Brutal difficulty w/ tweaks - here's some up-to-date info

[HusKy]

I have finished Brutal difficulty run with tweaks couple days ago and thought clearly written step-by-step instructions might be useful for some people.

This time, the steps are different compared to Uncharted 1.

 

Game info:

Type: Physical (The Nathan Drake Collection)

Version: 1.00 - no patch (I tried this with 1.02 and couldn't get it to work)

 

Warning and version info: 

• Nathan Drake Collection with gold cover - can be downgraded
• New "PlayStation Hits" version - some people reported that they were unable to downgrade, others had no issues
• Standalone "Among Thieves Remastered" - some people reported that they were unable to downgrade, others had no issues

 

Spoiler

 

Before you start:

- I'd suggest making a backup of your save in case something terrible happens.

- You'll have to make sure your PS4 does not install patch 1.02. Either go offline or make sure you stop the patch once it starts downloading.

  (In my case, I went offline)

 

Steps to start new game with tweaks enabled:

0. Finish the game on Crushing difficulty.

1. Go to chapter select, choose first chapter, set difficulty to Brutal and start the chapter. Save dialog will appear - choose the active save and overwrite it.

2. First chapter starts by hanging down from a derailed train. Once you can control Nate, press Options button.

3. Go to "Options" -> "Game" -> "Difficulty" - set it to "Crushing", press O 2x and you should be in the main Options screen.

4. Go to "Bonuses" -> "Rewards" -> "Tweaks" and enable tweaks you like. Unlimited ammo and 1-shot kills are probably what you want.

5. Press O 2x and you should be in the main Options screen once again. Choose "Quit to Main Menu".

6. You should appear in the main menu screen of Uncharted 2.

7. Go to chapter select, first chapter should be "pre-selected" and the difficulty should be set to "Crushing". Change it to "Brutal" but don't start the chapter.

8. Go back to main Uncharted 2 menu. Choose "Continue" and the game should start in chapter 1 where you were previously.

9. Press Options button and check the difficulty - it should be set to "Brutal". Check tweaks afterwards. They should be enabled with red "disabled" sign on the left side.

 

At this point, tweaks are enabled on Brutal difficulty and you are good to go. You can test them further down in chapter 1 once you find pistol.

When playing the game later again, choose "Continue" in the main menu, not chapter select.

Personally, I have always made sure I played on 1.00 but I have read somewhere that once you enable tweaks on Brutal, even with patch installed it should just work.

 

If everything worked correctly:

- enabled tweaks should become part of your save

- you should not need to enable them again for this particular run even if you quit the game, turn off the console and later load your save

- you should not need to enable them again if you die in the game

- if you go to main menu, choose "Chapters", you should see all finished chapters marked with Brutal difficulty

 

Hope this helps someone. ?

Edited February 27, 2021 by HusKy

[sijLOL]

Thanks for the info dude helps alot

[AJ_Radio]

You're pretty much fucked if you got the digital version. As far as I'm aware there is no way to revert to version 1.00 in Uncharted 2.

 

Uncharted 1 and Uncharted 3 however, still have a workable glitch even with the patches installed.

[Inchagasius]

Be the man, do it without tweaks =) It is possible and I can say (because I did it) that there are only few places where I sat more than 1 hour (less than 2 and a half).

Edited July 30, 2018 by Inchagasius

[ArmoredSnowman]

On 7/20/2018 at 2:45 PM, HusKyCode said:

I have finished Brutal difficulty run with tweaks couple days ago and thought clearly written step-by-step instructions might be useful for some people.

This time, the steps are different compared to Uncharted 1.

 

Game info:

Type: Physical (The Nathan Drake Collection)

Version: 1.00 - no patch (I tried this with 1.02 and couldn't get it to work)

 

Before you start:

- I'd suggest making a backup of your save in case something terrible happens.

- You'll have to make sure your PS4 does not install patch 1.02. Either go offline or make sure you stop the patch once it starts downloading.

  (In my case, I went offline)

 

Steps to start new game with tweaks enabled:

0. Finish the game on Crushing difficulty.

1. Go to chapter select, choose first chapter, set difficulty to Brutal and start the chapter. Save dialog will appear - choose the active save and overwrite it.

