The final of the World Cup kicks off on Sunday, with Spain and Holland making it through; They’ve battled their way through match after match to reach this final, as you would in a game to get to the final stage. Most games feature a boss of some form at the end, whether it be a final race, assault on an enemy base or an actual enemy to defeat. Looking through the games I’ve completed, most of them are in the format of going through stages, completing a harder stage (such as a mini-boss) and then repeating this until you progress on to the final stage.
Action/adventure games, such as the God of War series or any of the Zelda games feature actual bosses, whereas other genres, such as racing games feature tournament stages with a bigger ‘boss’ race at the end of each stage. There are ways to make games without boss stages, but does this make the game better or worse? Would you rather you were tied to this formula and were definitely going to expect a great battle at the end, or would you rather be free to do missions as you choose, and perhaps face an anti-climax?
Have you experienced a game that does the finale right, or is it possible to get it wrong? Personally, my favourite final stages have been the colossal bosses in the action/adventure genre, where I have often been stunned by the scale of things. What about a game based around boss battles, such as Shadow of the Colossus, where you face many large bosses rather than a single being at the end? Which games have provided a great finale and which have turned out to be an anti-climax?
DrNate86
I think a good boss, or at least some kind of climatic ending, is essential in finishing off a game with a bang. I felt both the Modern Warfare games ended well (though I forget which ending is for which game), without having a souped up boss but still had epic finales. Sometimes a boss can feel a bit out of place though, I remember the Uncharted 2 boss feeling a bit off as it wasn’t in keeping with the rest of the game. MGS is by far my favourite ending in a game, with the epic battle against Metal Gear ending with some good and personal fisticuffs. The final fantasies are also very good at spinning a good final battle!
Lorcan
The last battle in Uncharted 2 was rubbish. So simple and dull.
You just run around a bit and shoot some yellow stuff when the guy runs near it. There was nothing exciting about it.
Klart
wasn’t it blue stuff? at least he was rather difficult (I finshed the game on hard on first go)
ericzap
It doesn’t feel like a Ratchet and Clank game without an immense boss battle. They are not always mind bending, but they make you consider things like ammo conservation and the like. The bosses themselves are always hated nemeses after playing the story and you have to chip away at their health.
Lorcan
I hate it if a game ends without a boss battle.
Such an anticlimax and leaves me with a bit of a let down lasting impression.
This is something I’ve always found with the God of War games is that whilst they have the most epic beginings, middles, and ends, the actual climax and final boss battle is never as good as those in the rest of the game. Take God of War 3 for example. As much as I enjoyed the end boss, it just wasn’t as epic as any of the other battles. That said though, the rest more than made up for that..
hairfreax
As much as i hate boss battles it just does not feel like a game if you don’t have a pay off at the end. But then again games like Red Dead and Fallout don’t have a big battle and there endings fit perfectly. A rewarding boss defeat like Crawmax in Borderlands is very pleasing but on the other hand the Joker in Batman, what a push over
gideon1451
MGS4 had some awesome bosses.
C_S15
I wonder what inspired this….
Anyway, MGS games, especially MGS3, have the best endings. MGS3 in paticular is the only ending to make me cry.
Addam
I love the epic end-of-game missions in GTA – always a great way to end the games on a high.
Addam
Arkham Asylum’s end boss fight was a little lacklustre however – it didn’t scream “end of game”, rather it was a little too similar to others throughout.
Jordaaaan
Yeah I was quite disappointed with it. “Oh do some stuff until Joker pops up there, ok?”