Gaming has evolved over the years, with trends and fads coming and going. But whether it’s a side scrolling shooter, epic platform adventure, mammoth RPG or driving challenge there has forever been one constant: the Boss Battle.
Standing proud at the end of a level and preventing progression unless defeated by the player, a Boss is always a challenge and a good one can make a game as much as a bad one can ruin it. In our weekly feature throughout April, the team will offer their take on some of the best boss battles the industry has to offer. Today, Ben looks at Mr Freeze from Rocksteady’s masterful Batman: Arkham City.
When do you face him?
The fight isn’t actually the first encounter with Mr Freeze. Batman comes across him earlier in the game when the good doctor is being held captive by Penguin. A little later on (about two thirds of the way through the main story) Freeze is back up to full strength and ready to take on the Bat in Gotham City’s abandoned police HQ.
Why is the battle great?
The clever way it requires a mixture of Batman’s skills to beat him while giving the player the flexibility of choice as to which ones to use.
How does it play out?
The mechanics are simple: Batman is trapped in a room with Mr Freeze and must hit him three or four times to win the battle. Due to the strength of Freeze’s suit and gun, the player is forced to avoid detection and sneak up on Freeze to get the hits in.
Batman has all manner of methods to do this: he can hide in grates, attack from vents, sneak up behind walls, use the environment to his advantage and access his gadgets to name but a few. This would usually make the contest a relatively one-sided affair but the clever design means that whenever you succeed with a certain approach, Freeze uses his gun to render that method ineffective for the rest of the fight. More often than not hiding places and areas to attack from are frozen solid.
It forces the player to mix up their attack patterns, all the while keeping out of sight of the boss. The room plays a part too, being small enough to feel tight and enclosed while at the same time giving enough space to stay hidden and plot a suitable strategy.
It’s a tense battle from start to finish, and one of the stand out moments in an already brilliant game. A wonderful representation of a classic villain that, perhaps most importantly, forces the player to constantly think and improvise in order to win.
Just like Batman.
So what do you think of this boss fight: is there a better one in Batman: Arkham City? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. Up next week in our Boss Battles series is Kim, so stay tuned!
