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Have Boss Battles Really Become Stale?

August 17, 2010 in Blog comments 8

SOme would argue that Boss Battles are the be-all-and-end-all of gaming, while others can see a change coming through many games of late.

OXCGN write looks at how he sees the change and asks, are Boss Battles really needed in the huge storyline style games of today?

Come check it out and pass your thoughts on for others to check out.

It’s been a staple feature of a huge number of games over the past couple of decades regardless of the genre: Boss battles. Whether it be from First Person Shooters to RPG’s, Action Adventure or through to Third Person Shooters and more, boss battles have been there since day 1.

Whether it’s the frustration of reaching the boss back in the arcade days of Street Fighter with only one life left, or reaching the boss with you on minimal health, they have etched themselves in the memories of the true gamer who thrives on ‘the challenge’.

But are they really needed? Lately it seems that boss battles have been in decline. I don’t know whether it’s because of the lack of imagination on the part of the developers, or simply the fact that many newer gamers feel that a game is unoriginal or unrealistic with them and so developers either get rid of them or just tack on a ‘typical’ or half-arsed boss battle to make the game longer. Witness the ‘more realistic’ helicopter boss fights in shooters these days, for example.
XboxOZ360 via oxcgn.com »
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  • 0
    Solid Snake 4Life Aug 17, 10
    The last boss battle that actually "wow"ed me was fighting against the End in MGS3: Snake Eater. The creativity of the fight along with the myriad of ways to get around it (or get captured) put it pretty high on my all time favorites list.
    (Plus on Euro Extreme it's just brutal)
  • 0
    Red 9 Aug 17, 10
    Not for God of War, and it's been milked almost as much as Halo.
    • 0
      Ded Valve Aug 17, 10
      How has God of War been milked? 1 trilogy and 2 bridge psp games hardly counts it as milked.

      It's really hard for me to say any memorable boss battles as most of them just flaunt their weak spots and perform the same repetitive moves again and again.

      I need more creative boss battles.
      • 0
        Red 9 Aug 17, 10
        Halo's considered milked by many, so by comparison, GOW isn't far behind. Then again, some don't consider Halo milked at all, so it's apples and oranges tbh
        • 0
          Ded Valve Aug 18, 10
          I guess they mean in terms of media such as books and toys, but GoW also has that. Then again milked means make another sequel just for the success....aww *bleep* it GoW is good and so is (some) halo games.
  • 0
    hoggys2much Aug 17, 10
    I too think they have.

    Althoug I didb really enjoy the final boss fight in Bayonetta
  • 0
    Shattered Aug 17, 10
    TBH I thought Uncharted 2's last boss was pretty good. Much better than the standard "here's his weak point attack that gg." At least it had a twist to it. Most games hold your hand through it :/
  • 0
    Bale Fire Aug 17, 10
    I think the main problem with boss battles right now is the high standards of the current consoles. With the PS3 and 360, the textures, effects and the physics have to be up the standard the rest of the game set, otherwise they stick out. This probably isn't easy either, considering they generally do a fair bit of interaction with the player and do so over a significant amount of time.

    I don't think bosses are put in just to eat up time though, considering all the work which goes into just a single encounter.

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