- "Alien hamburger, my favorite."
- ―Sam as he watches a sentry gun take down a horde of soldiers[src]
The Cloned Soldier is a human soldier that has been outfitted with cybernetic augmentations. They are slightly more armored than other lighweight troops and are equipped with standard military issue equipment, which makes them more formidable opponents than Beheaded Rocketeers, though less of a threat than Beheaded Kamikazes or Kleer Skeletons. They appear as common enemies throughout Serious Sam 3: BFE, Serious Sam 3 VR: BFE, and Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope. They are absent from Serious Sam 4 and Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem, and instead have been replaced by Octanian Gamma Troopers.
Overview[]
Cloned Soldiers patrolling the streets of Cairo.
Cloned Soldiers are human soldiers, likely Earth Defense Force infantry, who have been cloned from those who were killed during the Mental War. These soldiers were heavily experimented on and fitted with cybernetic modifications to suit Mental's needs. During the experimentation process, their skin has been damaged, likely as a result of acid and/or high temperatures during the manufacturing process.[1]
Cloned Soldiers wear standard-issue camo body armor, and, like executed Sirian soldiers, have an implanted life control unit, which augments the brain and controls most high-level functions and to prevent them from having any free will of their own. The device limits the Soldier's intelligence and tactical processing to seek-and-destroy operations. Cloned Soldiers are programmed to receive orders from Mental's headquarters, and obey them without question. Additionally, Cloned Soldiers have gone through significant cybernetic modifications and enhancements; perhaps the most recognisable part of these modifications is the metal plating which covers most of the head, with five red mechanical eyes that act as sensors, which allow them to see in the dark or in foggy conditions.[1]
When killed, Cloned Soldiers will occasionally drop their weapon or a clip magazine, which can supply up to 10 rounds of 12-gauge shells or 20 rounds of assault rifle bullets (30 in Serious Sam Fusion) when playing on Normal difficulty. On other difficulties, like Serious difficulty, this can supply twice as many rounds as usual.
Application[]
Cloned Soldiers, along with Beheaded Kamikazes and Beheaded Rocketeers, served as the basic infantry units of Mental's forces after the Tunguska Offensive. They were deployed in huge numbers during the Mental War, and often patrolled areas of significant importance, such as the streets of Cairo, slums, or other human settlements when not engaged in combat.
Appearances[]
Serious Sam 3: BFE[]
Cloned Soldiers are one of the frequently seen enemies in Serious Sam 3, often appearing in small or medium groups. As the player progresses, they become more and more numerous. In the Cairo levels, they are often positioned behind sandbags, barrels or other obstacles to use as cover. They are first encountered in Into the Spider's Nest in the Egyptian Museum's basement. Afterwards, they appear on every level except for The Guardian of Time.
Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope[]
Normal Cloned Soldiers first appear in Pladeonic Oil Works, while Cloned Snipers first appear in Court of the Prophet. The Sniper variant often appears in far-away areas and appears in small groups. Like in Serious Sam 3, they appear in most of the levels after their first appearance.
Behavior and skills[]
Cloned Soldiers wield shotguns and assault rifles, as used by human forces. Using these standard-issue weapons, Cloned Soldiers usually work in squads of two to six. During combat, soldiers will take use of cover, crouching behind sandbags and obstacles, or hide behind walls, occasionally coming out of cover to aim down the sights of their weapons or fire at the player. They can be heard making inhuman moans when idle, which can easily give away their presence. When they spot the target, they will emit loud snarls and grunts.
In combat, most Cloned Soldiers fire their weapons with somewhat poor accuracy, though they can deliver many rounds to a non-moving target. Cloned Shotgunners are much more accurate than Riflemen due to their shotgun's spread, and are deadly at close range.[1] Cloned Riflemen fire in short bursts at a target with their assault rifle, and will frequently reload after firing. Cloned Snipers are perfectly accurate and can hit a target at long distances, though the long delay before they fire can allow the target to avoid the shot by moving away or using a Shield. The Flying Cloned Soldier often moves around in random patterns to make it more difficult to hit them. If a Cloned Soldier is at point blank range, he will deliver a powerful kick to the target. This attack deals a lot more damage than their weapons. They will also kick any destroyable props that are in their way, such as wooden crates. When not engaging targets, Cloned Soldiers will patrol or guard areas that Mental believes is of significant strategic value.
Despite the manufacturing and implanted processes they have gone through, Cloned Soldiers still retain some human characteristics. For instance, they still feel pain and flinch when they have been injured or shot, but they doesn't hinder their performance, and will continue to shoot at the target, even when their health has been depleted. If a soldier has been mortally wounded, he will limp or crawl on the ground for a short while before dying.
The amount of damage a Cloned Soldier can take before dying varies with the difficulty level the game is being played on; on easy difficulties, it takes two shots to kill one, and three shots on Normal difficulty or higher.
Variants[]
The Cloned Rifleman.
Cloned Soldiers come with five variants; the Cloned Rifleman, Cloned Shotgunner, Cloned Sniper, Flying Cloned Soldier and Flying Cloned Sniper. The flying and sniper variants only appear in Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope.
Cloned Rifleman[]
The most commonly seen variant, Cloned Riflemen wield the M29 Infantry Assault Rifle, which can deal moderate damage at close range and cause some damage at medium-long distances. Unlike their shotgun wielding brethren, these soldiers are not handicapped by a weapon which shortens their effective attack range. Though Riflemen can fire accurately at long distances, a single Rifleman's attacks are weak, but they are seldom encountered alone. A group of Riflemen coupled with Shotgunners can be an effective suppressive force despite low damage per shot.
