Irrational Games is worried you’ll find BioShock Infinite too easy. To that end, they announced today a new game mode, which will make Infinite, well, infinitely more challenging. Dubbed “1999 Mode,” the new setting will make playing the 2012 BioShock sequel play like it was released during the end of the last century (like, say, when Levine and Irrational published System Shock 2). “We want to give our oldest and most committed fans an option to go back to our roots,” said Ken Levine, Creative Director of Irrational Games. “In 1999 Mode, gamers face more of the permanent consequences of their gameplay decisions.” Levine stressed that players will feel the consequences of their actions in this new setting.

Players will also only have one life to live, and might find resuscitation much more infrequent in Infinite. If players don’t have the proper resources required for respawning, they’ll hit with a “Game Over” screen. Admittedly, this is a nice touch for gamers who desire such a challenge. Levine added that the move gives older fans “an option to go back to our roots.” While it’s intriguing to see developers add extremely challenging difficulty settings to their game for the devout hardcore gamers demanding them, we just became a bit worried for the safety of all the 360 controllers in the world.

What do you think? Will you be playing with this new mode?

SOURCE: Irrational Games announces 1999 mode in BioShock Infinite [Press Release]