Halloween: The Game difficulty: Normal, Hard and Boogeyman
Three settings, one of them named after Michael. No achievement asks for a particular one, and the one thing that clearly changes between them is how long a grabbed civilian takes to struggle free.
The short answer
You do not need Boogeyman. Of the 47 achievements that carry a description, not one names a setting, every chapter included, and the one for finishing the story. The only unknowns are the 3 achievements with no description, and The Perfect Killer, which asks for a perfect chapter score without saying how scoring works.
I couldn't find any achievements that have anything to do with playing anything on a higher difficulty. I'm pretty sure everything can be obtained just playing normal difficulty.
The chapter select, on camera
Halloween: The Game Customization + Unlockables Showcase!
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The three settings sit on the story mode screen, beside the prologue and five chapters: And you can also change difficulty to normal, hard, or boogeyman.
What the setting changes
One mechanic clearly scales with difficulty. The rest of what people assume changes has never been spelled out, so do not plan a run around it.
Scales with difficulty
How long a civilian takes to struggle free once Michael has grabbed them scales with the difficulty you picked.
Fixed an issue where the NPC’s time to struggle free while grabbed was not properly scaling with difficulty in Story Mode
The Day One patch fixed it, so the scaling is intended. All patch notes.
Commonly assumed, never spelled out
- How far away civilians and police notice Michael
- How many NPCs a chapter puts in your path
- How much damage Michael takes, or whether he can be downed sooner
- Whether patrol routes or scripted reactions differ
- Whether any cosmetic, skin or banner is tied to a setting
The three settings
- 1 Normal
- The first of the three, and the one to learn a chapter on.
- 2 Hard
- The middle setting. Worth a try when a stealth challenge refuses to register.
- 3 Boogeyman
- The last of the three, named after Michael himself.
What the chapter achievements ask for
If finishing a chapter depended on a setting, these would say so. None of them does.
| Achievement | What it asks for | Names a difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| Escape | Complete Smith's Grove story mode Chapter. | No |
| The Jump Suit | Complete the Road to Haddonfield story mode Chapter. | No |
| The Mask | Complete Main Street story mode Chapter. | No |
| He Came Home | Complete Returning Home story mode Chapter. | No |
| Babysitters | Complete the Babysitters story mode Chapter. | No |
| Into the Shadows | Complete Into the Shadows story mode Chapter. | No |
| The End | Complete the Story mode. | No |
The same holds across the other 40 described achievements. If you are chasing completion, the challenge tracker shows how far players actually get.
Does Hard fix the challenge tracking?
Switching to Hard is a common suggestion when a story challenge will not register. It sometimes works and often does not.
When it works
Replaying a stuck stealth challenge on Hard, then pausing and restarting at the final objective, has made it register.
When it does not
I've completed all Challenges and for some reason Chapter 5 Challenge 1, 4, 5 & 6 not working on any difficulty.
Patch 1.0.2 fixed four story challenges that were not tracking, so try a clean replay on your usual setting first. If you do switch to Hard, try it on a challenge you can repeat cheaply rather than on a long chapter. What each one actually asks for is on the challenge pages.
Frequently asked
- Do I have to play on Boogeyman to finish anything?
- No. Of the 47 achievements that carry a description, none names a difficulty, and that covers all 6 chapter achievements and the one for finishing the story. 3 achievements have no description at all, so those are the only unknowns.
- What actually changes between the settings?
- One thing clearly scales: how long a civilian takes to struggle free once Michael has grabbed them. The Day One patch fixed that scaling so it works as intended. Nothing else about the settings is spelled out.
- Does a higher difficulty make challenges track properly?
- Sometimes. Replaying a stuck stealth challenge on Hard has made it register, but some challenges fail on every setting. Treat it as something to try, not a fix.
- Where do I change it?
- On the story mode screen, the one listing the prologue and the five chapters. All three settings are offered there.
- Is there an easier setting than Normal?
- No. Normal, Hard, Boogeyman are the only three on the menu, and there is nothing below Normal.
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