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This subject appears in Serious Sam: The First Encounter.  This subject appears in Serious Sam: The Second Encounter.  This subject appears in Serious Sam: The Random Encounter.  This subject appears in Serious Sam: Double D.  This subject appears in Serious Sam's Bogus Detour.  This subject appears in Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope.  This subject appears in I Hate Running Backwards. 

 
"Here we go again!"
Sam, trapped in a room with Marsh Hoppers[src]
 

The Marsh Hopper is a very small and common enemy that makes an appearance in several Serious Sam titles. Alone, it poses little threat. In large numbers, however, they can be very dangerous.

Overview[]

The Marsh Hopper is a strange amphibious organism that lives in marshy wastelands of an unknown planet in the system of Rigil Kentaurus.[1] It is one of the smallest creatures seen so far in Mental's Horde; about the size of a basketball. It is easy to kill due to its extremely low health points, but swarms of Marsh Hoppers can be deadly, especially when playing on higher difficulties.

Application[]

Marsh Hoppers, when they appear, usually never spawn alone. The number of Marsh Hoppers encountered varies, from a tiny group of them being triggered by a trap to massive swarms being unleashed in enclosed areas. The Hopper's main purpose is to get as close to the player as possible and, using their strength in numbers, swarm all over them. When deployed by Mental onto the battlefield, Marsh Hoppers force their enemy on the defensive and distract them while Mental's stronger forces deal with the threat.

Appearances[]

Marsh Hoppers are very common in whatever game title they appear in, although they are rarer in spinoffs compared to the main titles.

Serious Sam 1[]

In Serious Sam: The First Encounter, Hoppers appear in most of the levels after Sand Canyon. Boss fights involving massive swarms of Marsh Hoppers are found in Oasis and Karnak. In Serious Sam: The Second Encounter, they appear in almost every level in the game from Sierra de Chiapas onwards. Giant Marsh Hoppers appear in a secret yard in The City of the Gods, while another giant Marsh Hopper appears as the "mighty Gizmo" secret in Tower of Babel. When this Marsh Hopper is killed, it will release a large swarm of extremely tiny Marsh Hoppers.

Serious Sam: Double D[]

In this game, Hoppers are relatively uncommon enemies, though they almost always appear in groups.

Serious Sam's Bogus Detour[]

Hoppers are much rarer this time around compared to other games, appearing only in the Egypt levels, though they do appear in large numbers.

Serious Sam Classics: Revolution[]

In the Bright Island campaign, Marsh Hoppers are featured on every level. From Ruins of the Abyss onwards, the vast majority of Marsh Hoppers are spawned from Spawner Bio-mechanoids instead of being spawned independently.

Marsh Hoppers can also be spawned from Spawner Bio-mechanoids, although these Marsh Hoppers do not count towards the player's score or other statistics, nor will they cause the level's "medium" music to play when they are the only enemy alive. This is because they are treated as projectiles. Despite this, they will still count towards the NETRICSA enemy catalogue if they are the first killed Marsh Hoppers in the player's current playthrough.

Behavior and skills[]

On their home planet, Marsh Hoppers are a social and highly territorial species, and tend to live in large groups. They have a suicidal instinct for protecting their territory.[1] Upon sighting a target, an aggravated Marsh Hopper will leap towards the intruder and explode by overinflating itself. Upon death, the toxic slime contained in its intestines splashes the target.[1] This attack deals a fair amount of damage. A Hopper will also explode when it is killed, but it inflicts no splash damage. After the Zubenhakrabian Spider Nymphs, they are the second-weakest enemies in the series and have extremely low health, so they can be taken out in one shot from any weapon.

While a lone Hopper is hardly a threat, groups of Hoppers exploding into the player can drain the player's health and/or armor very rapidly, making them highly dangerous if not quickly eliminated.

I Hate Running Backwards[]

In this game, the Marsh Hopper is much larger in comparison to its Serious Sam 1 counterpart. Like other enemies in the game, Marsh Hoppers have two tiers. The upgraded Marsh Hoppers have increased jump distance, and tier 2 Marsh Hoppers have a high chance of leaving behind a pool of acid after death.

