Boss Fatigue

I'm into the rhythm of playing a new game. Getting new weapons. Exploring new environments. Then it happens. The almost inevitable Boss-Fight. I've grown to loathe these end-of-level clichés over the years. So much so, that their appearance is increasingly a trigger for my shelving of a game.

Now, I do understand that one of the fundamentals of game design is allowing the player to feel accomplishment from overcoming challenges. As gamers we've all had those air-punch 'yeah!!' moments upon progressing through a difficult section of a game. This is a good thing. But the Boss-fight has become frustration incarnate. Rather than feel like a part of the narrative, or the next step of the gameplay, the boss too often feels like a tacked on 'hard bit' to slow the player's advance.

The Boss typically has one or more of the following traits :

1. A health bar that is staggeringly long. Sure, it makes sense that a 'Boss' is healthier than his underlings. But increased resilience to the point of withstanding dozens of hits from a previous uber-weapon of choice just breaks the internal rules of the game world. A bigger torso, or more elaborate looking coat should not mean near-immunity to a rocket launcher.

2. The Puzzle Boss. Puzzle games are expected to have puzzles. If I play Portal, I can rest assured I'll be scratching my head at some point. But Gears of War? Ok call me a 'noob' but having to scour the Internets to find the 'riddle-me-this method' of progressing past a boss is not fitting with the rest of the game. As with point one, my ass-kicking high velocity weapon that has downed legions of bad guys, suddenly turns into a pea-shooter because the Boss is armed with a puzzle? Its Gears of War - let the weapons do their job consistently.

3. The Super Weapon. This is probably the least objectionable, as badder bad guys deservingly get kitted out with a better arsenal. That said, its often out of balance with the rest of the game. Take Kameo on the XBox360. Its an easy game, allowing most younger players a good shot of experiencing steady progression. Well until that lightning equipped Cthulu-styled giant Octopus boss hits the scene. A sluggish underwater control scheme, coupled with an enemy that is several degrees tougher than the rest of the game saw Kameo voted off the playlist in my household.

I relish games that dont have bosses, or at the very least correctly context their bosses within the difficulty and narrative of the game. Fable II and Halo come to mind. Whilst these two games had their difficult moments, (ok Fable II. Easiest. Game. Ever!) they didnt inject a foreign game breaking element just to mess with the player's patience. The narrative was allowed to get on with the job unhindered. And if games are really the next generation of storytelling devices, then we might need to closely examine if 'The Boss' should be permanently deleted.