30. Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec

Perfection in a video game doesn’t come easy, but Polyphony Digital has come closer than most with several of its Gran Turismo titles. Despite cutting back on the number of cars, Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec is arguably the best of the bunch in terms of physics, AI, and sound (and even its visuals still hold up today). That’s before getting into the improvements with car shops, Gran Turismo Mode, and the long-awaited arrival of Formula One cars.

Following recent layoffs at the studio, sources told Insider Gaming’s Tom Henderson that it was “actively pitching” a new Deus Ex to “external partners and publishers.” Unfortunately, some companies allegedly noted it as “too niche” while others reportedly found the financial risk not worth pursuing.

Interestingly, the concept was described as having “charm and novelty” but not up to the “expectations or standards typically associated with the Deus Ex brand.” Make of that what you will, but the wait for a new title continues.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided was the last entry in the series, released in 2016. The story followed Adam Jensen as he continued investigating the Illuminati. Despite the positive acclaim, many criticized the cliffhanger ending. Alongside Human Revolution, it sold 12 million units combined as of May 2022.

Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune

There isn’t a heap of enemy variety in Nathan Drake’s first outing in Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. Mercs and pirate-types aside, the monster-like infected Descendants at least provide a terrifying alternative when they first arrive. Their persistence does start to wain though, but still, the game excels as a piece of cinematic storytelling more than anything, and the Descendants provide a firm narrative backbone to support ultimate final boss Atoq Navarro’s stance that the pathogen which formed the Descendants is far more valuable than any golden treasure. Drake and Navarro’s showdown is more a stand-off than battle; Drake waits for him to reload, edges closer in three movements, a brief bit of hand-to-hand, QTE, done.

Far Cry 2

Yet another excellent game that doesn’t really have a boss battle. It has enemies, of course, some weaker, some stronger, but in a genre where there are at least one or two boss fights, Far Cry 2 stands alone. The assassination of the game’s faction bosses and old lieutenants is rudimentary, with primary antagonist The Jackal – the arms dealer whom your mercenary was originally hired to kill – serving more as a narrative think-piece as the story goes on. He’s someone believed to be bad by profiting from death, but that’s exactly what you do in order to get close to him. A final showdown wouldn’t make sense in this context.

Prey (2017)

Prey (2017) has no boss fights whatsoever. Sure, the substantially dangerous form of Typhon the Nightmare perpetually antagonises the player throughout the game but the fact killing it is optional, either slay or evade, means it can’t be considered a true boss fight. It’ll respawn anyway, whatever you do. The most humungous of all Typhon, the Apex, doesn’t need to be fought in the traditional sense either. There are two ways to kill it: one, self-destruct Talos I, and two, detonate the Coral to destroy the Apex without damaging Talos I. Even central antagonist Walther Dahl doesn’t need to be killed, with distinct outcomes depending on whether you choose to kill or stun him.

Deus Ex

In Deus Ex, you will engage enemies on the elite side of difficulty but the game’s usual fayre of tactical, first-person combat involving stealth, cover, and hit-and-run strategy is consistent with regular hordes of enemies as it is the elite. A principal idea – and a relatively ground-breaking one for the time – in Deus Ex is for the player to spend their time developing their stealth skills alongside augmenting their character’s nano-tech. It’s a system seen today in games like Cyberpunk 2077, a multi-directional upgrade tree that can tune player-characters towards damage absorbing human tanks, weapons specialists, or hacking and lock picking experts. There just aren’t any major bosses with which to test your builds and skills, but Deus Ex still shines as a bright forbearer for dystopian RPGs to this day regardless.

The Last of Us

Another Naughty Dog entry on this rundown. Plainly, the studio just isn’t that fond of boss battles, and this is true of their zombie-ravaged post-apocalyptic survive-a-thon series (the horrifying Rat King from The Last of Us 2 aside). Joel and Ellie’s first outing sees the pair face-off in arena-type locales against overpowered enemies – the bloaters in the school gymnasium and the creepy hotel basement spring to mind – but these are strong, recurring enemies consistent with the timeframe in which the host has been infected, according to The Last of Us lore. The one possible exception in is Ellie’s battle with David inside the burning restaurant. It’s a one-on-one battle of wits, but Ellie at the time doesn’t have any of her inventory so it can be argued this encounter is not a true boss fight.

