Design of War Ender - Boss 4: Outsider Leader
Do you know why you're here?
Infinite Level game discussed: War Ender
At last, we reach War Ender's penultimate level! I started this blog series almost three years ago, partially as a go-to for something to talk about in a dev blog post when I have little in the ways of updates, and partially as an ongoing retrospective of the game that has started it all for me. It's been a fun ride, and one that's honestly not over yet because there's still bonus levels and other content to talk about. But, we'll get there when we get there. Also, it's rather appropriate that the last of the monthly dev blogs for 2021 is about taking on the main villain of the game, isn't it? Another fun fact for you – a while back, I had to replace my PC game controllers. The ones I had finally gave up the ghost, and I replaced them with a Dualshock 4. Those old controllers were used to develop the controller inputs for War Ender, and now, since I always replay the level I'm discussing in the blog, I'm about to see how it plays on a Dualshock 4 years later.
Finally, before we get into the blog proper, I think now's a good time to drop a spoiler warning for War Ender. I know, it seems silly that I'd do this now after going through all the other levels before it with no such warning, but this happens to be where a lot of story occurs in the game. Plus, we are fighting the game's main villain, so I can understand players wanting to finish taking him on first before seeing all the ideas that went into the battle. So, with that said...
SPOILER WARNING FOR WAR ENDER
When looking through War Ender's gallery of big bads, you'll notice something all of them have in common. At the fight's beginning, they start very simply, usually having only a few attacks or, in the case of the Wall of Lasers, a simple platform layout. They'll rotate through these attacks for the duration of the first phase, before adding a couple new attacks that you have to watch out for. Repeat this a few more times, and you have a complete boss battle. On paper, the Outsider Leader is no exception, but the way it approaches this is unique from other bosses. Rather than telegraph a bunch of new attacks over the course of the battle, the Outsider Leader instead adds more obstacles and projectiles coming at you at once. This battle isn't so much about watching the boss for signs of incoming attacks. Instead, the focus is placed on being aware of “danger zones” and positioning.
Let's start with the first phase to see what I mean. The arena has very little going on, and the Outsider Leader's flying fortress is only doing two actions: firing a steady stream of bullets, and occasionally dropping bombs. The Outsider Leader's big challenge is being able to damage him without damaging yourself, as you can only attack him by getting underneath his fortress as opposed to most bosses where you can attack them from virtually anywhere. Your job here is to dodge past the bullets (you should be an expert at this by now), then fire away at the fortress bottom, being mindful of the bombs. To avoid damage, you're going to stay in either the left or right halves of the fortress, but never dead center and certainly not in the stream of bullets. And of course, it's not going to sit still for you, so you'll have to steadily move with flying fortress to keep a constant stream of damage going. By the time this first phase is over, the rules of the fight should be well established. You must stay under the Outsider Leader to deal damage, but be constantly mindful his position relative to yours. During this first phase, the danger zone is directly below the boss, and where the bullets are.
From the second phase and on, layers are added. Now torches have been placed on the ground, and the Outsider Leader has introduced a flamethrower to his arsenal. Eagle eyed players may also notice that the fortress is moving ever so slightly faster, and it will continue to get faster as the battle goes on. But lest the player worry that it'll get to fast to reasonably keep up with, the flamethrowers do force the Outsider Leader to slow down, giving the player enough time to get in and deliver some pain. Players also still have the option to stay underneath the Outsider Leader during all this, but they'll obviously have to be extra careful to not get hit thanks to the fortress' increased speed. The torch is also placed to occasionally force the player to dodge past something, this way the player is constantly making decisions and the fight doesn't get too easy. As for the danger zones, they are largely the same with only the torch changing things up.
The latter half of the battle gets...interesting. At this point, I really wanted to force players to play a sort of “hit and run” style game with the Outsider Leader, which is why everyone's favorite homing rockets are introduced. Five are sent at a time, and they will hit you if you stay under the Outsider Leader's flying fortress. But, as I said before, the flamethrower attack will give you time to get your hits in, so I'm now asking the player to time their attacks. In this third phase, the danger zones have changed considerably. Once the homing rockets are released, the danger zone is increased to roughly the horizontal width of the boss himself, and then some. The grenades coming in from the sides increase this danger zone further, and unlike the other attacks, these don't take a break. You're going to have to be mindful of your distance from the Outsider Leader, making sure you're not in that sweet spot where the grenades hit you. An additional torch has been placed, creating another constant danger zone that forces an inevitable dodge in order to survive.
Technically, all of the Outsider Leader's attacks are in use now. In all the game's boss fights, the third phase has always been the one where the boss' attacks are all being used, and usually the fourth phase throws in a new obstacle or generally speeds things up. The Outsider Leader does both, increasing his speed one more time and introducing a devilish new obstacle, some moving lasers which were last seen all the way back in the game's first boss. Ah, the memories. So, the player is now faced with two more constant danger zones to be aware of, and these move along the battlefield. Additionally, the player must also contend with the increased speed of the Outsider Leader himself which inadvertently affected the range of some of the boss' attacks. The trick here, like with the phase before it, is to find your moments to attack. Whenever the flamethrower is used, that's your chance to get your hits in. This is actually why I made the accompanying sound effect for the flamethrower as big and loud as it is, because it will help players know when their openings are, well, open. Just also be aware of those moving lasers, which are essentially a second and third moving danger zone along with the boss himself.
I mentioned earlier that there's a lot of story in this level as well. While it's true that most of it comes after the battle is over, there's some intriguing dialogue sprinkled throughout the fight. Before the player starts, they're posed a vague question: “do you know why you're here?” Strange little messages are dropped like this at each checkpoint, each one being slightly more revealing than the last. You're next told “have you considered the consequences”, which might get the introspective player to think about everything that has occurred before this point. After all, a lot of lives have been taken by your hand. But then, “Cyrus set you up” if flashed, before being straight up told you're manipulated. Replaying this level, what I enjoyed about this was the steady buildup, done without taking control from the player and presenting it to them to ponder as they wish. I've always tried to only use cutscenes in video games where absolutely needed. If a scene can happen just as easily during gameplay, then we'll try to do that. Actually, War Ender used to have a lot more cutscenes, and it took some friends to point out that they were simply not needed. Between this and just playing several games myself, I've come to find that cutscenes are better when used sparingly, and I'm glad I had that mentality for this game. It's what allows moments like these to happen. I like to imagine some wrestling with the questions as the fight goes on, while others may push it aside, trying to ignore it. The point is, each player will likely interpret the information differently as opposed to being told what to feel.
On defeat, the Outsider Leader reveals the truth. Turns out, your own leader Cyrus isn't quite the hero people think he is, and there's a plot to take over The City from within. In a twist, players are now thrust into a fifth chapter where they confront the villain hiding in plain sight and all the followers he's accumulated. It'll definitely be the hardest levels to date, but at this point there's nothing else to introduce to the player. All enemies and obstacles that the player will come across have been shown off, and it's now time to make one last squeeze for interesting content before credits roll. 'Course, I say there's nothing new, but there is that one thing...but we'll get there when we get there. I hope you'll join me the next time we look at this game when we go over the entirety of War Ender's Chapter 5.
Until next time!
-Lance T.