The M1A1 Abrams is a main battle tank used by the Earth Defense Force. It saw use during major conflicts such as the Tunguska Offensive and the Mental War. It appears as a functioning vehicle in Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem.
Overview[]
A few Abrams tanks saw use during the Tunguska Offensive.
The M1A1 Abrams is a tank designed for modern armored ground warfare. Before the Mental War, it served as the main battle tank used by the United States Army and Marine Corps before they came into service for the EDF. The Abrams is believed to be the only main battle tank that saw combat use during the Mental War.[1]
In-game, the tank is fairly fast and travels at roughly the same as its real-life counterpart. It is armed with a large cannon and a coaxial machine gun for use against opposing forces. The tank's cannon (fired with the primary fire key) deals devastating damage (1000 total damage - 600 direct damage + 400 splash damage and 50 piercing power)[2], and can be used to severely wound or instantly kill tough opponents, or destroy large masses of weak enemies. The tank's cannon projectiles also inflict Piercing damage, allowing them to gib any enemy upon killing them.[2] The coaxial machine gun (fired with the secondary fire key) is extremely effective at mowing down weak enemies, especially when they show up in large swarms. The tank also comes equipped with a speed boost (activated by pressing the Sprint key) which gives the tank a tremendous amount of speed for a short period of time.
Like other vehicles, the tank has limited health, and will be destroyed once its health reaches zero. If the player is inside the tank after its health meter has been depleted, they will die.
Appearances[]
Serious Sam 3: BFE[]
The only Abrams tanks that appear in Serious Sam 3 are destroyed ones. This suggests that the Abrams was used to fight Mental's forces at one point. A destroyed Abrams can also be seen at the EDF headquarters during Mental's assault on the base.
Serious Sam 4[]
A few Abrams tanks are seen supporting the EDF troops as they push Mental's forces back into the Tunguska portal. It is not known what happened to them after the battle was over.
Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem[]
Sam fighting Mental's forces in the Abrams.
The Abrams only appears once, in Roadside Picnic. It is used by Sam to take down a huge horde of Mental's forces as he makes his way down south to join up with Ledov and the rest of the Russian partisans.
During the battle, a health power-up is spawned. The player can pick this up to replenish a moderate amount of health for the tank.
The tank is also featured in the survival map The Snowrider.
Tactics[]
- Perform flanking maneuvers and use the speed boost in the tank whenever possible. Not only will this minimize the chances of getting hit by enemy projectiles, but it also makes it harder for the enemy to track the player this way.
- Use the cannon to take out tough or armored opponents such as Adult Arachnoids, Khnums, Major Bio-mechanoids, and Octanian Legionnaires, or groups of weak enemies clustered together, such as Beheaded Kamikazes, Processed Anthropolyps, Octanian Gamma Troopers, and Space Mummies.
- The machine gun is extremely useful for mowing down hordes of weak enemies like Emetic Anthropolyps, Gnaars, Kleer Skeletons, Hatchling Arachnoids, Octanian Commanders, Octanian Gamma Troopers, and Processed Anthropolyps.
- It is important to focus on high-priority targets such as Khnums, Major Bio-mechanoids, and Octanian Sentry Towers. Sentry towers are especially dangerous, as their rockets are hard to dodge and can quickly deplete the tank's health if they are not eliminated quickly enough.
- The tank's cannon and machine gun are extremely effective against groups of Kamikazes; the projectiles fired by the cannon have a large blast radius, which can set off a huge chain explosion if enough Kamikazes are within range. The machine gun works just as well, but is not as effective as the cannon.
- The tank's speed boost is very useful for dodging enemy projectiles or when the player becomes overwhelmed by large hordes of enemies and needs to speed away from them.
Behind the scenes[]
- Two EDF soldiers have an animation of them poking out of a tank hatch in Serious Sam 3: BFE's game files, suggesting that an operable M1A1 might've appeared at one time.
- The M1A1 was supposed to appear in T.E.O.R, but the game was cancelled before its release.
- The Abrams can be found in Serious Sam 2's game files, which suggests that it was going to be in the game at one point.
Related achievements[]
Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem[]
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| Don't ride the tank - become the tank |
Trivia[]
- If the player uses cheats to noclip on the level The Last Man on Earth, they can find the Abrams tank and the EDF base that was used for the cutscene.
- The track "Foreverwar" by Undercode plays whenever the player enters the Abrams in Siberian Mayhem.
- In real life, Egypt owns approximately 800-1200 M1A1 tanks.
- The Earth Defense Force logo can be seen on the sides of the Serious Sam 4 Abrams.
- The Siberian Mayhem version of the Abrams has the Serious Sam logo on its skirts.
- In real life, the Abrams comes equipped with a machine gun next to its main cannon. In-game, however, the M2 Browning on top of the tank is used instead.
- Furthermore, it shouldn't be possible for Sam to be able to drive the tank and fire its guns at the same.
- Sam's quote when he drives in the Abrams is a reference to the Fast and Furious movie franchise.
- The Abrams' tank cannon shell has the same hit and roll effect terms (CannonHit, CannonRoll) and material effect and pierce material effect types (RocketHit, CannonPierce) as the cannonballs fired by the SBC Cannon.
Gallery[]
T.E.O.R[]
Serious Sam 2[]
Serious Sam 3: BFE[]
Serious Sam 4[]
Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem[]
List of appearances[]
- T.E.O.R (Screenshot only)
- Serious Sam 2 (Game files only) (non-canonical appearance)
- Serious Sam 3: BFE (First appearance) (Cutscene only)
- Serious Sam 3 VR: BFE (non-canonical appearance) (Cutscene only)
- Serious Sam 4
- Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem
References[]
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