Cloned Shotgunner[]
The Cloned Shotgunner.
The Shotgunner exclusively wields the 12 Gauge Pump-Action Shotgun. At close range they can deliver high damage to a target, but their shotgun is less effective at medium to far distances due to the pellets' spread and the shotgun's limited range.
In Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope, Shotgunners use shotguns that fire blue projectiles at the target. These projectiles are very slow and can be destroyed with gunfire.
Cloned Sniper[]
The Cloned Sniper.
Cloned Snipers are variants of Cloned Soldiers that use the pump-action shotgun just like the Cloned Shotgunner, though this shotgun is fitted with a laser sight and fires sniper rounds instead, making them more dangerous opponents if not taken out immediately. They can be identified from the long laser sight which they use to spot a target before firing. Cloned Snipers have stronger armor than normal soldiers, making them able to take much more damage before dying.
Flying Cloned Soldier[]
The Flying Cloned Soldier.
The Flying Cloned Sniper.
Flying Cloned Soldiers, as the name implies, fly around with a jetpack, making them harder to hit than soldiers on the ground.
Tactics[]
Serious Sam 3: BFE[]
- The pump-action shotgun is very effective against one or two soldiers. One shot can often kill two in one shot at close or medium range.
- At long range, the assault rifle works very well. Three or so shots from the assault rifle will kill a Rifleman in one shot. However, iron sights are needed to aim accurately at this range. Otherwise, there's a chance that a bullet or two will miss.
- The SOP38 Pistol can dispatch Cloned Soldiers with ease, as long as the player is looking down the iron sights if the soldiers are at a further distance. At close range, the player can fire at them without having to look down the sights. Two or three shots will kill a Cloned Soldier, depending on the difficulty. The pistol is not particularly useful against soldiers in groups, so the player should opt for a stronger or rapid-firing weapon instead.
- The player can perform two melee attacks against a Cloned Soldier, both depend on the player's currently equipped weapon. When Sam is using any shotgun (excluding the A-24 Devastator), or the pistol, he will kick the soldier back a short distance, temporarily preventing him from firing. If Sam is wielding anything else, he will break the soldier's neck, instantly killing him.
- When paired with other enemies, a Shotgunner's threat depends on how close they are to the player. If they're at medium or long range, they can be ignored because of how little damage their guns will do. However, at close range, they are very dangerous because most, if not all, of their pellets will connect at close range. Therefore, they should be taken out immediately.
- Multiple soldiers can be taken out with either the assault rifle or the XPML21 Rocket Launcher. The assault rifle can quickly wipe them out, while the rocket launcher can kill multiple Rifleman with one rocket, especially if the rocket is positioned so that it hits a soldier in or near the middle of a group of them.
- A Rifleman's threat depends on the range they're encountered. At long or medium range, they fire too few bullets and often miss so they are not a serious threat. Therefore, they are generally a low priority target. However, at close range, they fire their guns in a large, 15-round burst, making them very dangerous. At close range, they should be considered a high priority target and removed before they can inflict significant damage on the player. In harder difficulties, they should be much higher priority targets.
- Their bullets are very fast, but it's possible to dodge them by sprinting to the side.
Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope[]
- Normal Cloned Soldiers can be easily killed with the pistol and the assault rifle. The assault rifle works well against groups.
- Cloned Snipers can be killed with some shots with dual-wielded pistols or assault rifles. The Bow and RAPTOR Sniper Rifle also are effective against them, especially if they are far away.
- Flying Cloned Soldiers can be taken down with both XM214-A Minigun and XL2 Lasergun.
Behind the scenes[]
- Cloned Soldiers had a slightly different design before the release of Serious Sam 3, as seen in early concept art. The leftmost model uses the Serious Sam 1 Beheaded Rocketeer's head.
Related achievements[]
Serious Sam 3: BFE[]
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| Break 10 soldier necks. |
Serious Sam Fusion[]
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| Break 10 soldier necks. |
Trivia[]
- Cloned Soldiers are heavily inspired by the Strogg from the Quake series, and the Zombieman from the Doom series. Like the Strogg, Cloned Soldiers are fitted with mechanical parts. And, like the Zombieman, Cloned Soldiers were once former human soldiers that have been cyber-controlled.
- Oddly enough, the Cloned Shotgunner has a unique in-game model, while its NETRICSA model uses the same textures as the Rifleman.
- The Octanian Sniper, an enemy from Serious Sam 4, uses a laser sight resembling that used by the Cloned Sniper.
- Octanian Gamma Troopers also fill in the role for Cloned Soldiers in the game.
- The Cloned Sniper's model is Canned Cain's model with his head being replaced by a Cloned Soldier's head. This is because normal Cloned Soldiers are hard to see at a long distance with VR headsets, and since Cloned Snipers always appear at long distances, it would be difficult to see them if they had the normal Cloned Soldier model.
- Alongside Witch-Brides and Technopolyps, Cloned Soldiers don't appear in Jewel of the Nile.
- In the Serious Sam 3 campaign, before the player acquires the assault rifle, when a Cloned Rifleman is killed, his assault rifle will clip through the ground and disappear. This is intended for balancing purposes.
Gallery[]
Pre-release[]
Retail[]
List of appearances[]
- Serious Sam 3: BFE (First appearance)
- Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope
- Serious Sam 3 VR: BFE