Good FPS Bosses/Mechanics Thereof

[sXeth]

As Destiny 2 ships out its Prestige Raid (which they have mainly just added "challenge" by randomly force assigning people to do different roles rather then any actual changes. There was some discussion as to how you would do a first person shooter boss with significant mechanics well.

Destiny has mostly struggled with the idea. Often falling back on either DPS checks (Bullet sponge+time limits forcing a high damage weapon), or variations on stand in aura/get item to give aura/kill thing to get aura buff to deal damage to otherwise invincible bosses.

Which got to trying to think of solid FPS bosses. From my own recent favorites, Wolfensteins last boss was just a high damage bullet sponge. Doom's largely revolved around a barebones bullet hell for one, a dodge and attack system for another, then awkwardly out of place platforming on the third (Another thing Destiny has a preference for, at least Doom doesn't have weird floaty jump physics). Shadow Warrior reused the same Zelda-esque shoot-the-glowy-bits system over. The second installment didn't really have much other then a super health enemy with some jumping required to dodge sweeping tentacles.

 

[sXeth]

Resistance 2 and 3 had some pretty incredible bosses and set piece battles. Kinda makes me want to play them again, but not enough to buy them again.

 

[Zykon TheLich_v1legacy]

Not a traditional FPS and I wouldn't really call them bosses, but sniper elite has tanks that you had to whittle down. Snipe the turret vision slit to stop the main gun, snipe the driver vision slit to stop it moving, then try and sneak up behind out of view of the forward MG to chuck some explosives underneath. They also gave you AT mines and the tanks did a very predictable wide circuit to allow you time to plant one, which would immobilise it as well. Felt a bit cheaty though. Sometimes they gave tanks infantry support (a boss needs minions) so you had to take them out before you could plant a mine (or there was at least a fairly major threat of being found and shot while planting said mine), and that felt better.

 

[sanquin]

In my opinion Borderlands has some interesting bosses here and there. I recently fought a giant bird that flew around, dive-dombed you every now and then, and switched between 4 elemental effects one at a time, each with it's own mechanic. That was pretty interesting imo.

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

I like the bosses in Killing Floor 2. They are a little spongy buy they do have very different mechanics and force you to move around the map a lot and coordinate with your team.

A lot of people are suggesting third person shooters and wracking my brain I too come up with more examples of good boss fights in third person games than I do in first person. I think the first person perspective lends itself better to boss sequences than singular boss fights. As in, large scale battles or desperate fortress defenses. Some of my favorite FPS moments are in the American levels in COD 2 where you are assaulting and defending Normandy and Hill 400. Those big, showy set pieces are more memorable to me than boss fights.

Another example would be Halo 2 if you've played it. I bet you remember the scarab sequence on earth, chasing it through the city and eventually jumping on top and destroying it from the inside. I bet you don't remember the crappy boss fight at the end with the Brute captain.

 

[Squilookle]

Not a traditional FPS and I wouldn't really call them bosses, but sniper elite has tanks that you had to whittle down. Snipe the turret vision slit to stop the main gun, snipe the driver vision slit to stop it moving, then try and sneak up behind out of view of the forward MG to chuck some explosives underneath. They also gave you AT mines and the tanks did a very predictable wide circuit to allow you time to plant one, which would immobilise it as well. Felt a bit cheaty though. Sometimes they gave tanks infantry support (a boss needs minions) so you had to take them out before you could plant a mine (or there was at least a fairly major threat of being found and shot while planting said mine), and that felt better.

Agreed on Sniper Elite, even though it had slipped my mind. Those were appropriately tense as a sniper- not one to usually be able to take on a tank.

The only other three I can think of is Perfect Dark, which involved a boss dodging back and forth on a raised platform, shooting rockets at you and occasionally summoning enemies into the area you were in to fight you. What was interesting about it was you could pump it full of every bullet you had left and it wouldn't die. Whenever it's shield got low it would kneel before it's shielded altar to recharge, and if you're paying attention you'd notice part of the altar would be unshielded only during this recharge- so you'd whittle down the boss, then while they recharged you'd blow chunks off the altar- the final piece would topple and impale the boss.

Then there's Unreal Tournament, which topped off its already outstanding enemy bot AI with an enemy with near perfect reflexes and aim, in a way that felt more like versing a pro-player rather than a piece of programming.

Finally The Saboteur, while 3rd person, had such a unique final boss I have to include it anyway, and spoiler alert, so if you're considering playing the masterpiece DON'T READ THIS: He's a Nazi who wronged you at the start of the game, and you spend the rest of the story taking away his power and prestige until at the end he stands before you, an utterly broken shell of a man, unarmed and virtually sobbing. You can end him with a single bullet from your pistol but... and I found this all the more astounding considering he was a Nazi- I pitied the wretched bastard. And after wavering in front of me for a time, he leaped off the platform to his own death, saving me the dirty work of killing him myself.

Anyone who's played it will know what I mean here when I say that mission was incredibly memorable. Especially that ghostly, haunting music wafting out from that piano...

 

[WhiteFangofWhoa]

Destiny seems to focus more on being a MMORPG than a shooter, but it is true that making a compelling FPS boss can be challenging.

The most important aspects of such a game that players learn to use when fighting normally is to use cover/the environment and shoot the enemy with their weakness, which doesn't really blend with a single giant enemy. This is probably why many bosses spawn minor enemies to swarm you. Anything requiring you to jump a lot is iffy since jumping in first person is usually awkward.

Does the Metroid Prime series count? That had some great bosses, though I felt the final bosses had so much health that they got boring. Doom 3 had some interesting ones, like the powerful Guardian who can't actually see you, but spawns floating orbs that relay your location before stomping over there. Too bad the Cyberdemon fight didn't actually have you fighting it directly, just gathering the souls from minor demons needed to hurt it.

One thing I haven't seen done much is a human boss who relies on stealth attacks. They would stalk you back through the level you had already cleared of normal enemies and use hit and run ambushes to wear you down since they don't have much health. They could also plant mines or other traps.