10 Video Game Enemies Worse Than Any Boss

Enemies and bosses plays instrumental roles in the realm of video games. A run-of-the-mill grunt serves as a minor obstacle, allowing players to fine-tune the basic skills. Bosses, on the other hand, test your mastery of the game's more complex and intricate mechanics.

A boss also serves as a narrative milestone, since they often appear when a level or plot-point is wrapping up. Though bosses can be frustrating, beating them should be immeasurably rewarding. Not only does their defeat allow you to progress through the story, you're often gifted with new items or abilities. Although enemies and bosses can range in difficulty, the rule of thumb is the bosses should prove the biggest challenge.

But that's not always the case. Sometimes, a game's most infuriating opponent isn't a screen-filling antagonist or the final boss. Instead, it's a paradoxically named "regular enemy". 

Now, there's nothing wrong with fighting a rival that's tougher than most. These high-intensity moments keep you on your toes, which juxtaposes beautifully with more casual gameplay.

Having said that, nobody expects to face foes this difficult, especially when it's early in the campaign and players are still getting to grips with the controls and mechanics.

These ten entries may not be bosses but they gave anyone they encountered the fight of their life.

In Dead Space, starship engineer Isaac Clarke must eliminate reanimated corpses called Necromorphs. These The Thing-inspired revenants come in all shapes and sizes, each which their own unique abilities. 

Although Dead Space is bone-chilling from start to finish, nothing encapsulates pure terror like your first run-in with an Exploder. As the name suggests, this Necromorph variant detonates when approached, which often proves fatal. These malformed beasties tend to rush Isaac, leaving little time to react.

Even if Isaac survive the initial blast, he's not out of the woods yet, since the explosion can hurl him across the room, damage his suit, and destroy useful items.

Isaac can dispose of the Exploder by shooting its sac, but can't get too close or wait too long, or the combustible beast will go kaboom.

Exploders usually appear alongside other Necromorph types, forcing players to prioritise targets. But if you don't give the Exploder your undivided attention, it can easily blindside you.

Despite the fact Dead Space players deal with all sorts of nightmarish nasties, Exploders are probably the main reason why they see the Game Over screen so often.