A Unique Take on Level Difficulty Rankings
These rankings are based on my own experience as someone who has borrowed and developed strategies that have been more or less effective and as someone who has gained familiarity with where to go and where to expect guards to pop up. This is my second run-through of the levels, which took me vastly less time than my first run-through, so my rankings have changed since then and have in places become less conventional, I think.
Easiest to Hardest
Surface 1 -- mostly running in such wide spaces that guards are unlikely to converge upon you except in front of the cabin with the explosive barrel things.
Statue -- similar thoughts as Surface but with shotguns. The level is so horrifying with the music and I get so scared of Alec's henchmen popping up while I look for the flight recorder. I think thus that there's this psychological aspect that makes the level harder than Surface. That being said, you hardly need to shoot anyone.
Bunker 1 -- Plenty of hiding places, although there are a fair amount of guards to deal with.
Dam Here's where you learn that ammo gets low on 00 Agent. It's pretty much all peak and shoot here that stays pretty easy.
Runway -- Gotta learn how to move and aim with the tank, but hardly a need to engage any enemies at all. With the tank and the pressure to be accurate with it (before you get shot to death) i think there's a skill and pressure element that can be troublesome.
Facility -- The room before the room that you need to enter for the first objective can be tricky with all the guards there and not a lot of places to hide in.
Bunker 2 -- A patient stealth approach -- pick off one guy and run back to base -- makes the level pretty relaxing.
Surface 2 -- Night time and hard to take out all the cameras without triggering the alarm -- those blue-uniformed guards are tough!
Egyptian -- helps a ton to know where to go; some guards are there to trap you and you have to aim with the golden gun to take out Baron.
Frigate -- So easy to get lost in. It's a maze that actually feels more difficult to Statue where you can overcome navigational difficulties by wall-hugging and you get body armor there, too. In Frigate, Less favorable route-taking can make it very hard to rescue sufficient hostages and to defuse the bomb nearest 007's boat before guards blow it up. Fair amount of
Archives -- So many guards in tight spaces, but it's a short route and not hard to memorize
Streets -- Have to be sufficiently quick in the beginning, thereafter it's lots of running but it can be impossible to dodge some guards and they can be tough to deal with -- especially when you're in a hurry -- and can ultimately get you to die even despite the body armor.
Caverns -- You have the elevator for the beginning -- shoot and duck, and it's easy to load up on ammo afterwards -- after the beginning there aren't really very difficult moments, although there are a lot of ones where you can get hit and there's no body armor. The guy on the opposite side of the room where the radio is is the toughest imo, and you can't forget to dodge a coming grenade. Use the pp7 for the radio room where it's the same skill as in the first box car in Train. Don't let Trev see you in that tunnel -- crouch before it and a bit to the left to take out the drone guns. It's a long level and scientists can become a sneaky problem.
Train - It's pretty much all peak-and-shoot. Gotta have patience in the beginning to save up health for those tough armored guards near the end to inevitably get some heavy shots in. Go to the front of the table and all the way to the right for the Xenia shot.
Jungle -- Xenia can be tough if you don't nail her on the bridge. Easy to run out of ammo and hard to see guards. Gotta have health left for the final dash to the elevator.
Control - long level with a lot of good aiming required to avoid getting low on health. Protecting Natalya can feel impossible when guards come at her from both sides at the same time. Take out the first table on each side to more easily hit the guards that break the glass. Ending can be tough but body armor helps.
Depot -- Guards can converge on you in open spaces especially when you take out the computer system. No body armor and plenty of tricky situations dealing with guards.
Aztec -- obviously very challenging level. Crouch and hit the guy alone on the right before he sees you then take out the two who approach. It's a lot of peak-and-shoot -- save the AR for the big room - that helps you take out the guards behind the boxes. So little room for error. I lure Jaws to the vent and start firing my laser before he even sees me.
Silo -- Timer so have to move fast and so many guards in tight spaces where it's hard to hide
Cradle - So many guards that feel hard to dodge. Often times you're trying to progress to where Trev is on the bottom ramp and you get hit from behind. Seems like guards are everywhere and they really hit you hard.