
The new Casual Mode gives them a way to do that – it’s designed specifically for people who want to play Left Alive as more of a shooter.
To that end, it adds a whole host of changes to the game, including:
- Increased attack strength – your attacks will do more damage.
- Reduced enemy damage output – enemy attacks do less damage, so you’ll be able to run and gun a little more freely than before.
- Increased ammo limit – more ammo = more shooting!
- Heavily reduced enemy health – enemies take less damage before going down.
- Increased headshot damage and attacks from behind – hits to the head now do more damage and the effectiveness of attacks from the rear is also increased. It’s now possible to do major damage in a single hit.
- More Wanzer durability – player-controlled mechs can take more of a beating, so you can stay in them longer.
You can start a new file with these settings by selecting New Game from the main menu.
Alternatively, you can change the difficulty at any time through the in-game Options menu.
Adjustments to all difficulty levels
As well as adding the new difficulty level, the team has made balance adjustments across all difficulty levels.
For example:
- Two first aid kits have been added to each main character’s starting inventory.
- Each character also starts with more ammo than before.
- You can now lose eight bullets in the encounter with the soldier in Chapter 01 – previously all bullets were removed.
- Enemy accuracy has been reduced – they’re still dangerous, but you have a little more room for error.
- Reduced damage from frag grenades.
Bug fixes on Steam and language tweaks
Finally, the update fixes some bugs and increases stability for the Steam version of Left Alive.
You may also notice a small language tweak to the “Survivor” trophy / achievement on both platforms:
- Previous text: Finished the game on Light or Standard difficulty.
- Updated text: Finished the game for the first time.
Left Alive is available now for PlayStation 4 and PC.