Not all boss fights need to be a display of power and spectacle. While it’s true that these encounters are meant to push players to their limits and utilize all their abilities towhittle down a boss' health bar, it’s also important for certain boss fights to stimulate the player mentally in other ways. Instead of a traditional boss fight, certain fights can feature brain teasers that force players to think differently.
Some boss fights go all-in on this design, compelling players to treat these encounters as puzzles of their own with the solution being the gameplay mechanics that players have used. If executed correctly, these battles can do a great job of freshening up the gameplay and injecting more energy into a player.
Arkham Cityis one of the best superhero games ever made, with the improvements fromArkham Asylumbeing palpable for everyone to see. The exciting open-world design, improved combat, and fun boss fights were a treat to engage with. However, this game didn’t rest on its laurels and pulled out something magical whenplayers had to face off against Mr. Freeze.
No Predator encounter has reached the heights of this stealth-focused boss fight, with players having to use takedowns to take out this boss. The catch is that Mr. Freeze sets up a safeguard after being taken by surprise once, meaning that players won’t be able to repeat the same kind of takedown again. It’s a simple and engaging way for the game to force players into exploring the breadth of the stealth gameplay and figure out new and ingenious ways to get the drop on this sinister villain.
Everyboss fight inShadow of the Colossuscan be viewed as a puzzle, with players having to figure out a route of attack and latching themselves to a Colossus before climbing towards its weak spot and dishing out as much damage as they can before repeating the process. It’s a quirky way to take out these behemoths, and players must reach these weak points if they want to dish out substantial damage.
The most cinematic encounter of the lot is the thirteenth Colossus that comes at the tail end of this adventure. The developer pulled out all the stops for players to enjoy a cinematic battle as they hit the Colossus' air sacs to bring it down before chasing it down with Agro and grabbing onto one of its wings. Players soar through the air and try not to fall as they reach a weak point and stab it multiple times before this amazing encounter is over and done with.
3The Hunter
Isaac Must Burn This Enemy Using Jet Engines To Take Out This Regenerator
Dead Spaceisfull to the brim with several nightmarish encounters, but nothing comes close to the Hunter. This Regenerator hounds the player and forces them to incapacitate this enemy to get some breathing room as they run away. However, after a point, Isaac has no more room to run and must find an unconventional way to take out this powerful necromorph. This essentially turns this boss into a puzzle encounter with a simple and elegant solution.
Players have to reach a room with a shuttle and lure this foe near the thrusters. After dismembering or using Stasis to slow down the Hunter, they can permanently kill this foe by activating the thrusters and burning the Regenerator to a crisp. It’s a satisfying way to take out this necromorph and requires some brainwork to figure out.
Half-Lifeisa legendary FPS that needs no introduction. The shooting gameplay is great, but Valve knew way back then that switching things up from time to time would help the game’s pacing. So, to hammer in just how threatening the Xen are, Freeman comes face-to-face with a seemingly unbeatable trio of tentacles that hit like a truck and use noise to track where their prey is. This makes for a tense encounter as players sneak around and use distractions to clear the way from them as they figure out a way to take out this foe.
Eventually, as one would expect, the only way to take out these tentacles is to use the thrusters of a rocket to burn it down. It’s a great way for players to alleviate the tension, especially if these spiky tentacles have already hacked them down for making a mistake a few times before.
WhenThe Orange Boxcame out, no one expectedPortalto be a highlight of this package. This puzzle game introduced players to the Aperture Science Laboratory and Glados, with the final fight against this AI tyrant being a blast to engage with. So, it was clear thatPortal 2needed to do something magical to exceed expectations, and they certainly achieved this. Chell faces off against Glados again and defeats her with Wheatley’s help, but this quirky AI reveals a power-hungry side in no time that makes him the game’s true antagonist.
After an uneasy alliance with Glados, Chell makes her way back to Wheatley and uses corrupted cores to mess with him. However, Wheatley refuses to give up,forcing the players to shoot a portal at the moonto send this robot into space and help Glados reestablish control once again in a bombastic ending.
