My life as a gamer began when I discovered how to play the 8-bit games. Ever since then, games have changed and evolved to fit the times and needs. However, one thing that has stayed constant no matter which timeline you’ve gamed in is the importance of a climax preceded by a memorable BOSS FIGHT. So while others have a say on this, we thought why not remember and note down a few of our best boss fight sequences that can conclude the year 2013 in style. And here we are:
#5 Prophet defeating the Ceph Mastermind (Crysis 3)
God of War: Ascension isn’t the most disappointing game from 2013, even with its horrible online servers, thanks to EA/Crytek’s poor form with Crysis 3. The game nails the visual aspects of a futuristic game engine, but fails miserably in storytelling, challenges and level designing. You’d probably miss out on the better moments from the game because of its poor overall. At a point of time I thought that this game was made purely for the online generation (with a kickass Hunter Mode), but then something happened to the online servers, and you just couldn’t find an online game.
While Prophet and Psycho were leaving one of the bays in the CEPH ridden apocalyptic New York, a giant missile hit the chopper and crashed it straight into the ground. You knew instantly that you were up against someone who takes more than just a predator arrow to the knee. Enter the CEPH Mastermind. The Mastermind is one of the best bosses that you will probably encounter in the previous gen, and it’s a shame that Crysis 3 didn’t have more of them coming in to enhance the challenge. The CEPH Mastermind has tentacles full of drones that hit you like air missiles and can probably end your run in a flash. You can attack him with your CEPH arsenal or go pure with Typhoon or the Predator Bow. There’s ammo stacks and alien guns pretty much everywhere around the villain and you will need to run and hide from time to time in order to resist and defeat this monster. The CEPH Mastermind can lift Prophet from the ground and draw him near because Prophet’s entire body is now a CEPH mod. Ideally, get the Mastermind ambushed from various corners and make sure you are using your supersoldier strength when you are taking damage.
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#4 Batman defeating Copperhead (Batman: Arkham Origins)
Arkham Origins is yet another example of a game failing on the commercial side of it, but none of it leaves any bad impression in my memory. The game excelled the Arkham City techniques at so many levels, but failed to live up to what the story could offer. A mere problem was the imbalance of the assassins story. Sometimes you’d be stunned by the introduction of an assassin, other times you’d be left searching for the hitman. They’re are many I know online who believe that there should be a separate game on Deathstroke altogether, I found the battle with Deathstroke quite boring. A mere QTE (Quick Time Event) fest. Hate me for this, but the whole idea of countering the moves at a precise time doesn’t do justice to my bat like reflexes. Enter Copperhead.
Copperhead is an iconic DC villain who deals with multiple personalities. WB sought to make it more sinisterly by reintroducing Copperhead as a femme fatale. The serpentine moves, ninja stealth and illusive combat make Copperhead a perfect enemy for the man bat. As Arkham Origins draws to a climax, Batman goes head to head with Copperhead. Copperhead already poisons Batman and makes him susceptible to her illusion art. This level actually tests your countering techniques along with your offensive ones, as the time window to perform a move is short. You figure out amongst a score of decoys which one is the real Copperhead and go for her head. Watch out though, she makes a fatal dash that can empty a chunk of your health bar. The fight sequence reminds me of the last fight versus Vaas as Jason Brody in Far Cry 3.
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#3 Lara Croft defeating the Big Oni (Tomb Raider)
For some reason, I don’t agree with the fate of the Tomb Raider remake. For me, who’s been a Lara Croft fan ever since the dawn of PC gaming, this was the most perfect remake to a franchise of that stature. And it had a story that complemented the pace of the game naturally. And when it came to climaxes or boss fights, the game gave you absolutely what was necessary.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0w0-1esnm0
Tomb Raider is hardly about defeating bosses, it’s more about reaching out, transcending and meeting mythological characters. In the hunt for Yumiko, Lara makes it for the Stormguard Fort in the lone island, searching for her friend Sam and the clan lord Mathias. Little does she know (or we know) that a Monster is on the loose. You may have faced the strange stormguards and defeated them from the edge of a cliff. But now is the time to take on the big daddy of them all – The Big Oni. Defeating Big Oni needs more precision than just simple blind firing. His whole body is impenetrable, while it is only his back where he takes damage. And the Big Oni brings to life many sidekicks to assist him. Being slow, it is easy to dodge Big Oni, but beware of his spike club, one swing and you are finished.
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#2 Ellie defeating David (The Last Of Us)
Whosoever said that The Last Of Us doesn’t punish you for being an amateur in games has perhaps lied to you. Tying simplicity with complex strategy making makes The Last Of Us your perfect training session for a futuristic apocalypse. In the Winter series within the game, you control Ellie for the first time, and you know that this girl deserves more tutorage from Joel before she can jump into a fight sequence.
The battle is a perfect example of creating a horror sequence without a single infected involved. David and the rest of the Hunters are seen as a non-organised group of survivors who loot when needed, kill and rape when necessary. Ellie was perhaps David’s game in this otherwise dead world. Killing his apprentice and running inside an old restaurant, Ellie finds herself pitted in David’s dirty game. As a gamer who’s seen it all previously in The Last Of Us, you’ll want Ellie to get out of there alive and untouched. David plays a little hide and seek game with the teenager Ellie, and challenges become plenty the way you plan your way out of there. Throughout the boss battle, you will need to avoid making contact with the broken plates lying around and sneak your way around to stab David from the back. You can ambush David by throwing a brick to the opposite direction and then stabbing him when he’s unaware. The way the scene breaks into an emotional rollercoaster, when Joel and Ellie are reunited, is pure phenomenal keeping in mind the pain that you just went through. Words can’t explain the moment, play it to believe it.
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#1 Kratos defeating the Fury Sisters (God of War: Ascension)
My hopes for an ace God of War prequel were strong, the reason why I wouldn’t settle for anything less than a Collector’s Edition of GOW: Ascension. In my honest opinion, the game wasn’t that bad, but the major chunk of it fell flat. Plots were unstitched, moves were obvious and the singular blades (blessed by the powers of the Gods) based inventory fell pretty charred when you compare to the outrageous options in GOW III. But like in every GOW game, this edition had its moments. And one of the most challenging bits came when you finally faced the three Fury sisters.
Ascension opens with Kratos being tortured by one of the sisters, the worst bit is: the sisters pay no allegiance to no mortal nor god. Kratos’ own undoing led him straight to the sisters, leading up to the first big fight in Ascension, versus the captured Hecatonchires. 6-7 hours into the gameplay and you know that the clash with the Furies is inevitably close. While Kratos was busy fixing the Statue of Apollo with the Amulet of Uroborus, the Fury sisters come by to pay him a visit. Disillusioning the Ghost of Sparta with imagery from his home, the Furies later combine to test the Spartan with their respective magic and combat. Very few battle levels in God Of War test your IQ, and this one was one of the rare few. Beating one is fine, but beating all three seem mere impossible, and that’s when I started planning it out. While one hangs up in the air, the other two are giants in their own ways. Tackle one’s spider like tentacles, jump away from the others aerial attack. While you can do this, keep hitting the sister who looks like a half human, because that’s the only way you can proceed to the next plot.
