Bring back the puzzle bosses!q

[Revenge]

Something that I feel HL2 and EP1 were both missing was a decent, truly puzzle-like boss battle. The closest we've had is solve a couple of simple puzzles to get to the crate of infinite rockets, and subsequently end the fight immediately....

Something I'd like to see is a boss fight where you have to solve something like 3 puzzles, with each solved puzzle doing visible damage to the boss, and the 3rd finally finishing it off. It goes without saying, that while weapons could serve to distract it (perhaps by other NPCs shooting at it), they would do no damage to it.

 

[gweedodogg69]

like in the original half-life, that 3 headed thing. i wouldve liked to have seen that monster in HL2.

 

[BrimStone04]

When i was playing HL2 for the first time, i was expecting something like a puzzle fight once i entered Breens particle chamber as he was about to teleport, i was expecting to have to somehow find my way uptop, then i realized i just follow the only possible way to go to get to him and then simple shoots a couple combine energy balls to become victorious!!! I loved even that part, but i was seriously expecting a more complex fight.

 

[Link]

The trouble is the realism vs gameplay devide. Bosses that cannot be destoryed by umpteen rockets and rounds are completly unrealistic, which these days can detract from the experience. Developers need to come up with new ways to make a boss exciting, give it time and they will get it right.

 

[Revenge]

So throw the puzzle boss in before the rocket launcher is available! We're already used to bosses that are immune to bullets fired from hand-held weaponry.

I liked how the helicopter boss battle played out in HL2. It hounded you for a while, chased you relentlessly until you managed to injure it, at which point it limps off and comes back for round 2 later. While EP1's gunship battle was novel (with the roof and floor breaking apart), the lead up felt lacking, especially when it suddenly became capable (or interested) in hovering perfectly outside windows.

EDIT: The more I think about it... The more I start to think that the rocket launcher in general is a big limiting factor on how boss battles can play out... I'd like to see them do an episode without including one at all...

 

[Black Op]

The primary reason why the boss enemies were absent from HL2 I feel is due to the nature of the enemy you faced. In HL1, you were pitted aganist a mob of Xen creatures that were not organized into a proper military force well. Due to their "demonic" nature, it made sense to have special boss enemies like Gonarch and Nihilanth. However in HL2, your main foe was a Combie occupation force modified to fight on Earth using a hybrid of Earth and Combine technology. Since the spotlight was on these enemies, proper bosses would have been neglected.

However with EP2, enterring the Antlion's home turf can give us a chance fighting an Antlion King boss. Assuming he'll be fought in the manner of the Tentacles and Gargantuas, it will require a puzzle to outwit the beast. It might be that big puzzle VALVe hinted at in the PCG article about EP2. As it's late where I live, my ideas for this sequence will have to wait until a later time.

 

[Revenge]

Hmm... I consider the helicopter fight in the canals to be a fully fledged boss battle in its own right. After the rocket launcher came along, the striders and gunships felt a lot more like mini-bosses than actual bosses... But I wouldn't lump them in with the normal and common enemies.

 

[Asknoone]

Essentially the Antlion guards are boss fights, as well as the Chopper. The Strider was also given a neat twist at the end of EP1 and as such is also a boss fight. These make for far more sophisticated and practical boss battles, rather than facing some big ass enemy that is really pretty lame (Sin episodes and Quake 4, I'm looking at you.)

Some huge, flabbergast enemy would just look silly in the world. They just don't fit.

I look at Dark Energy for a prime example of how gaming has moved on. Breen is the boss and he is about to escape via teleporter. You have to stop him. Breen = boss. But instead of pummelling him with rockets you have to clamber to the top of his reactor and destroy his teleport. It's practical, sophisticated and doesn't detract from the world. It is essentially a puzzle boss like you described.

More of these please Valve.