Serious Sam Wiki
Register
Advertisement

This subject appears in Serious Sam 3: BFE. This subject appears in Serious Sam's Bogus Detour.  This subject appears in Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope.  This subject appears in Serious Sam 4.  This subject is from the Mental War era. 

 
"Now THIS is what I call a gun."
Sam Stone[src]
 

The A-24, commonly referred to as the 'Devastator', is a powerful automatic weapon that fires explosive rounds that are capable of piercing through multiple targets at once. First introduced in Serious Sam 3: BFE, it makes further appearances in Serious Sam's Bogus Detour, Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope, Serious Sam 3 VR: BFE, and Serious Sam 4.

Overview[]

The Devastator is an automatic 24-gauge shotgun that earned its righteous nickname by Earth Defense Force personnel due to the effects that it can have on a crowded battlefield if fired continuously over a prolonged period of time.[1] The original 1972 Maxwell Atchisson design has been heavily modified over the last 150 years, resulting in a compact, fast weapon with a ton of stopping power. The Devastator's state-of-the-art firing mechanism allows for exit velocities great enough to literally punch through many smaller targets.[2] This effect is enhanced by the Autoshotgun's standard cartridges, which contain high-piercing heavy-explosive (HPHE) rounds that are designed to pierce smaller hostiles and deliver an additional burst of fragmentation damage upon impact with larger foes.[2]

The Devastator fires a single round every time the fire key is pressed. Being an automatic shotgun, the Devastator does not need to be pumped each time a round is fired. It can carry up to 20 or 25 rounds (depending on the game it appears in), which come in drum magazines. Once the weapon's magazine has been depleted, it has to be reloaded again. The Devastator's rounds travel at a much faster speed than rockets and grenades, allowing them to be used effectively at a further distance, though aim compensation is still required as the rounds do not hit instantly. If the player has unlocked the scope for the Devastator, though, it can be used just like a sniper rifle, allowing the player to fire rounds more accurately at targets that are far away

If the Serious Digital edition or Bonus Content was purchased for Serious Sam 3: BFE, players are given access to a limited exclusive DLC, which adds a sniper scope onto the Devastator. In the Xbox 360 and Serious Sam Fusion versions of Serious Sam 3 and in Serious Sam 4, the scope comes by default.

In Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope and Serious Sam 4, the Devastator can be dual-wielded, though in the latter game, this requires unlocking the "Dual Wield Harder" S.A.M skill. When dual-wielded, the player can unleash a massive amount of firepower against opponents and finish off tough enemies with ease, though this eats up more ammunition when the weapon is used this way. The player can also not use the Devastator's scope when it's dual-wielded.

Appearances[]

As the Devastator is one of the most powerful weapons in the series, the weapon and ammo for it are quite scarce, though it appears more frequently in later levels, and usually before a large fight breaks out. Its ammo can occasionally be found in secrets.

Serious Sam 3: BFE[]

The Devastator first appears in Unearthing the Sun, but can be acquired earlier in The Silent Riddler as a secret. The weapon is then acquired again for the last time in The Last Man on Earth.

Serious Sam's Bogus Detour[]

The weapon first appears in Trouble in Troy.

Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope[]

Like the majority of weapons that appear in the game, the Devastator can be purchased from the weapons menu, along with ammo.

Serious Sam 4[]

The Devastator is a very rare weapon in the campaign, and only appears twice throughout the whole game. It is first obtained in One for the Road, and then for the second time in From Earth With Love at an Earth Defense Force outpost.

Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem[]

The Devastator does not officially appear in Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem, having been replaced by the TCC-2 "Perun" Crossbow in the campaign. However, like with the M29 Infantry Assault Rifle, RAPTOR Sniper Rifle, and XL2 Lasergun, the Devastator is usable in the moddable version of the game, and can be placed into custom worlds using the Serious Editor.

Tactics[]

General[]

Serious Sam 3: BFE[]

  • As ammunition isn't always in abundance, it is best to save the weapon for use against tougher enemies.
  • The Devastator is somewhat effective against Khnums, but it takes at least 10 shots to kill one. To save ammo, it is recommended to fire a fully charged cannonball at the Khnum or lure it into a small pack of C-4 charges and then finish it off with the Devastator.
  • The Devastator is arguably the best weapon to use against Scrapjacks; it only takes four or five rounds to take a Scrapjack down (three in the Serious Sam Fusion version), especially from a safe distance, as their rockets are dangerous if the player gets within a close firing range to one down.
  • It is very effective against enemies that tend to strafe when moving to dodge projectiles, such as Adult Arachnoids and Major Bio-mechanoids, from medium to far range, as the projectiles are too fast for them to avoid in time.
  • This weapon works very well against groups of weak enemies, such as Gnaars and Kleers, especially when they are clustered together in a line.

