Boss encounters are some of the best moments of any game, any genre. But in an FPS you either get a lazily designed "bigger" version of a typical baddie that just serves to soak up bullets and waste your time, or a "gimmick" boss, where you need to repeat a pattern of dull non-shooting tasks to expose a weak spot, lure the boss into some sort of trap, etc. It's a snore fest.

I can't think of a single FPS with a well-designed boss; something that pumps your adrenaline and puts your shooting skills to the test. You know, something that doesn't deviate from the general mechanics of a FPS, something that requires quick reflexes, good aim, and non-stop action, and still manages to be creative, challenging, and most importantly fun.

Do you know of any?

Food FPS, eh? Like Chex Quest? =P

Is that like how fighting game bosses, though they may be very difficult, are really just cheating most of the time? Hell, that even happens outside of bosses. Remember how Guile had to crouch for a second in order to use his Somersault Kick, but the CPU could do it standing up?

I know it's not really an answer, but I think with both of these genres the real boss fight is PvP multiplayer. In FPS games, if it's not a bullet sponge or a big guy with a just as big glowing weak spot, all I can think of really is a duel with another shooter. At that point the game might be pretty much emulating another player, so you might as well play against another human player.

I can think of potentially interesting boss fights, like being pinned under fire by a gunslinger and having to carefully traverse the terrain and get the drop on him, like the boss fight with The End in MGS3, but that would probably fall under your description of gimmicky.

Hey man, Chex Quest was great. Of course, a lot of that was due to Doom's super-solid gameplay, but still.


On topic, though, what are you actually looking for in a boss fight? If the bosses can't have more health or unique mechanics, what can possibly distinguish them from normal enemies?

Does Omikron's final bad guy count?
Wait. No. Killing him wasn't fun; it was pain in second 90s.

OH NO. I played the game back when it was released, so I don't remember the boss at all. But I clearly remember that the fight was all about backpedal circling, trying to keep aim with my crappy ball mouse, and shooting for 15mins. Damn, glorious typo.

He-he-he.

Well yeah, more health and unique mechanics are all welcome. I enjoy long epic fights a lot. But more health shouldn't translate to making the boss a bullet sponge. Or unique mechanics shouldn't feel like a chore doing a stupid trick N times.

Completely random examples: Say, old platformers like Megaman, or gimmicky ones like Silhouette Mirage. Or shmups, you can think of the recent Cave releases on PC, or Ikaruga. Spectacle fighters like Devil May Cry series. Metal Slug series for an example from the arcades. Last bosses of older Final Fantasy games for hour long bosses. These are all tough, long fights. But they remain engaging throughout. They are not mechanically any different from the rest of the game, yet they are creative. They are challenging but not because they test your patience or stamina, but they require you to execute your moves skillfully.

Take Quake, Serious Sam, Undying, the new Shadow Warrior... Circle around, shoot, shut your brain, repeat for 5 mins. Which one do you enjoy more in Painkiller, normal levels, or boss levels?

Food FPS?

Check out the HD Remake of Chex Quest:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rg2XXWDVsR0

How about the Dark Jedi battles in Dark Forces II? It required skill with a lightsaber to battle those bosses and sometimes the fights were really intense - damn dual wielding Jedi bastard...

You couldn't shoot the Jedi of course - so it might not qualify as a FPS boss battle.

If I have to choose, I prefer the "find the pattern" or "lure to a trap" kind of boss. To me e.g. the end boss of ICO (the PS2 game) was quite ok, IIRC.

But yeah, for some reason I can't really tell a great FPS end-boss fight. I was going to say "Serious Sam" because I really liked the end where the end-boss appears on a huuuuuuuuuge playing area and you keep running away from it and shooting at it with big ass weapons (there was something so majestic about the scene, running backwards away from an enemy size of a skyscraper)...

...but then I recalled that wasn't really the end-boss fight, as you fight him to death inside the pyramid too, which was more about the "lure him to a trap" fight, and not a very good at that IIRC.

I liked the Cyberdemon in Doom. Sure, it was a bullet sponge enemy but you could outmaneuver him in that arena, dodge his rockets (if you weren't too close) but damn, he was scary and got my adrenaline going!

I have to agree mostly, bosses in FPS are generally not memorable they tend to be sponges or with red spots to shoot or some other gimmick.

If I recall correctly you had to 'summon' the poop monster boss in Conker's Bad Fur Day by throwing corn into his 'lair'.
More of a food related boss, but the only one I can currently think of.