Boss Fights: A Relic of a Bygone Era?

The evolution of games from the 8- and 16-bit eras through to the current generation is nothing short of staggering. Over the years, as the horsepower of consoles and the technical know-how of developers have grown, so too has the complexity and depth of the games we play. Now more than ever and more than any other medium, games can provide interactive experiences that are cinematic in scope.

The current console generation allows developers to create beautifully realised worlds, seemingly without limitations. From the gritty (and sometimes zombie-infested) wild west of Red Dead: Redemption to the space-zombie-infested spacecraft of Dead Space, games have never felt more alive and rich. Yet in spite of the advancements made by the gaming industry over the past 20-plus years, one vestigial element of old-school gaming remains: the big, the bold, the dumb… the boss fight.

Historically, the existence of the boss fight can be justified. In the days of old, the spatial limitations of the medium meant that most games had to explain their stories, characters and worlds in instruction manuals. Only the bare bones of the experience were presented on-screen. Boss fights were used as shorthand to emphasise the dramatic beats of the game's progression and to introduce or call-out game mechanics. Most boss fights were limited to single screen arenas, and consisted of a large boss making simple (though often brutal) movements and attack patterns. In this context boss battles made sense; they provided epic gaming experiences while using minimal game code.

Even after all of these years little has changed. We all know the drill: after hours of play, refining and developing skills, our hero (or villain) comes to the end of their quest. The arena door slams shut, locking in the protagonist. The lights go down, the music swells and they are confronted by their nemesis. Some poorly-scripted banter usually ensues and then the fight begins.

In the context of the current generation the very concept of the traditional boss fight feels increasingly out of place. It takes only a cursory look at a game's credits to show that developers employ an ever-expanding arsenal of artistic and technical techniques to enhance the immersive experience of a game. As games integrate gameplay and narrative in more intuitive and creative ways, why must we still be exposed to the archaic boss fight structure in nearly every game?

What is wrong with the classic boss fight formula you may ask? Primarily that the formula exists in the first place, and that few games stray from it.


At best, a final boss fight usually boils down to the game forcing you – after spending 10-20 hours learning a number of skills/mechanics/movements – to button mash the one move that the boss is weak against. Boss fights rarely feel like a genuine culmination of skills and strategies learnt throughout the game. In most cases the charm and atmosphere of the preceding game is forsaken for boss fights. They are often in total contrast to what makes that particular game great and rarely feel like natural extensions of the narrative. GLaDOS would kill me if I didn't single her out as the only possible exception.

Two recent games which suffer from this syndrome are Arkham Asylum and Uncharted 2. The former takes a dramatic, brooding storyline and ruins it with a slap-dash, beefed up Joker-monster. A confrontation between Batman and the Joker should be a tense affair; a continuation of the mind games and cat and mouse that preceded it. Instead it is insipid, and cringe-worthy, without consequence or dramatic tension. (Click here for our thoughts on how this showdown could have been improved.)

On the other hand, Uncharted 2's boss battle commits the lesser crime of being utterly forgettable in a game full of memorable moments. Gamers the world over (myself included) love the Uncharted series for its likeable characters, beautifully rendered locations spanning the globe, action set pieces and Elena. Uncharted 2's boss battle involves running around a tree in a dingy chasm blowing up blue crap. Hardly the stuff of legends. At least Naughty Dog - the developer of the Uncharted games - had the good sense to including an epilogue with a fun escape sequence and more of Elena.


Even IGN's 2010 game of the year, Mass Effect 2, for all of its emphasis on creating a seamless blend of gameplay and story fell prey to the ease, convenience and laziness of the traditional boss fight. While the developer, Bioware, improved upon the original in nearly every way, Mass Effect 1 was at least able to integrate the final confrontation in a way that made sense for the story, and made the player feel that what they were doing was important and had consequences. Ultimately these games would have been better served if they did not stick to the rigid formula of the old-school boss fight.

At best a game will commit the above sins. At worst a game will do so by stripping away existing game mechanics and adopting new skill sets solely for the boss fight. Spent hours upgrading your weapons and perfecting your combos in preparation for ripping Ares to shreds in the original God of War (or Zeus in the two sequels)? Navigated the snow-covered fortress of Moses Island perfecting a combination of stealth and weapon-based combat in Metal Gear Solid ready to kick Liquid Snake's arse? Well forget all of that.

These titles (and many more like them) negate any progress the player has made for the purpose of a cheap boss battle. Gone are the fluid combos, the tense, stealth-based action and combat. These boss fights shoehorn clunky fighting mechanics into games known for silky smooth gaming. Even the final stages of Sly Cooper abandoned its stealth-based platforming roots for an on-rails shooter boss fight. It is hard to argue that these games wouldn't have benefited from more creative resolutions.


While it is easy for a game to fall into the boss fight cliché, some games take it one step further and absolutely wallow in it. Three words: phased boss fights. Popularised and subsequently run into the ground by series' such as Final Fantasy, these boss fights take everything fundamentally lazy and boring about the boss fight and turn it up to 11.

The protagonist has confronted their nemesis, a battle ensues, the nemesis falls and appears to be defeated. If only it were that easy. Out of nowhere a bigger, more angry and deformed version of the nemesis is back for more punishment. Rinse and repeat until the developer runs out of ideas or you lose your will to play. You only need to look at the final boss fights of Final Fantasy XIII to see how played out this cliché has become. If a game hasn't been able to establish a credible and compelling threat during its first 20+ hours, rehashing the final boss five times with outlandish visual additions and ridiculous names isn't going to help.

The developers of games like Heavy Rain and, to a lesser extent, God of War III realise that crafting a climactic and satisfying ending to a game doesn't require the use of stale boss fight mechanics. Shadow of the Colossus was a game based entirely on boss fights, but in the context of the game it worked, and worked well.


While not arguing for the end of boss battles in gaming, fundamental changes to the paradigm need to occur. If every other aspect of gaming can progress and evolve, why is the industry still hampered by the boss fight mentality? Are boss battles a relic of a bygone era? Do they have a place in modern gaming? Weigh in with your thoughts below.

Oh, and for good measure, here are my most disappointing boss fights of the current generation:

1) Orphan - Final Fantasy XIII
2) Ganon - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
3) The Joker - Batman: Arkham Asylum
4) Lazaravic - Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
5) Human-Reaper Larvae - Mass Effect 2

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Scott Clarke is an Australian freelance writer. He wears a white lab coat a lot of the time. It's a good look. Check out his blog.

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