The Beheaded Rocketeer is an executed Sirian soldier that has been raised from the dead by the use of Mental's cyber-zombie technology. They, along with Beheaded Kamikazes, are the most numerous beheaded infantry in Mental's army. He is featured as a very common enemy that has appeared in many Serious Sam titles.
Overview[]
The Beheaded Rocketeer appears as a headless man wearing a purple shirt (red in Serious Sam: Next Encounter), combat pants and boots. He carries his head in one hand and a magic missile launcher in the other. He uses his head to receive audio and visual information, while the gun serves as his primary weapon in combat.[1]
Like other beheaded infantry seen in Mental's army, the remains of the Rocketeer's head have undergone cybernetic modifications; the main part of these cybernetics is the life control unit, an electronic device that replaces the functionality of the removed upper part of the central nervous system. This device includes crude sensory modules and a vocal synthesizer.[1]
Application[]
Beheaded Rocketeers serve as disposable, lightweight troops and are often deployed in areas with little or no resistance from opposing forces. In larger groups, they serve as cannon fodder. They are sometimes positioned on top of columns or pillars, but less frequently so than Beheaded Bombers and Beheaded Firecrackers.
Appearances[]
Rocketeers are very common enemies in every game they appear in, and are usually the first enemy the player encounters in the series. Rocketeers are found on pretty much every level and then in much larger groups later on. As the player progresses through the game, or if they are playing on high difficulty settings, Rocketeers become less common and are often replaced by stronger enemies such as Kleer Skeletons.
Rocketeers are often featured in secrets. Instances of this are in Serious Sam 3: BFE, Serious Sam 4 and Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem. In secrets, Rocketeers are sometimes seen being an unusual size, and may also be much tougher than normal, like the "Big Man Pyrone" Rocketeer that appears as a secret in the level Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Weaponry[]
The Rocketeer is equipped with only one weapon; an outdated, low-power handheld magic missile launcher that was used during the last days of the Sirian resistance.[2] The Rocketeer's gun is cheap and suffers from low efficiency and damage, for which they make up by possessing built-in techno-magical ammunition replenishers, which provides the weapon with unlimited ammunition.[1] Several varieties of this gun exist, some of which require to be manually reloaded after each shot. Rocketeers are immune to damage from their own projectiles.
In Serious Sam HD and Serious Sam: Double D, the Rocketeer is equipped with a rotating buzz-saw on his head. This weapon is intended for close-range combat and can deal a high amount of damage if the target gets too close to him, even dismembering them if he kills them.
Behavior and skills[]
When a Rocketeer spots the target, he will fire a magic missile from its gun at the target. The projectiles fired from the Rocketeer's gun are slow, do not track the target and travel in a straight line. As they are projectiles, the missiles take time to reach their target, so they can be easily avoided by jumping over them or sidestepping. The projectiles deal minimal damage upon contact.
Being cyber-controlled, Rocketeers have little to no brain functionality and are programmed to attack the enemy on sight; their intelligence is mostly limited to blindly attack targets without any form of tactics or flanking manuevers. They are some of the weakest enemies in the Serious Sam games and can be easily be killed with any weapon in the player's arsenal. Like Beheaded Firecrackers, Rocketeers are immune to their own projectiles.
On Hard and Serious difficulties in the Serious Sam 3: BFE version of Serious Sam Fusion Serious Sam 4 and Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem, Rocketeers have a chance to fire homing projectiles, making them harder to avoid than the regular ones. Additionally, if they miss, they will turn around and try to hit the player again. These projectiles are similar in appearance to the magic missiles in Serious Sam HD and use the same behavior as the Common Aludran Reptiloid's projectiles. However, unlike the normal projectiles, these can be destroyed with the player's weapons.
From Serious Sam HD onwards, the Rocketeer's has been given a secondary attack; if the player gets too close to a Rocketeer, he will use his head-mounted buzz-saw to inflict damage, kick the player, or whack them with his pistol, depending on the game that he appears in. His melee attacks are much more dangerous than the projectiles fired from his gun, as he can perform this attack more frequently.