Tactics[]

Serious Sam 1[]

  • Hoppers have very low health, making them extremely easy to kill. However, to make up for this, Hoppers are almost always released in large hordes. This makes them very dangerous, as they can quickly jump on the player in succession and inflict a lot of damage in a very short amount of time.
  • On higher difficulties, a group of Hoppers jumping on the player almost at once can quickly kill a player with no armor. In the classic releases, the player can even get gibbed in the process as well, as an exploding Hopper inflicts Explosion damage instead of Punch damage like in Serious Sam HD.
  • When fighting Marsh Hoppers, the player must always be on the move. Hoppers can quickly catch up to the player if they stop moving.
  • The player must always be aware of their surroundings when fighting off Marsh Hoppers. Hoppers can easily sneak up on the player because their sounds are not location-based and will always sound the same, whether the Hopper is behind or in front of the player.
  • Groups can be dealt with by using either the Thompson submachine gun, XPML21 Rocket Launcher, or MK III Grenade Launcher. Smaller groups can be taken out with dual Schofields. The rocket launcher and grenade launcher are effective because Marsh Hoppers easily stick together in tight groups, which makes them vulnerable to a rocket or grenade's splash damage. However, the player should only fire explosive weapons at a distance because there is a chance of a Hopper jumping in front of a rocket or grenade at the last moment if fired close to Hoppers.
  • It may be tempting to use the XM214-A Minigun against large hordes of Hoppers, but it is actually a waste of ammo. It takes one bullet to kill a Hopper, and the minigun's high rate of fire will ensure that a few rounds will be wasted while switching to another Hopper. If one must use the minigun, try to fire in bursts.
  • The XL2 Lasergun is a viable alternative to the Tommygun and minigun if the player is out of bullets, although the player will have to lead their shots to avoid wasting ammo.
  • While Hoppers explode upon death, the explosion they make if they die does practically no damage, even at point blank range. Their explosions only do damage if they directly touch the player.
  • In The Second Encounter, the P-LAH Chainsaw can make quick work of even a large Marsh Hopper group. When no other enemies are present, it's often a good idea to retreat in the corner and point the chainsaw diagonally upward, making it very hard to get hit.
  • In The Second Encounter, the XOP Flamethrower is also a highly effective weapon against Marsh Hoppers, especially when they are paired with other enemies like Kleer Skeletons, most notably in The Citadel.
  • With other enemies, Marsh Hoppers are a medium-priority threat. Their attacks can be dodged but it may sometimes prove difficult.
  • It may be useful to crouch while fighting Marsh Hoppers. While crouching, Marsh Hoppers are at the player's eye level and they don't have to angle their weapon down to hit them.

Serious Sam: Double D[]

  • Rapid-fire weapons, such as the Thompson submachine gun, are the best weapons to use against Marsh Hoppers. They can be quickly cut down by the rapid fire gun's slew of projectiles they fire thanks to their very low health.
  • The best strategy for them it to avoid them as much as possible. They can inflict a significant amount of damage quickly and usually appear in close-quarters areas, making it extremely difficult to dodge their attacks. Try to move forwards while killing any frogs that are following the player or the occasional one or two Marsh Hoppers that try to get in front of the player. The large amount of damage Marsh Hoppers can do if multiple ones quickly attack is simply not worth fighting them for.
  • Marsh Hoppers are difficult to dodge because their large jump length makes it difficult to jump over them. In almost every case, killing them is much faster and easier than trying to dodge their jump attack.

Serious Sam's Bogus Detour[]

  • Small groups of Hoppers can be taken down with the Pistols.
  • Unlike other games, Hoppers will die if they hit a wall or an object. This can be useful for saving ammunition.
  • Weapons with lots of spread (i.e the Shotgun), or a high rate of fire such as the Thompson submachine gun are effective against medium to large groups of Hoppers.

Behind the scenes[]

  • The Marsh Hopper in Test 2 had a more tan body with neon eyes and blue fins.

Related achievements[]

Serious Sam Classics: Revolution[]

Achievement Stop jumping!
Stop jumping!
Kill 5000 marsh-hoppers with the chainsaw.

Trivia[]

  • The Marsh Hopper is called "Gizmo" in Serious Sam 1's game files.
  • In the classic releases and Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter, if a player dies to a Marsh Hopper in co-op, an obituary message will appear on-screen reading: "[player name] ate a marsh hopper".
    • In Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter, the obituary message will instead read "[player name] passed away."
    • In the Fusion versions, though, "[player name] is missing in action." will always appear instead.
  • The Marsh Hopper is mentioned by Kenny in Serious Sam 4, but is not actually encountered in-game.
  • Marsh Hoppers in Serious Sam: Double D use the Lizard's sounds.
    • Interestingly, both enemies are also called "Gizmo" in the game files.
  • The Marsh Hopper boss fight music used in Oasis, "Fight 05 (Marshfreakinhoppers)", would eventually be reused for the Aludran Microhopper boss fight in the "Alpha and Omega" sidequest in the Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem level Roadside Picnic.

Gallery[]

Serious Sam 1[]

Pre-release[]

Retail[]

Serious Sam (Palm OS)[]

Serious Sam: Double D[]

Serious Sam: The Random Encounter[]

Serious Sam's Bogus Detour[]

Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope[]

I Hate Running Backwards[]

List of appearances[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Serious Sam 1 NETRICSA description
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