2. First chapter starts by hanging down from a derailed train. Once you can control Nate, press Options button.

3. Go to "Options" -> "Game" -> "Difficulty" - set it to "Crushing", press O 2x and you should be in the main Options screen.

4. Go to "Bonuses" -> "Rewards" -> "Tweaks" and enable tweaks you like. Unlimited ammo and 1-shot kills are probably what you want.

5. Press O 2x and you should be in the main Options screen once again. Choose "Quit to Main Menu".

6. You should appear in the main menu screen of Uncharted 2.

7. Go to chapter select, first chapter should be "pre-selected" and the difficulty should be set to "Crushing". Change it to "Brutal" but don't start the chapter.

8. Go back to main Uncharted 2 menu. Choose "Continue" and the game should start in chapter 1 where you were previously.

9. Press Options button and check the difficulty - it should be set to "Brutal". Check tweaks afterwards. They should be enabled with red "disabled" sign on the left side.

 

At this point, tweaks are enabled on Brutal difficulty and you are good to go. You can test them further down in chapter 1 once you find pistol.

When playing the game later again, choose "Continue" in the main menu, not chapter select.

Personally, I have always made sure I played on 1.00 but I have read somewhere that once you enable tweaks on Brutal, even with patch installed it should just work.

 

If everything worked correctly:

- enabled tweaks should become part of your save

- you should not need to enable them again for this particular run even if you quit the game, turn off the console and later load your save

- you should not need to enable them again if you die in the game

- if you go to main menu, choose "Chapters", you should see all finished chapters marked with Brutal difficulty

 

Hope this helps someone.

Doesn't this also work for crushing mode, if you've completed hard?

[HusKy]

Yep, indeed it works for Crushing difficulty as well.

[Zenpai]

@HusKyCode Do you have the Nathan Drake Collection or did you get the standalone Uncharted 2 Remastered? I got the standalone version and since it came out one year later than the collection, I think it comes fully patched... I even tried updating the game past 1.00 and it just says that 1.00 is the most recent version.

 

(Please someone tell me otherwise)

[HusKy]

It's mentioned in the first post but yeah, I have the ND Collection.

It's very well possible that a standalone version came out fully patched which might make this exploit impossible.

[Mr-Photo]

If I have already done crushing using patch 1.02, when i delete the game data can i still load the saves so that i do not have to do crushing mode over again to use this glitch?

[HusKy]

Your save is compatible with v1.00, don't worry.

[Dauersack]

Just finished the game on crushing and finding this thread brightened my day. Crushing in this game was as much of a bullshit experience as brutal was in Uncharted 1, if not worse. There would have been no way for me to talk myself into going through a real brutal run in a game that is designed this badly, it makes Uncharted 1 look fair in comparison. This game honestly does not deserve an honest brutal playthrough, so I am glad to see that it can be glitched to make it more bearable.

 

Edit: Well never mind, can't go back to 1.00 because even when deleted it automatically installs the 1.02 together with the game, no way to prevent it from what I can tell.

Edited March 23, 2020 by Nighcisama

[Winds-of-Neptune]

Will this work after you've beaten the crushing without tweaks?  -- Will deleting the patch make my game profile file incompatible with v1.0? ?️??️

 

EDIT*  I just noticed a few posts up someone ask the same question... Dont I feel spun..

 

 

Edited February 26, 2019 by Paradigmatica

[HusKy]

It will work. The save files are compatible.

[Winds-of-Neptune]

On 2/23/2019 at 11:46 AM, HusKyCode said:

It will work. The save files are compatible.

 

Thank you.  And for typing up the step by step for the tweaks!  Great work.  I know I could beat this normally but since the 100% requires 3 playthroughs I will be using tweaks.  And besides, Brutal is too brutal ... So here we go....

 

Just playing U2 now on Brutal.  It's weird cause U1's Crushing (without tweaks) was harder than U2's Crushing (without tweaks)  But it's visa-a-versa on Brutal with tweaks.  U2's Brutal is harder than U1's.

Edited February 25, 2019 by Paradigmatica

[Winds-of-Neptune]

On 7/20/2018 at 3:45 PM, HusKyCode said:

5. Press O 2x and you should be in the main Options screen once again. Choose "Quit to Main Menu".

 

I believe this is O 3x.

