The Beetle is an enemy that appears in Serious Sam: Double D and Serious Sam: Double D: XXL.
Overview[]
The Beetle is a large insect-like creature with a green exoskeleton and an orange body. Considering its size, it is not known if the Beetle is an ordinary insect that has been enlarged through unknown means by Mental, or if is extraterrestrial in origin. One of the most noticeable features of the Beetle is its two horns, but it seems that the horns have been transformed into a flamethrower.
Appearances[]
The first Beetle appears in Egyptian Assault, which can be seen flying overhead and using its flamethrower and then it flies away. In the later parts of the game, they can appear at once or in small groups. Due to their large size, they can easily take up a large part of the player's screen when they appear.
Behavior and skills[]
Due to its sheer size, the Beetle is very tough and can endure a lot of damage before it dies. The front part of its body is impervious to gunfire and explosives, but its orange underside is vulnerable to attacks, which is essentially its one big weak spot.
Upon noticing the target, it will use of two attacks: flamethrower and charge. Normally, the Beetle will use the flamethrower in a certain pattern; it will look down, then start moving the flamethrower up until it's looking about 90 degrees upwards. The charge is pretty much what it sounds like; the Beetle will charge towards the target while flying. This attack is usually done when the player gets close to its back in order to prevent the player from shooting its weak spot, but it will occasionally do this without the player getting close to its back.
Tactics[]
- Avoiding its flamethrower can be done by walking backwards away from it. The flamethrower has limited range, and once the player is far enough, its flamethrower is completely harmless.
- In order to get a chance to shoot at the Beetle's vulnerable side, the player should run past the Beetle. This lets them get a good shot at the Beetle's back. Even if the Beetle tries to fly away when the player gets to its back, they can just follow it while shooting at its weak spot.
- Multiple Beetles are not difficult to deal with, despite what they may look like at first glance. The most important tip is to focus on one of the Beetles and constantly try to get behind it in order to kill it. The removal of one of the Beetles gives the player a lot more room to dodge the other Beetle's flamethrower. Also, try to avoid getting caught between the two Beetles. Having a Beetle on both side gives the Beetles plenty of chances to hit the player, which will hurt.
- When paired with other enemies, the Beetle's threat depends on the amount of room the player has to walk around with. If the player has a good amount of room, then the Beetle isn't much of a threat to the player because they have plenty of room to run away from its flamethrower. However, if the player is in a somewhat-tight area, killing the Beetles should be a top priority because they player won't have enough room to dodge its flamethrower, along with attacks from other enemies. By taking out the Beetle in that situation, it gives the player much more room to dodge other attacks.
List of appearances[]
- Serious Sam: Double D (First appearance) (non-canonical appearance)
- Serious Sam: Double D: XXL (non-canonical appearance)