Top Ten Most Disappointing Boss Battles in Video Games.
Boss Battles are one of the oldest traditions in gaming. To try and rank the greatest battles would be a near impossible undertaking. So instead, lets just look at the ones that aren’t that great.
10: Uroboros Wesker – Resident Evil 5
Dude, what is wrong with your face?
The final battle of this game takes place inside a freakin volcano! Up to this point the battles with Wesker have pitted Chris and his partner Sheva against the super powered mad man who puts up one hell of a fight. Wesker, having finally had enough of Chris’s meddling exposes himself to the Uroboros virus and becomes something that would look right at home in a tentacle hentai.
People are probably asking why this is a problem, it sounds awesome.
The problem is that at this point in time Wesker ceases to be the villain everyone loved to hate, and just became another generic monster for Chris to kill.
9: Titan Joker – Batman Arkham Asylum
“I don’t know Bats. What did the five fingers say to the face?”
Yup, Arkham Asylum.
One of, if not THE best superhero game ever made. This game really does have a great feeling of escalation with its bosses, each one more threatening than the last and each one feeling entirely unique. Throughout the entire game there is a build up to the final confrontation with the Joker. And credit where it is do, I don’t think anyone expected what we got. The problem is, you’re not really fighting the Joker. You spend the majority of the fight dispatching the same random goons you have fought through the rest of the game until you can pull Mistah Jay down from his platform and smack him around a few times before he retreats and sends more goons after you. There’s no real satisfaction to it.
8: The TX-55 Supercomputer – Metal Gear (North American NES Port)
Man, why does Japan always get the cool giant robots?
Boss fights in Metal Gear games have become the stuff of legend. However the very first game in the series pulled a cruel bait and switch for the North American release. Through out the game you are constantly told that your final mission is to destroy the nuclear equipped walking battle tank Metal Gear. That sounds amazing! But instead of squaring off against the deadly power house at the end of the game, players of the original North American release of the game where met with a room full of goons and a computer.
7: Pyramid Head – Silent Hill 2
Come’on guys. Can we just grab an espresso and talk this over please?
There’s no two ways around it, Silent Hill 2 is one of the greatest survival horror games ever created and that is owed in no small part to the games antagonist Pyramid Head. While he only puts in a hand full of appearances over the course of the game, his presence haunts your every step through the misty streets of Silent Hill. The final confrontation with the beast sees your square off against not just one, but two Pyramid Heads, neither of which puts up the fight you would expect from him.
6: Bowser – Super Mario Bros 3.
I’ll give you three guesses where Bowser is. And the first two don’t count.
While I’m not going to say that fighting Bowser in the first Mario game was some great challenge, there was a certain satisfaction to grabbing that axe and watching The King of Koopa plummet to his fiery death, no doubt writhing in agony as his flesh is burned away by the red hot magma. Or maybe I’m just a touch of a sadist.
The battle in Super Mario Bros 3 is the equivalent of telling you enemy to go jump of a cliff, and having them listen to you. Then again, I did just kill ALL his children so he can’t exactly be in a healthy mind set.
5: Vaas – Far Cry 3
“What’chu mean I get stabbed to death by some boring white boy?”
Vaas is one of the most memorable villains of the last ten years of gaming. Totally insane, and yet oddly charming, Vaas will spring up at the oddest moments during the game and work his way under your skin, becoming a constant rival and in some strange ways, companion on your journey through the Hook Islands. Your final confrontation with Vaas comes roughly half way through the game, and after storming his pirate fortress you just kind of, stab him to death.
I’ll be totally honest for a second, I was so disappointed in this fight I kept expecting Vaas to show up again in the last act for an epic one on one. Sadly he doesn’t.
4: The Cyber Demon – Doom 3
Still more fun than fighting it in Doom 3.
At first glance Doom 3’s incarnation of the Cyber demon seems like its going to be a blast, you don’t even come up to it’s knee. Unfortunately three good blasts from the Soul Cube and down he goes. So much wasted potential. I have heard that on higher difficulty setting this fight is much more enjoyable, but after the let down of one play through I’m not sure I have the heart to do it again.
3: Jack of Blades – Fable
“I’m one of the good guys. I swear. I’m not going to try and destroy the world only to be stopped by some doofus with a bow.”
Probably the greatest act of villainy committed back Jack of Blades was that he somehow managed to convince the people of Albion that he’s a hero all the while looking like the fantasy version of Jason Voorhees. When I was looking for an image to attach to this part of the article I found super cute fan of art Jack that still managed to be scary as hell. Unfortunately Jack isn’t the unstoppable force of nature that Jason is and simply circle strafing him with a bow is enough to put him down without much bother.
2: Alduin – The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
I know he looks scary. But his Yol Toor Shul is worse than his Fus Ro Dah.
You have battled your way across the entirety of Skyrim, slain men, demons, dragons and many other things, Traveled to Sovngarde, the mythical final resting place for the sprits of the Nords of Skyrim. And on this hallowed ground you prepare to meet your destiny and do battle with Alduin, The World Eater, The God of Destruction. And it’s just like every other dragon fight in the game.
And that’s pretty boring.
1: Death – Castlevania II Simon’s Quest
You’d think The Grim Reaper would look more intimidating.
You can walk right past him! I don’t know what else to say! I’m sure there’s a quip about cheating death in there somewhere I just can’t think of it right now.
So that’s the list. Feel free to leave your own in the comments below. And check out our list of the Ten Best Video Game Bosses of All Time.
