10 Video Game Boss Fights That Killed The Hype

The phrase "nobody asked for this" has never felt more appropriate than when discussing the ill-advised boss battles in Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

The first of the game's four boss fights is against minigun-totting meathead Lawrence Barrett, and immediately lets the player know that these battles are going to be the low-point of the experience.

Players who spent their preceding time with the game focused on stealth gameplay were in for quite the nasty surprise when they were forced into a conventional arena-style boss battle with Barrett.

Given the series' penchant for providing players with plentiful options for non-lethal or indirect engagement, many hadn't invested much in their combat loadout, leaving them up the creek when forced to take Barrett on directly.

After a strong introduction, this battle made player hype for the game wilt immediately: a pattern that was ultimately repeated for its three other poorly judged boss battles.

Thankfully the Director's Cut revised the fights to offer players other options, and sequel Mankind Divided ended up ditching bosses almost entirely, but for many players the original experience with Human Revolution remains a traumatic one.

Unsurprisingly, it was eventually revealed that the boss battles were outsourced to another studio, who evidently struggled to reconcile them with the game's more thoughtful core design philosophy.