Boss fights aren't much fun or very hard anymore.

I was reading an article on how games are too easy now, and I started thinking part of the problem is that there aren't any truely great boss fights anymore (with very few exceptions). I remember when boss fights were layered and complex. When it took some thinking to defeat a boss. Some time and effort. It could be frustrating but all the more rewarding when you finally defeated the boss. The boss fights that made you think you won, then the boss pulls some cheapo move, pulls out all the stops, and you have to beat him again with even more odds stacked against you. I tend to put the blame on shooters for this trend. Beacause generally speaking, shooters have mediocre or bad boss fights. They just tend to be way too easy. And since shooters dominate the big game market now a days there are less great boss fights. Anyone else have an opinion or want to name some of their more memorable boss fights?

i agree 100% games these days are too easy, it takes away from the fun in my opinion, the only developer i can think of that still makes challanging games is capcom, devil may cry 4 was a good challange on the harder difficulties and i have a feeing RE5 wont be a cake walk. i think this another one of those things that started with HALO, it was fun, easy and it sold really well, so other devs copy it, another good argument is this gen is too brown, there is no colour anywhere anymore. the only colourful games i can think of are uncharted and prince of persia, we need a change in my opinion with gaming, i mean look at grand theft auto 4.... it sucked! and thats grand theft auto!!!


p.s again capcom are the only devs i can think of that do great boss battles, these days anyway

Not just boss fights. The harder difficulties aren't fun either. It's just:
Easy: 200% damage against enemies.
Normal: 100% Damage against enemies.
Hard: 50% Damage against enemies.

Look at Doom. On the harder difficulties, there were more enemies, and less ammo. Hard difficulties these days are bullshit. When I ramp the difficulty up, I don't want enemies to take more damage, and I don't want to be damaged more. I want it to be a whole different experience. Instead of there being just one sniper, there should be two, or three! And if enemies don't have grenades, give them to them! Make the AI smarter, for god's sake!


And yeah, boss fights aren't as fun. Even in Half-Life 2, and the Episodes, the boss fights had you thinking, and the soundtrack made it fun, and cinematic, even if most of them were pretty straightforward, they were intense sequences.

The ending of Uncharted, that was exciting and epic. After fighting through some tough enemies, chasing the final boss, you're disarmed, and you have to move from cover to cover with perfect timing, lest you be exposed. Then when he reloads, you rush him, and disarm him. Then finish him hand to hand. Cue cutscene where he's dragged down to the bottom of the ocean by a big statue. All in the heavy rain. Awesome. I loved it. I played it 5 more times. Goddamn it, I want to rent it again now!

yeah, the only game i can think of that did that this gen is devil may cry 4, all other games just made the bad guys tougher and you weaker, at least dmc4 gave more bad guys and harder puzzles

DMC4 wasn't bad when it came to boss fights, but I wouldn't say they were great. Most of them didn't do anything for me. The only one I really liked was the last boss. As far as this gen, I'd say MGS4 sets the standard on all fronts for me. The boss fights were easily the best I've played in a long time. Especially the last one, no boss I've faced has ever felt so epic. Even the difficulty was great too. The AI actually got smarter, could hear you easier, and tried different strategies to beat you.

uttrspazz wrote:

DMC4 wasn't bad when it came to boss fights, but I wouldn't say they were great. Most of them didn't do anything for me. The only one I really liked was the last boss. As far as this gen, I'd say MGS4 sets the standard on all fronts for me. The boss fights were easily the best I've played in a long time. Especially the last one, no boss I've faced has ever felt so epic. Even the difficulty was great too. The AI actually got smarter, could hear you easier, and tried different strategies to beat you.

EPIC MGS4 SPOILERS





Are you talking about the melee fight with Liquid? I know, it was so cool. I didn't want it to end. Especially in the MGS3 part where Snake Eater was playing.

SPOILERS!!!!!!!



That would be the one. I've played that part of the game a million times just so I could Beat the crap out of Ocelot, while listening to snake eater! Words can't describe how great that game truely is. I wasn't even a fan of the series, or knew anything about it when I got it. Then I checked up on the story and played the game and I was like, "THIS IS F#@KING AWESOME!!!". The last three boss fights were amazing! Fighting Ray with Rex was just too sweet. I've faced Sreaming Mantis many times just to see all the codecs and fourth wall breaking. Then of course Liquid. I loved how the life bar went from Liquid, to Liquid Ocelot, to Ocelot during the fight. Then his last words, "You're pretty good." That just gave me chills.

Yeah. I've been waiting for a chance to say "You're pretty good" and do the hand sign at school or something.

I know! At karate, if I get beaten in a fight, i'll do it. Win.