Max Payne 2

Remedy Entertainment’s bullet-time third-person shooter started out with numerous boss fights; mobsters, in the first Max Payne, who could withstand heaps of punishment. Max Payne’s second entry largely did away with this formula. Leader of the Squeaky Cleaning Company Kaufman was a tougher than usual foe, but still didn’t take too many bullets before going down. The game’s final battle against Vladimir Lem plays out more like a puzzle encounter than a one-on-one fight of brute force. Max must shoot the legs of the scaffolding Vlad is standing on then take out the support of the spire above him before being able to target him directly. The final phase is akin to a boss fight, to be fair, but it’s barely a test.

Red Dead Redemption

Like Naughty Dog, Rockstar are a studio which by-and-large eschew boss battles in their open world games. Red Dead Redemption is no different; there are no major boss fights to speak of. Central antagonists Bill Williamson, Javier Escuella, and Dutch van der Linde whom John Marston is forced into hunting down across the vast Wild West don’t have final encounters resembling boss fights. The only encounter close to a boss fight is Jack Marston’s duel with Bureau of Investigation ringleader Edgar Ross, but this is just a duel – a dishonourable one for Ross – but a commonplace duel all the same. This encounter only has notoriety for the gravitas of revenge attuned to it by John’s son Jack.

Grand Theft Auto IV

The only conceivable boss fight in Grand Theft Auto history is the showdown with Big Smoke in GTA: San Andreas. All other fights, even against central antagonists, are gunfights or chases against narratively significant adversaries, but they’re not stronger than regular enemies. Niko’s final showdown and execution of Pegorino, accessible via the revenge ending option, is a thrilling chase sequence rather than one-on-one boss fight. Prior to this, Niko’s final encounter with major tormentor Dimitri Rascalov involves sneaking through the decks and cargo holds of the Platypus, with a brief cutscene emerging once Niko has wiped out all Rascalov’s goons.

Watch_Dogs 2

Another game with next to no boss-like encounters in this rundown, this hacktivism sequel takes a more nuanced approach to dealing with its antagonists. Case in point, Mark Thruss’s comeuppance comes when player-character Marcus Holloway downloads and releases evidence of vote rigging before election day. Blume Corporation CTO and chief antagonist Dusan Nemec’s downfall comes after Marcus infiltrates Blume HQ and steals data corroborating DedSec’s accusation of Nemec’s wrongdoing. Henceforth he rots in jail forever.

Alien: Isolation

Yeah, you’re probably thinking that Alien: Isolation is a game with a boss encounter; the persistently stalking Xenomorph is surely the boss, right? Well, yeah, maybe. However, there’s no distinct boss battle or one-on-one fighting section to speak of. The Xenomorph, truth be told, is so overpowered, it’s an unkillable nemesis, so dangerous in fact its more prudent to run and hide than face it head on. You’ll only lose.

The Deus Ex title was allegedly set to enter production this year per anonymous individuals, but now the studio will work on an original franchise. Neither Eidos Montreal nor the Embracer Group revealed that a Deus Ex game was in the works following the former’s acquisition. A rumor from 2022 by Giant Bomb’s Jeff Grubb indicated that the developer wanted to get back into the franchise and “do what Cyberpunk 2077 couldn’t”, while reports around the time also claimed that a new Deus Ex game was one of multiple games in the works at the studio.

It’s also unknown if this was supposed to be a brand-new title for the franchise, a sequel to Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, or something else entirely. We’ll have to wait for more details and the official announcement of layoffs. If true, Eidos Montreal is the latest studio under Embracer to suffer from layoffs, joining New World Interactive, Crystal Dynamics, Fishlabs, and many others. Some studios, like Free Radical Design, have been shuttered wholesale.

Prey

While they can be turned off, Traumas add much more to the experience in Arkane Studios’ Prey. Concussions can cause blurry vision and reduce psi capacity. Fear reduces firearm accuracy and impacts your vision. All of these require treatment with different items or from visiting a medical operator and reinforce the importance of, say, Thermal Shielding to prevent third-degree burns or Fear Shielding to reduce the duration of, well, Fear.

Deus Ex

It may sound counter-intuitive considering the scope of Mankind Divided and Human Revolution, but Deus Ex has always thrived on the number of choices it gives players. The different play styles, dialogues and approaches would fit well within the context of a tighter narrative and maybe encourage multiple playthroughs. As for what kind of story it would tell, given all the factions, conspiracies and whatnot, and whether it should feature Adam Jensen or a brand new character remains to be seen.

