20 Video Game Bosses You Must Defeat Before You Die

14. The Boss (Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater)

Another classic Metal Gear Solid boss fight comes at the conclusion of Snake Eater with Naked Snake facing down his old mentor The Boss in a remote Lily field, making for one of the all-time greatest cinematic video game standoffs. The key to winning the fight is typically engaging The Boss in CQC (Close Quarters Combat), and avoiding her own CQC attacks, as well as fire from her trusty gun, The Patriot. Due to the nature of The Boss' white camouflage, using thermal goggles is a great way to make the fight easier for yourself, and eventually guarantee your victory. But that's not all. As she hands over the Philosopher's Legacy to Naked Snake, the player then has one final task, to end The Boss' life with one shot from The Patriot. It's an incredibly haunting, ground-breaking moment in video game lore, one that heightened the emotional intensity and importance by forcing the player to pull the trigger. This then leads to the devastating reveal that, in fact, The Boss was not the traitor we thought her to be, and she was working undercover to steal the Philosopher's Legacy and bring it back to the US. Mind-blowing doesn't even begin to describe it.