/vr/ - Retro Games

Descent 1 level 7 boss, aka. the "shareware boss". Okay, he's not the final boss, but he's the final boss in the shareware version.

What makes him so bad? Let's see:

- He teleports around randomly.
- He can insta-kill you with just one shot. His weapons home, so there's no escape.
- The room also contains several toughest enemies in the game (Class 1 Vulcan drillers and Heavy Hulks).
- The door to the room opens only from the outside, so you're trapped.
- There is almost no cover at all in the room. You can "hide" in the tunnels, but even if you can hide from the boss, the other robots will shred you. Circling around the central pillar does not offer much protection.
- There's only one cloaking device, which lasts 30 seconds and you have to fly through the room to get it (you won't make it)
- You simply don't have enough firepower to destroy him easily, because the genuinely powerful weapons will only become available in the later levels.
- If you die, you use up one life. You get thrown back to the level start and you have to go to the boss room again to get your stuff back. You won't make it that far before he kills you again.
- In the early shareware versions, YOU COULD NOT SAVE YOUR GAME. After the boss kills you 2-3 times, you have to replay the whole level if you want to try again. It can take even an hour to reach the boss again.

In the shareware versions, killing this boss was so excruciatingly difficult task I'm not sure if it even was possible. When mid-level saving was implemented, you job became slightly easier. All other points still apply and they apply to the registered version too.

In contrast, level 27 boss (which *is* the final boss) is comically easy to kill. You don't even need savegames for that.