Pick 5(Spoiler Edition): disappointing final boss fights in this generation
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In most video games, you are treated with a final battle, a final encounter that will conclude the journey you've invested hours in. A lot can be quite epic that leaves you goosebumps after your done, but a lot can make you go "That's it?!". That's what this Pick 5 is all about this week. Final boss battles that were simply disappointing.
SPOILER ALERT! - Yes we're talking about final boss fights so we might spoil it for you if you haven't played the games mentioned. You've been warned, but if you don't give a damn, by all means.. continue.
Halo 4 - Master Chief vs Didact
I had a great time with Halo 4. It had its high and lows, but one thing that made me shake my head was towards the end of the game. After a good build up for an antagonist to really push Master Chief past his limits, he literally falls short in making him or you any challenge. As you meet him in the bridge, Master Chief is again unable to move thanks to the Didacts psychic-ish powers, eventually leaving the famous Spartan helpless. With the help of Cortana for one last time, you do a very easy, and very quick Quick Time Event to take him down. That's it.
I wanted a full-blown battle against the Didact, but I guess it was too much to ask. Sure, Halo 3 had nothing at the end, just a race to the Forward Unto Dawn then credits start rolling, but 343 Industries created a worthy Antagonist that deserved a good battle. Yet another reason I want QTE(Quick Time Events) to be eliminated in all games forever.
Guild Wars 2 - Zhaitan
Oh Zhaitan, the undead Elder Dragon that has been tormenting the world of Tyria for the longest time finally meets its match towards the end of your characters personal story. I actually made a mistake thinking this would be epic. It's a battle against a dragon, and most battles against a dragon can be memorable. So I saved it, but once I finally did the final battle, I was left with a bad taste in my mouth, hoping there was another form of some sort. But no, after a tediously long dungeon, you face Zhaitan himself in the skies while on board an airship, once you see the dragon in the flesh, that's where it gets dull.
Undead forces start boarding the ship. Naturally, we dispose of them fairly easy, after that, we get to damage Zhaitan by using the cannons on the ship. THAT"S THE FIGHT. You have one of the strongest creature in the world of Tyria, clinging on a tower, getting shot at by cannons, doing nothing but scream in agony. Enemies keep boarding, with Zhaitan's tentacles on the ship as well, but is easy to dispose off if you ask one of your party members to get off his cannon and fend them off. ArenaNet failed to capitalize on a battle that could have been memorable for everybody that has reached the end of their personal story. I wish they take this as a lesson for future boss battles because I can't believe world bosses are more epic than the final one.
Dead Island - Ryder White
The final encounter for Dead Island was none other than the guy in the radio, which is also the character you play on one of the DLC. This was disappointing not because of how the fight went, but because of how easy it is to either glitch him, or simple kill. Ryder White uses the antidote after getting infected by his wife. Sad to say, the antidote made him into this crazy zombie brute.
Fight starts, and if your strong enough, use your frenzy skill and he will be down in less than a minute. The End. Me and my buddies were laughing how it was harder to get to the final fight. I actually felt bad for the guy, having 4 people gang up on an infected guy that just wanted to save his wife. My next playthrough with another character was even more depressing. Thinking I'd get a good challenge alone, for some reason I had Ryder not moving when the fight started. Only when his life hit 20% did he start moving , but by then he was dead. I would have been ok if they didn't bother including a final encounter, but they tried anyway and it turned out to be another zombie that's bigger than usual.
Mass Effect 3 - there was none
Don't worry, this won't be a rant about the ending, I'm actually one of the small few that was okay with the original endings. But moving on, why is this on the list? Because there was no damn final encounter. First game it had Saren, controlled by the Reapers. Next, ME2 had the human Reaper battle. For the final game, we get nothing really. Before reaching the beam that teleports you to the Citadel, you were tasked to hold off wave after waves of enemies, giving EDI enough time to ready the missiles to destroy the huge reaper in your way. That's about it really.
I was expecting Harbinger, the reaper that I consider as the true antagonist of the game, or anything really. With the first two games having great final battles, I'm sure everybody was expecting something. I feel that having no final boss fight was way more disappointing than the ending people were so angry about.
Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City - Leon
Oh god. Not only was Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City a horrible game, its boss fight was one of the worst ever. You finally catch up to Leon and your group is given a choice - Execute Leon S. Kennedy, or spare him. Now, if your playing the campaign with other players, they each get to decide individually. If you decide to kill Leon, you are with the group of people that picked the same choice. If you decided to spare him, you side with Leon and go against the people who chose to kill him. And there ya go, your final battle which turns out to be a team deathmatch with other players. To make matters worse, when the ending scene rolled, there was no audio for me. I can't believe I bought this game on day one. I'll take this opportunity to say "Don't buy this game, you will only get a headache."
There's a couple more, but these five really made a bad impression when the credits started rolling. What about you? Any final boss fights that fell short in bringing an epic conclusion??