[InfiniteChrome13]

Is there a way to delete the patch after it has already installed? 

[HusKy]

6 minutes ago, InfiniteChrome13 said:

Is there a way to delete the patch after it has already installed? 

 

I don't think so.

[djb5f]

6 minutes ago, InfiniteChrome13 said:

Is there a way to delete the patch after it has already installed? 

 

Digital, no.  Physical, yes.  Just delete the game and reinstall but don’t accept patch update.  You will be on v1.00 though.

[ArmoredSnowman]

27 minutes ago, InfiniteChrome13 said:

Is there a way to delete the patch after it has already installed? 

If using digital, you'd have to delete the game, then download while using the proxy method, I'd assume. 

[InfiniteChrome13]

All right, thanks for the responses.  

[Vindibudd]

I finished Uncharted 1 on crushing and I can think of plenty of things I'd rather do than play through brutal such as doing my taxes while pounding back mustard flavored milkshakes.

 

I can honestly say that beating it on Crushing is probably the hardest thing I've ever done in the world of video games.

 

Wait no, Uncharted 4 on crushing was harder. Agonizingly. Hard.

Edited July 12, 2019 by Vindibudd

[ipot_04]

On 7/13/2019 at 1:45 AM, Vindibudd said:

I finished Uncharted 1 on crushing and I can think of plenty of things I'd rather do than play through brutal such as doing my taxes while pounding back mustard flavored milkshakes.

 

I can honestly say that beating it on Crushing is probably the hardest thing I've ever done in the world of video games.

 

Wait no, Uncharted 4 on crushing was harder. Agonizingly. Hard.

 

You probably haven't played The Last of Us in Grounded difficulty.

 

Crushing on the first 3 games are not as hard as that.

[ArmoredSnowman]

Just a note in the case others may find the same issue as I did after doing the glitch, you might not be able to get treasure trophies to pop properly (like your medals may say 39 treasures found, while the treasures menu says something like 67), so your medals menu will override the treasures menu, meaning even if you managed to get all 101 treasures in the treasures menu, the medals menu won't award the proper trophy. To rectify this, you would have to delete your profile save (which contains the medals), and keep the story save. You should have your treasures saved, but the medals will be gone. If done properly, you should be able to earn treasure trophies correctly again. 

 

I know this from testing out today. I had I had 35 treasures (on medal menu), but in reality had close to 60 treasures. When i got to 40 treasures on medal, the corresponding trophy popped, even though I was 57 treasures in reality. I delete my profile save, but kept my story saves, and earned a treasure, and my story save overrode the profile, and got me my 60 treasures. I do have to wonder what would've happened if I had deleted my profile beforehand...dunno if both 40 and 60 treasures would've popped, but best not to know. 

 

Just leaving this note, so that if others fuck up their profile save, they won't delete everything to star the treasures from 0. 

[JoaLoft]

On 30-9-2019 at 5:46 PM, ipot_04 said:

 

You probably haven't played The Last of Us in Grounded difficulty.

 

Crushing on the first 3 games are not as hard as that.

 

Can confirm that U4 on Crushing (which is what I legitimately did without cheats to get the platinum trophy) has a few really nasty bits. Most parts in New Devon were torture at times. That ship graveyard near the end ... My God. Don't get me started.

The Last of Us on Grounded (Plus) isn't that difficult actually. Except the opening section of the winter with Ellie, when you have to fend off the infected in that one room. Jesus, that requires nerves of steel.

 

There are way more difficult games to finish on the hardest mode though. Outlast 2 comes to mind - still really proud of that platinum trophy. Same thing for Alien: Isolation on Nightmare (the added difficulty). You don't get a trophy for that one, but I did it anyway because I love the game so much. That one is also pretty challenging to beat.

[Infernopommes]

Just finished the game on crushing and now I know that I don't want to have any of that on brutal (namely chapters 14, 22-26). Is there anything that can be used to make it easier, i.e. the tweak glitch or chapter skip (no crazy airwalks) with the digital ND collection that was on PS+ in January? My understanding is, that you can't unpatch that, but one can hope ...