The Hatchling Antaresian Spider is a small, common enemy introduced in Serious Sam 3: BFE. It later appears in Serious Sam 3 VR: BFE, Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope, and I Hate Running Backwards.
Overview[]
Hatchling Antaresian Spiders are newborn Antaresian Spiders, a species of arachnid-like aliens that originate from Antares Prime, a planet orbiting a red supergiant. As this planet orbits such a massive star, this has led to the planet's organisms to evolve to grow very large.[1]
Appearances[]
Serious Sam 3: BFE[]
An Antaresian Spider egg.
Hatchlings are relatively common throughout most of the game, though they not as common as Juveniles. They can also be found in eggs. They first appear in Into the Spider's Nest, and become a lot more numerous in No Place to Hide and Under the Iron Cloud. Eventually, in the later levels, they are replaced and outnumbered by Juvenile Spiders.
Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope[]
They are common enemies in this installment, and are often seen in small to medium-sized swarms.
I Hate Running Backwards[]
Hatchling Spiders are very common enemies in this game, appearing as early as the A King's Tail environment.
Behavior and skills[]
Hatchlings are much weaker and smaller in comparison to Juvenile Antaresian Spiders. As they are very young and still developing, they have weak jaws and undeveloped exoskeletons, so if the player is close to a spider, pressing the Use button (E by default) will make Sam squash the spider with his foot, killing it instantly. An individual Hatchling is not dangerous, though a swarm can be deadly if they are not eliminated quickly.[1]
Hatchlings are often found in eggs. The eggs are very sensitive to noise, and can detect sounds up to 89.5 dB.[2] Thus, if a firearm is shot within the vicinity of an egg, it alerts other Spiders in the area, causing other eggs to hatch, which in turn spawns more Hatchlings.
Like other arachnids, Hatchlings have adhesive surfaces on their feet, which gives them the ability to climb walls and latch onto ceilings.[1] Its primary attacks are to fire acid balls at the target, which are produced by poisonous glands in their tail, and to bite the player should they get too close to them. On Hard or Serious difficulty in Serious Sam Fusion, Hatchlings can fire green acid balls that bounce off walls and ceilings, in the exact same manner as the Exotech Larva's plasma orbs, although they can be destroyed with weapons fire.
The Hatchling spider's behavior has been altered in I Hate Running Backwards; they don't fire acid balls at the player from a distance, and their AI is limited to only chasing the player and damaging them with a melee attack.
Tactics[]
Serious Sam 3: BFE[]
- A single Hatchling can be killed with any weapon. However, the 12 Gauge Pump-Action Shotgun, Sledgehammer and SOP38 Pistol work best, as they use very little to no ammo.
- The melee attack is very handy for killing a single Hatchling without using any ammo. This should only be done if there are no other enemies close to the player, as the melee animation makes the player briefly vulnerable when performing it.
- When faced with Hatchling cocoons, a combination of sledgehammer and melee attacks work best to eliminate them. They should be shot only when there are a few of them left, as a small amount of Hatchlings are easy to deal with.
- Groups of Hatchlings can easily be dispatched with either the pump shotgun or M29 Infantry Assault Rifle. One shotgun blast can easily kill multiple Hatchlings, while the assault rifle can slice through a group of them thanks to its good rate of fire and damage.
- Although the XL2 Lasergun and XM214-A Minigun may be tempting to use against swarms of Hatchlings as they kill Hatchlings in one hit, they shouldn't be used except as a last resort especially due to the rarity of their respective ammo sources.
- With groups of enemies, the Hatchling is little more than a nuisance. As long as the player is moving in a direction, they're harmless. If they get close, the player can simply sprint away from them. Therefore, they are a low priority when mixed with other enemies.
Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope[]
- The same tactics for dealing with Hatchlings in this game is pretty much the same as in Serious Sam 3. Any small-arms fire like the SOP38 or the Laser Pistol is enough to kill individuals or small groups of them.
- When being swarmed by Hatchlings, the P-LAH Chainsaw and Laser Sword can eliminate them instantly.
- With larger groups, dual-wield pump shotguns, XPML21 Rocket Launchers or assault rifles are great for taking them quickly, especially when paired with Juvenile spiders.
Related achievements[]
Serious Sam 3: BFE[]
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| Squash 10 Hatching Spiders. |
Serious Sam Fusion[]
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| Squash 10 Hatching Spiders. |
Trivia[]
- A large number of Hatchling cocoons can be found inside the Egyptian Museum's basement in the level Into The Spider's Nest after the phone cutscene. Disturbing the cocoons will cause the Hatchlings to erupt all at once and they will begin swarming the player.
- Hatching Spiders have a brief period of invulnerablity (lasting approximately half a second) if their cocoons are destroyed while they are inside them. Once they have finished their animation, they are able to take damage and be killed.
- The Hatchling does not appear in Serious Sam 4; it is instead replaced by the Zubenhakrabian Spider Nymph.
Gallery[]
Serious Sam 3: BFE[]
Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope[]
I Hate Running Backwards[]
List of appearances[]
- Serious Sam 3: BFE (First appearance)
- Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope
- Serious Sam 3 VR: BFE
- I Hate Running Backwards (non-canonical appearance)