Feature: The State & Future of Boss Battles

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

By Edge

Prehistoric but in no danger of extinction, do boss battles deserve such prominence in modern gaming?

Admit it: if you’re a long-serving gamer, you’re almost definitely au fait with the Rage Punch. That sudden, explosive venting of anguish after shuffling off your virtual coil for the Nth time, where the only course of action is to unleash a wild, incensed fist into a nearby cushion, pillow or sofa, accompanied by a piercing animal shriek.

Variations include the Pad Slam (flinging the controller to the floor, sometimes accompanied by a dismayed screech as it bounces back into your face) and the Angry Wrestler (standing bolt upright and shuddering your whole body with primal tension). If Sony or Nintendo wanted to put their motion-sensing input devices to innovative use, introducing adaptive difficulty based on detection of the aforementioned techniques would be one giant leap for gaming kind. The Rage Punch comes on the back of a relentless and ‘unfair’ string of deaths. Perhaps a double-jump that asked millimeter precision or a deathmatch where a rocket-hogger is in full-on spam mode. But anecdotal evidence would suggest that the most common cause is boss fights.

Again, everyone must have at least one nemesis that they’ve never conquered, one boss that turned them away from a game that they were otherwise savoring, and turned them away for good. Careless boss design can be ruinous. Rote boss design can be a significant mood killer. And good boss design won’t necessarily count for much, in the grand scheme of an adventure. No one seems to consider the ‘future’ of boss fights. When was the last time you were recommended a game on the strength of its bosses? They’re the elephant in the room, albeit one that can – and often does – gore you with its tusks. Their persistence is reptilian, and cold-blooded in manner. No one has ever said that boss gauntlets are a great idea, and yet you’ll find one in a game as self-consciously accessible as Devil May Cry 4, where it feels like a habitual, reflex inclusion.

Continues at Next-Gen