There’s nothing like undergoing a creepy mission in video games. Many survival-horror titles owe their success to providing unforgettable levels that players need to overcome with limited resources and using their wits. But developers are keen on recognizing how fun it is to add some unnerving missions in otherwise non-horror games. Adding certain missions that send players into scary scenarios subverts the power fantasy and safety that such titles offer by undergoing said objective.

From trudging through particularly eerie stages to encountering formidable bosses in areas they seem unlikely to be in, these are some of the creepiest missions in non-horror games.

10 Skyrim – Whispers In The Dark

Skyrim has tons of side quests that range from mundane to bombastic and even outrageous. In between, the game also has its fair share of creepy missions, one of which is the "Whispers in the Dark" side quest.

This quest revolves around the clandestine Dark Brotherhood, specifically between members Cicero and Astrid. Players who proceed with this quest will see them climb into the Night Mother’s coffin to eavesdrop on Cicero, only to get face to face with the Night Mother’s corpse and have an eerie conversation with the Dark Brotherhood’s matron.

9 Batman: Arkham Asylum – Encountering Scarecrow For The First Time

Batman’s rogues gallery is chock-full of creepy and unnerving villains that the Caped Crusader constantly has to outwit and defeat. One of the creepier missions that Batman has to take on is when he initially encounters the Scarecrow in Batman: Arkham Asylum.

Players have to enter the morgue following a cutscene. Once there, there are three empty exam tables. After exploring the area and circling back to the exam tables, there are now three body bags. Players have to investigate them and the final body bag contains the eponymous villain. Subsequent encounters will wake players up to his schemes, but the first encounter with Scarecrow is unnerving.

8 Red Dead Redemption 2 – Country Pursuits

Life as a cowboy in Red Dead Redemption 2 is mostly about bank robberies, shoot-outs, and sharing the player’s earnings with Dutch and the Van der Linde Gang. And while the game is not short on weird side missions, the "Country Pursuits" mission is one of the creepiest.

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Players have to rescue Jules and place him back on the skiff after being attacked by a Bull Gator. This mission already is tension-filled, but it is dialed to eleven when players have to wade into the waist-deep swamp at night, while the Bull Gator stalks them and their only light source is a handheld lantern.

7 Half-Life 2 – We Don’t Go to Ravenholm

In one of Half-Life 2’s infamous missions, players need to pass through Ravenholm to progress the story. A mining town that was turned into a Resistance stronghold, it has since been deserted and has been housing zombies and headcrabs.

While the setting of the game is post-apocalyptic, Ravenholm’s abandoned and dilapidated town sends major creepy vibes. Adding to this are the roaming zombies and headcrabs lurking in the dark corners, waiting for a wayward survivor to victimize, making for a tension-filled place players need to pass through.

6 Final Fantasy 7 – Encountering Emerald Weapon

The Final Fantasy games generally steer to more fantastical elements when it comes to their missions. But in Final Fantasy 7, there is a side mission that players can take that is unintentionally creepy: battling the Emerald Weapon.

Defeating the Emerald Weapon is essential for players who want to get the most powerful Summon in the game, but locating this enemy entails players to man a submarine and look for it in the vast ocean. For those who are scared of the open ocean, looking for a hulking machine under the sea is a creepy scenario. Seeing the silhouette of Emerald Weapon ominously on the murky horizon is foreboding as it is unnerving.

5 Elden Ring – Going For The Lord Of The Frenzied Flame Ending

Elden Ring is an action game that has tons of horror elements. As far as missions are concerned, one of the main ones that players can complete is the Frenzied Flame ending. This is one of the harder main missions to complete.

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Once players reach the Subterranean Shunning Grounds area behind the altar, they will come across a room that is littered with the corpses of Nomadic Merchants: some of them are alive and will attack the player. Seeing all the bodies located in one location sends chills while also the question of how they got there ramps up its creep factor.

4 Pokemon Blue / Red / Yellow / Fire Red / Leaf Green – Retrieving The Poké Flute

Entering Lavender Town in the First-Generation Pokemon games introduces players to a truly eerie place complete with kooky NPCs and a truly creepy theme song. The quest in the Pokemon Tower to get the Poké Flute is one of the creepier ones players need to undertake.

Team Rocket has taken over the Pokemon Tower, a burial ground for dearly departed Pokemon. Before players can begin scaling the tower, they first need to get the Silph Scope since it allows players to see the “true form” of the Ghost-type Pokemon. This, along with the unnerving Channeler opponents who spurt out creepy phrases before fighting the players make for an unsettling level and mission.

3 Earthbound – Battling Giygas

Also known as Mother 2, Earthbound is widely considered to be one of Nintendo’s hidden JRPG gems. With quirky and colorful characters and locales, players control a young psychic boy named Ness and his friends as they explore their world.

However, the final battle against Giygas cranks up the creepy factor tenfold. Returning from the first game, Giygas now possesses immense cosmic power that he cannot control. This leads to the combat interface and visuals when battling him to become highly skewed and contain unsettling imagery from other dimensions. The sudden change might be jarring for some players since the visuals are reminiscent of a fever dream.

2 Control: Fridge Duty

Control sees Jesse Faden encounter and handle various New Weird phenomena. For players aiming to complete the base game, they need to clear the "Fridge Duty" side mission. Players need to search for the location of the Refrigerator Altered Item. This home appliance needs to have someone staring at it at all times to prevent it from deviating.

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Progressing this mission leads to creepy instances that result in Jesse touching the fridge and getting teleported to the Astral Plane. There, she fights the Former, a towering, one-eyed, many-limbed creature. In most cases, players do not see the true form of enemies in Control, so witnessing and battling this boss is a memorable and creepy one.

1 Ecco the Dolphin – Fighting the Vortex Queen

Ecco the Dolphin is a fun action-adventure game that sees players control the eponymous Ecco endeavoring to free his podmates and other marine life after being sucked up by a peculiar water spout. Most of the game is seemingly standard fare for a 90s 2D action-adventure title, up until the final boss fight.

Ecco uses a time machine to get to the moment when his pod gets sucked up and reaches Planet Vortex. From here, he explores an eerie alien location and eventually meets the Vortex Queen: a massive insectoid head with gnawing mandibles. The final area and boss fight are a massive change of pace for a game that starts as a run-of-the-mill 2D adventure title about a dolphin.

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