The 10 HARDEST Bosses in FPS Games

The Leviathan

“Resistance 2” (2008)

“Resistance 2” is notorious among fans for being unnecessarily harder than the first game, and the Leviathan has caused many to simply watch the ending online. The entire boss fight is scripted, forcing the player to cross to certain areas in a specific order before they can use the only weapon capable of hurting the beast. But what makes the Leviathan so aggravating to deal with is that, at any moment, it can grab you. Should you fail the quick-time event during this action, you will instantly fail and be forced to start the entire fight over again.

Ash

“Titanfall 2” (2016)

So, “Titanfall 2” goes against its design philosophy entirely for this fight. When developing a shooter built entirely around how players move in the environment, how do you expect them to get through a boss fight taking place in such a congested space? Not only is it a tight room, there’s also barely any cover to get behind, and Ash can teleport whenever she damn well feels like it! All this only makes her annoying to face, and it makes replaying the campaign sound like a nightmare more than anything else.

The Dragon

“Quake” (1996)

Good freakin’ lord, the Dragon is probably the biggest reason why some of us choose to not suffer through the original “Quake”. Don’t get us wrong - every FPS fan needs to play all of “Quake” and “Quake II”. But our praise gets more hesitant when talking about the Dragon in the “Dissolution of Eternity” expansion. Avoiding his lightning projectiles is next to impossible, and if you do get hit, they take off an insanely huge chunk of health AND inflict knockback. So, yeah, a few falls into the lava is going to set some of us off.

The Invincibles

“Borderlands” series (2009-)

No matter if you’re playing the original “Borderlands” or any of its sequels and spin-offs, every game has a boss known as “the Invincible”. These bosses are intentionally designed for you to fight them alongside three other players. Each of the Invincible bosses boast a massive amount of health that’ll require top-notch coordination and never-ending damage output from you and your allies just to make a dent in it. Of course, there are supposedly ways to defeat these bosses solo without using every bullet you can spare, though most methods require excessive grinding.

Colonel Radec

“Killzone 2” (2009)

Okay, so this is a hard as hell boss fight we admittedly love…under certain difficulties. The hordes of enemies that charge at you in the beginning? Cool way to kick off this final bout…when Rico isn’t being a complete imbecile. Radec’s cloaking and tendency to try and rush us is what makes this fight kind of thrilling. What isn’t exciting is when he lands shots that should have a zero percent chance of nailing. Those are the moments that had us moving on to other, more fair games. It doesn’t help that the PS3’s controllers weren’t exactly the most responsive.

Rhulk, Disciple of the Witness

“Destiny 2” (2017)

Speaking of utter nonsense, Rhulk is perhaps the most infamous boss in all of “Destiny 2”, expansions included. It’s one thing to demand players maintain good coordination. It’s another to give him beefy damage output. But holy crap, this dude has a crazy amount of mobility. Sure, you can still fire shots and hit. Trick is having to prioritize damage output with your own safety as his attacks can box you in and cover a wide amount of the room. It can be easy to lose your cool and start moving around in a panic.

The Ghost of Lady Comstock

“BioShock Infinite” (2013)

For many players, Lady Comstock was the breaking point, and understandably so. In addition to the tedious nature of reviving fallen allies and such, Lady Comstock has a tendency to keep sending forth more and more enemies at you. It can get so harrowing that you’ll constantly feel like you’re running low on ammo. It quickly becomes annoying, and you have to go through this whole cycle several times before she’s finally dead.

Lord Achriman

“Serious Sam 4” (2020)

So, most of the bosses on here are here for genuinely frustrating designs, whether it be tedium, aggressive behavior, devastating attacks, or what have you. Lord Achriman only gets a spot on here because “Serious Sam 4” is just not a well-polished game. The hitboxes are so out of proportion in this game that there are plenty of times where you’ll get hit by projectiles despite being behind cover. With Lord Achriman, this issue becomes excessive, and it doesn’t help that he barely takes much damage overall while also being extremely fast.

Meta Ridley

“Metroid Prime” (2002)

For the most part, “Metroid Prime” isn’t a super tough game to get through. Much of your time is spent exploring, and most bosses are pretty straightforward. Meta Ridley is also straightforward, but he is perhaps the only boss in the game that’ll make you sweat. Your shots aren’t going to do squat with all that armor on him. Your only means to inflict damage is to shoot the center of his chest, which is a lot easier said than done. That hurtbox is much smaller than you may believe, and with his aggressively erratic movement, you won’t get much time to land a shot before he starts another attack. You’re going to have to memorize his animations to get through this one.

Icon of Sin

“DOOM II: Hell On Earth” (1994)

To this day, the original iteration of the Icon of Sin is the hardest boss to ever appear in a first-person shooter. This menacing wall of death doesn’t even directly attack you either. It simply launches boxes containing different types of demons you’ve encountered before. But those numbers can become overwhelming if left alone for too long. You’ll need to land a rocket inside the Icon’s exposed brain to bring an end to the nightmare. But that opening is placed in a really awkward spot. Miss, and you’ll have to jump back into the demon swarm below, fight your way back to the switch to bring the platform down again, and give it another go until it’s finally dead…or until you’re dead.

What’s the hardest boss you’ve come across in a first-person shooter? Let us know down in the comments, and don’t forget to subscribe to MojoPlays.