Tactics[]
General[]
- The Rocketeer's projectiles are very weak and easy to avoid, as they are slow. Simply strafing in one direction makes it impossible for them to hit the player.
- When he is idle, a Rocketeer will make low grunts or growls. Use this to easily track them down and eliminate them.
- When paired with other enemies, the Rocketeer is a hardly a threat. His projectiles are easy to dodge, and do little damage if they do hit the player, especially if the player has lots of armor. He should be be targeted last when mixed with other enemies.
- Small groups of Rocketeers can easily be dispatched with small-arms fire from a pistol or Military Knife. Using anything stronger than the 12 Gauge Pump-Action Shotgun against them is an outright waste of ammo.
Serious Sam 1[]
- Large groups can be dispatched with any weapon with ease. Although the Thompson submachine gun or the XM214-A Minigun is recommended for these situations.
- In Serious Sam HD, attempting to kill a Rocketeer with a melee weapon is slightly more dangerous, due to the buzz-saw inflicting higher damage than his pistol, especially when playing on higher difficulties.
- The Schofield .45 is an ideal weapon for taking down small to medium-sized groups of Rocketeers.
- The player should be aware that Rocketeers might serve as traps, especially on higher difficulty settings. A single Rocketeer might be mixed with other enemies. When killed, much stronger enemies will spawn. An example of this is seen in Sand Canyon on Serious difficulty, where Kleer Skeletons will spawn to assist Rocketeers.
- The Rocketeer is a low-priority target due to how little damage he does, and how easy his projectiles are to dodge. However, like other beheaded enemies, they can become a potential threat when the player has a low amount of health.
Serious Sam 3: BFE[]
- He has very low health; two shots from the SOP38 Pistol or a single pump-action shotgun blast will kill him. Large groups of Rocketeers can easily be killed with the C-4 Demolition Charge, coach gun, M29 Infantry Assault Rifle, Sirian Mutilator or the XPML21 Rocket Launcher. These weapons can completely wipe out a group of them.
- Since his melee attack can be very damaging, it should be advised not to stand too close to him, especially when playing on higher difficulty settings.
- Rocketeers are extremely common, but due to their extremely low durability, relatively low damage and easy-to-dodge projectiles, they should always be the bottom priority targets.
- In Serious Sam Fusion, when playing on Hard or Serious difficulty, the Rocketeer can fire a homing projectile which is harder to avoid, although much like the Reptiloid's fireballs, these projectiles can be shot down. When Rocketeers are in groups, it will become more difficult to avoid their projectiles, especially the homing ones. This is where weapons like the XM214-A and XL2 Lasergun come in handy.
Serious Sam: Double D[]
- The Rocketeer is little more than cannon-fodder. He can easily be killed with any combination of weapons. Even a single Type II Machine Pistol can kill him with three or so shots.
- For groups of Rocketeers, the 12 Gauge Shotgun and Thompson work very well for clearing out groups of them, especially when stacked.
- Because of how weak they are, they pose a very low threat, even in groups.
- His projectiles can be dodged by jumping or hiding behind cover. They can also be destroyed with the 0-4377 Flamethrower.
Serious Sam: The Random Encounter[]
- Rocketeers remain a low threat in the game as their projectiles can be avoided easily.
- Since Rocketeers tend to appear in large groups, it is best to take them down with the minigun or any other rapid-firing weapon.
- Rocketeers should be targeted last when mixed in with more dangerous enemies, as eliminating them first is a waste of ammo.
Serious Sam: Next Encounter[]
- The dual Shofield Desert Hawk's large magazine, quick rate of fire and good accuracy make it the ideal for taking out Rocketeers, no matter how many there are.
- If Rocketeers needs to be dispatched in a hurry, the Shofield Uzi Pistol can reduce even the largest group of Rocketeers to nothing in a second or two.
I Hate Running Backwards[]
- It is best not to let a large number of Rocketeers swarm the area, as their numbers can increase quickly, making it tougher to avoid and deflect all the incoming projectiles.