At this point, it’s hard to say, especially after the latest tweet by Elias Toufexis, who voiced Adam Jensen in Human Revolution and Mankind Divided. Toufexis said, “As happy as I am to be busy, I wish I was even more busy on a new Deus Ex.” He also clarified that he’s “not under any NDA for Deus Ex because no one has called me about it. Truly.”

A report by Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier in November 2022 indicated that a new Deus Ex was in “very, very early” development. Toufexis probably wasn’t contacted because the project hasn’t reached the voice-acting stage. Maybe it’s in pre-production while the developer works on its rumored new IP (which may be a new co-op RPG, per a recent job listing). Time will tell, so stay tuned.

Yeah, as happy as I am to be busy, I wish I was even more busy on a new Deus Ex.
I am not under any NDA for Deus Ex because no one has called me about it. Truly. https://t.co/eup2dSst1r

— ᴇʟɪᴀꜱ ᴛᴏᴜꜰᴇxɪꜱ (@EliasToufexis) July 8, 2023

However, several other titles, some underrated and others outright ignored, deserve to be remembered. It could be the port of a PC title or that one legendary movie tie-in that no one else remembers. Let’s dive into them.

The Thing

Trying to make an impact in the survival horror genre, especially with juggernauts like Silent Hill and Resident Evil around, is no easy task. Nevertheless, The Thing had interesting hooks, like the Fear/Trust system. If an NPC believes you were The Thing, they could attack, but even if unsure, they’d remain distrustful and ignore orders. They can also become scared, lash out, commit suicide or die from heart attacks. It wasn’t perfect, but The Thing presented a tense atmosphere with strong environmental variety.

In his report, Schreier claimed that as part of a larger cost-cutting initiative, along with shutting down Onoma, Embracer Group is also cancelled an unannounced title in the works at Eidos Montreal. Over on Twitter, Schreier says that game is a recently-rumoured Stranger Things-inspired “kids on bike” title.

Of the games that Eidos Montreal currently does have in the works and are continuing to get worked on, as per Schreier, one is a new IP (aligning with previous reports), which he says recently saw its scope reduced as part of the aforementioned cost-cutting initiative. Beyond that, a new mainline Deus Ex game is also allegedly in “very, very early” development.

Interestingly, Schreier says that Eidos Montreal also has co-development partnerships with Microsoft on multiple upcoming first party Xbox titles, one of which is with Playground Games for the upcoming Fable reboot. This isn’t something that’s been officially confirmed by any of the parties involved, though given The Initiative’s partnership with Crystal Dynamics on Perfect Dark, it wouldn’t be entirely surprising.

Eidos Montreal, which remains intact, canceled the Stranger Things-inspired "kids on bikes" game that was rumored recently. They're now working on:
1) A new IP (recently rescoped)
2) A new Deus Ex (very very early)
3) co-dev partnerships with Xbox including Fable

— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) November 1, 2022

Crystal Dynamics recently published an update on its website in which it confirmed that it now owns the Tomb Raider and Legacy of Kain franchises, which also includes gameplay and personal data for those games.

“We are excited to inform you that Crystal Dynamics has taken control of several game franchises—including TOMB RAIDER and Legacy of Kain—from the games’ previous owner, Square Enix Limited.

“As a result of this change, Crystal Dynamics (or its affiliate) is now the owner of these games and the controller of the gameplay and personal data related to them.”

Meanwhile, Eidos Montreal has also updated its terms of use, confirming that the ownership of the Deus Ex and Thief IPs has transferred to the studio from Square Enix.

“As we’ve left Square Enix Ltd and joined the Embracer Group, we are starting an exciting new chapter in Eidos-Montréal’s history. While it’s not quite as exciting, it also means we have to let you know that we’ve updated our Terms of Service and Privacy Notice!

“To put things simply, the big change is that Eidos-Montréal (or its affiliates) is now the owner of the games it developed, like the Deus Ex and Thief games, and the controller of the data obtained from the various gameplay metrics tracked in its titles.”

What the future holds for these franchises remains to be seen. Of the ones mentioned above, Tomb Raider currently has a new game in development at Crystal Dynamics, though reports have suggested that Eidos Montreal is working on a new IP.

The Embracer Group has previously said of the two studios’ franchises that in addition to sequels, it will also look to develop remasters, remakes, and spinoffs. Read more on that through here.