10 Needlessly Hard Early Video Game Bosses

4. Deathstroke - Batman: Arkham Origins

Batman Deathstroke Arkham Origins
Warner Bros.

Standard combat in the Arkham games is rewarding and mindless fun, putting you in the big spiked boots of Batman and all those rippling muscles. Pulling off great combos and flying from foe to foe feels good. Deathstroke puts his foot down on being treated like any other goon.

Batman: Arkham City is set on December 24th, as Batman has to subdue eight assassins sent to make his crime-fighting ways a thing of the past.

Perhaps as a nod to the Arkham Asylum fight with Bane which required players to use context clues and well-timed manoeuvres, Arkham Origins’ first boss fight with Deathstroke slows things right down. Wailing on the assassin is all well and good, but if you don’t have your counters timed out right then you’re going to have a pretty rough time. In the second phase, Deathstroke doesn’t hold back and if you slip up it's curtains for the Caped Crusader as missing too many will result in a game over.

The battle is slow and arduous at the best of times, and culminates in Deathstroke throwing explosive canisters that need to be caught midair just to top it all off.

Not only is this an early boss fight in the game, Deathstroke is the first of eight assassins that Batman has to contend with. Talk about a disappointing Christmas gift.

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Coming from a content creation background that now spans over two decades, Psy cut her teeth on personal video production and community radio. Originally joining the team as a writer and presenter, she added video editing duties to her responsibilities over time and became the longest-standing editor of the irreverent gaming show Tues Your Own Adventure. Psy has worked on many previews and reviews, long-form editorials (either her own, or supporting as an editor), as a frequent quizmaster and more. Praised for the two-pronged attack of her hard work ethic and light-hearted editing style, Psy is otherwise known as a font of retro video game knowledge which has caused her to rack up many quiz wins. Outside of WhatCulture, Psy runs First Aid Spray Podcast - a long-running channel that focuses on Resident Evil in all of it's forms. You can follow her on BlueSky at http://psywhite.bsky.social and Instagram at http://instagram.com/therealpsywhite