Serious Sam's Bogus Detour[]

  • The Devastator is useful against big groups of weak enemies, like Gnaars and Kleers.
  • It also works well against strong enemies, like Bio-mechanoids, Orc Captains and Scrapjacks.
  • It's also an effective weapon to use against bosses, due to its fast rate of fire and high damage output.

Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope[]

  • The Devastator is a great weapon for clearing out groups of Drones, Fleet Fighters, Skeletons, and other fast or weak enemies.
  • Its fast projectiles are good for eliminating small groups of Kalopsies, especially when dual-wielded.
  • Like in Serious Sam 3, the Devastator is a brilliant anti-Technopolyp weapon.

Serious Sam 4[]

  • The Devastator is a brilliant weapon for clearing out hordes of Gnaars, Kleers, and Processed Anthropolyps if they are lined up together. It also works well against armored enemies like Octanian Zealots. A single shot in the head against a Zealot will result in an instant kill.
  • Since this weapon deals more damage to enemies if they are shot in the head or any weakpoint, it is especially effective against Khnums, Reptiloids, Scrapjacks, and Sirian Werebulls. Shooting a Werebull, Scrapjack, or Reptiloid in the head with this weapon is a guaranteed one-shot kill.
  • When dual-wielded, the Devastator should be used to quickly eliminate dangerous and tough enemies like Draconian Pyromaniacs, Major Bio-mechanoids, or Khnums.

Behind the scenes[]

  • In both Serious Sam 4 and Siberian Mayhem, due to an oversight, the Devastator and autoshotgun have had their pickup sounds swapped. The sound that should play when picking up the Devastator instead goes to the autoshotgun, and vice versa.[3][4]

Related achievements[]

Serious Sam 3: BFE[]

Achievement Skewer
Skewer Ps 2 silver
Pierce 5 enemies with one Devastator round.

Trivia[]

General[]

  • The Devastator's projectile uses a unique projectile entity in the Serious Editor (CAutoShotgunProjectileEntity) and also reuses the SBC Cannon's hit effect, roll effect, material effect, and pierce material types (CannonHit, CannonRoll, CannonExplode, and CannonPierce).
  • The Devastator is a possible nod to the Devastator from Duke Nukem 3D due to the fact that both weapons shoot very fast projectiles with a high rate of fire.
  • The predecessor to the Devastator, and the weapon its original design is derived from, is the Atchisson AA-12, an automatic combat shotgun developed in 1972.
  • There are a lot of misconceptions among the fans about which type of ammunition this weapon uses. Despite being an upgraded version of an automatic shotgun, it actually uses modified 40mm rounds, as seen on its ammo worldmodel and on the concept art from the artbook. It's also worth mentioning that fired rounds use the recycled rocket model from Serious Sam HD both in Serious Sam 3 and Serious Sam 4, but it is not easily noticeable in normal gameplay due to the projectile's extreme speed.
    • To make things even more confusing, the NETRICSA log in Serious Sam 4 points out that the Devastator uses modified 24 gauge Autoshotgun shells despite them being much smaller than the usual 40mm rounds. However, it is entirely possible that this version of the weapon actually uses explosive shotgun slugs or reinforced FRAG-12 ammunition.

Serious Sam 3: BFE[]

  • The Devastator has a big, but weak splash damage radius compared to the rocket launcher. Even if the player is at a normal safe distance a rocket can explode, the Devastator shell explosion may still afflict the player, and deliver a very negligible amount of damage. This because the Devastator's projectile's entity parameters are configured to have a splash radius (damage fall off) of 16 meters.[5]
    • This has been fixed in Serious Sam 4 by changing its projectile impact (damage hot spot) and splash radius to 1.5 and 2 meters, respectively.[6]
  • When Jones cocks his Devastator in the opening cutscene of the first level in Serious Sam 3, a cocking sound is heard, but no animation is seen.
  • The Devastator can only penetrate enemies that can't survive the initial round fired - in the case of the Hatchling Arachnoid and Minor Bio-mechanoid, it's required to hit a specific area of their hitbox to penetrate them, like in the head or torso. In Serious Sam 4 however, the Devastator will always penetrate weak and medium enemies no matter where it hits and is also guaranteed to gib them as long as they have less than 146 health remaining.

Gallery[]

Artwork[]

Serious Sam 3: BFE[]

Serious Sam's Bogus Detour[]

Serious Sam 4[]

List of appearances[]

References[]

  1. Serious Sam 3: BFE NETRICSA description
  2. 2.0 2.1 Serious Sam 4 NETRICSA description
  3. Content/SeriousSam4/Models/Weapons/AutoShotgun/AutoShotgun_Item.mdl - Sound scheme "Pickup"
  4. Content/SeriousSam4/Models/Weapons/Devastator_Devastator_Item.mdl - Sound scheme "Pickup"
  5. Content/SeriousSam3/Databases/Projectiles/AutoShotgunProjectile.ep
  6. Content/SeriousSam4/Databases/Projectiles/DevastatorProjectile.ep
Advertisement