Serious Sam 4/Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem[]
- Much like in the previous games, Rocketeers pose little threat to the player.
- His health is low enough for him to be killed with two shots from the pistol or assault rifle at any range, or a single shot from the pump-action shotgun from low to medium range.
- For large groups, the pump-action shotgun or coach gun are excellent weapons for clearing them out.
- The combat knife works well for finishing off small groups of Rocketeers.
- For obvious reasons, the Rocketeer cannot be killed with a headshot (as he lacks a head) so he won't die from one shot from a pistol or assault rifle regardless of where it is fired on his body. The LCU on his neck is not counted as a weak point either.
Related achievements[]
Serious Sam 3: BFE[]
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| Rip out 10 Rocketeer hearts. |
Serious Sam Fusion[]
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| Rip out 10 Rocketeer hearts. |
Behind the scenes[]
- In Alpha, the Rocketeer had a completely different model. He wore blue pants and was shirtless, his shirt having been replaced by a vest with a skull rendered on it. His gun also had a different model and his head used a different texture.
- In Test 1, the Rocketeer had a slightly different skin and a different model for his gun.
- The term "rocketeer" refers to a person who uses rockets. It can also refer to a soldier specialized in rocket artillery.
Trivia[]
General[]
- The Rocketeer has the Mental logo on his shirt in Serious Sam 3, Serious Sam 4 and Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem, though it's harder to see in the former as it blends in with his shirt's color.
- Unlike previous games, Rocketeers in Serious Sam 3 and newer titles will reload their pistols after each shot, explaining the firing delay.
Serious Sam 1[]
- In Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter, if the player is killed by the Rocketeer's buzz-saw, they will be gibbed - in this case, the player's character will be sliced in half. This is not the case in the HD version for The First Encounter, in which case the player will just die normally. This is fixed in the Fusion version.
Serious Sam 3: BFE[]
- The Rocketeer does not carry in this title unlike the previous games.
- The gun that the Rocketeer uses looks very similar to the ones used by the Zorg Commander in Serious Sam HD.
- Performing a melee kill on a Beheaded Rocketeer (when not wielding shotguns, including the A-24 Devastator) will leave the player holding a ripped out heart as a melee trophy. The heart can be seen beating for several seconds accompanied by a sound effect. This is true in real life, as the heart has a sinoatrial node which acts as a natural pacemaker and can keep the heart beating even outside of the body for some time.
- The Rocketeer is called "RocketMan" in the game files.
Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope[]
- The Rocketeer reuses the Serious Sam HD Rocketeer's gun model instead of the Serious Sam 3 version.
Serious Sam 4[]
- The large Rocketeer that appears as a secret in Serious Sam 4 ("Big Man Pyrone") is extremely tough, with 2500 HP, which is 500 less HP than a Khnum.
Gallery[]
Artwork[]
Serious Sam 1[]
Pre-release[]
Retail[]
Serious Sam: Next Encounter[]
Serious Sam: Double D[]
Serious Sam: The Random Encounter[]
Serious Sam 3: BFE[]
Pre-release[]
Retail[]
Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope[]
I Hate Running Backwards[]
Serious Sam 4/Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem[]
List of appearances[]
- Serious Sam: The First Encounter (First appearance)
- Serious Sam (Palm OS) (non-canonical appearance)
- Serious Sam: The Second Encounter
- Serious Sam: Xbox (non-canonical appearance)
- Serious Sam: Next Encounter (non-canonical appearance)
- Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter
- Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter
- Serious Sam: Double D (non-canonical appearance)
- Serious Sam: The Random Encounter (non-canonical appearance)
- Serious Sam 3: BFE
- Serious Sam: Double D: XXL (non-canonical appearance)
- Serious Sam VR: The First Encounter (non-canonical appearance)
- Serious Sam VR: The Second Encounter (non-canonical appearance)
- Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope
- Serious Sam 3 VR: BFE (non-canonical appearance)
- I Hate Running Backwards (non-canonical appearance)
- Serious Sam Classics: Revolution (non-canonical appearance)
- Serious Sam 4
- Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem