10 Regular Enemies That Look Intimidating But Are Actually A Bit Rubbish

It is an unwritten rule of video gaming that bigger equals more dangerous. For game after game and boss after boss, it is often the biggest and most intimidating enemy that proves to be the greatest challenge. The rule extends even to regular enemies. Think of Bioshock’s Big Daddies, Fallout’s Deathclaws, and Half-Life’s Striders, and becomes obvious that threat level can almost always be reliably gauged by size, sheer force of presence, or both.

Bigger is, however, not always better, and many a big, scary lump of a thing has been laid low by the simplest of means. The result can be an encounter that is unintentionally hilarious, far more trouble than it is worth, that fails to live up to the hype, or ends up little more than a barely noticeable bump in the road. Whether by developer oversight, direct intent, or through the good old gamer habit of finding an exploit, sometimes the big fight ends up being less of a bang than a fizzle.

With the breadth of gaming this list could easily go into the hundreds and is by no means definitive. Even so, here are ten enemies you were worried would bring down a storm, but could hardly cough up a puddle.

Hunters have a lot to live up to. For many a fan, this Regenerator-type Necromorph is a source of terrifying fascination, an unstoppable, lethal force stalking you through murky, claustrophobic corridors. With Dead Space 3’s iteration arguably the most visually sinister, it promised to be equally memorable.

That is, until it was made part of a brawl.

Now, dismembering the beast while using Stasis to slow it down is a staple tactic of the series, a mechanic that allows the player a much needed breather while preserving the tension of the encounter. Dead Space 3 allows the same while ramping up the tension by introducing two at once.

But then, in a small room, faced with two Hunters and a horde of other Necromorphs, the penny dropped. Because all of a sudden, forced to juggle so many threats simultaneously, the formerly terrifying monster became the least of your worries, something that never should have happened. And so, with the mystique broken, the once frightening enemy became just another Necromorph to kill.

Despite having always been relatively easy to deal with, it is the loss of its iconic status that makes Dead Space 3’s version so disappointing, and a sad blight on an otherwise great game.