Cairo

This article contains spoilers. Read at your own risk!

"There isn't a man alive that can fly a chopper in here and survive."

―Sam to Quinn regarding his need for extraction^[src]

Cairo is the capital of Egypt, and one of the many cities on Earth that was invaded and overrun by Mental's Horde during the Mental War. It is a major location featured in Serious Sam 3: BFE, and plays a minor role early in the campaign.

Overview[]

Located in northern Egypt, Cairo is the largest city in the country, and one of the largest and densely populated cities in the whole of Africa, with a population of tens of millions of inhabitants before the Mental War. The city consists of many high-rise buildings, apartments, office buildings, and skyscrapers. Most of these buildings were destroyed or heavily damaged during the war on Earth; most of the damage was due to Mental's warships leveling the city with their scorcher beams.^[1]

Cairo abandoned street — An abandoned street in Cairo.

When Mental's forces attacked Earth, Cairo was one of the most heavily hit cities, due to being subjected to heavy bombardment from Mental's warships. By the time Serious Sam 3 takes place, there is little to no traces of human life left in the city, as most of its inhabitants were killed or have already fled. Throughout the streets is an abundance of military supplies, such as weapons, ammunition, barricades, and fortifactions. This suggests that the city recently came under siege by Mental's forces, which it seemed the Earth Defense Force lost. ASU 7 Automatic Sentry Units, originally meant to fend off hordes of Mental's forces, are still active, which makes some locations in the city very dangerous for anyone who is still alive in the city. As the city had become abandoned, the streets became desolate and hostile places.

With the city under Mental's control, his forces had slowly transformed parts of the city for their own needs; Antaresian Spiders formed large nests to lay their eggs, both on the streets and inside buildings, Major Bio-mechanoids were emplaced in certain spots in the city to shoot down any air support that flew into it, Scythian Witch-Harpies perched on top of buildings in the suburbs, waiting to ambush unsuspecting prey, Technopolyps flew around in the skies, Adult Arachnoids, Beheaded Rocketeers, Cloned Soldiers, Hatchling Arachnoids and Kleer Skeletons patrolled the streets, looking out for any signs of trouble, and Gnaars feasted upon the less fortunate for sustenance.^[2]^[3]^[4] What was even worse were the Sandwhales that roamed the sands of the Sahara, devouring any unsuspecting citizens who fled from the conflict.^[5]

Notable locations[]

Great Pyramid of Giza[]

Main article: Great Pyramid of Giza

Located just outside the city, this large structure forms part of the Giza pyramid complex, and was constructed by the ancient Egyptians during the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt. The pyramid's purpose had remained a mystery for millenia until a secret entrance leading to it was discovered inside. Remarkably, it is still left in relatively pristine condition compared to Cairo. This was likely due to the landmark serving little or no strategic value to Mental and his forces.

Egyptian Museum[]

Main article: Egyptian Museum

The Egyptian Museum houses a large collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts and treasures. It later became an auxiliary depot in 2015, and was abandoned after Cairo was taken over by Mental's forces. The building served as a place of interest for professor Hermann Stein, who went to do his research on the Time-Lock.

Mosque of Ibn Tulun[]

Main article: Mosque of Ibn Tulun

Built in the year 884, the Ibn Tulun mosque is one of the oldest surviving mosques in Egypt and the largest in Cairo. It was the location for Sam's extraction when he needed a lift out of the city. According to legend, the mosque was where Noah's Ark came to rest after the great flood.^[6]

Appearances[]

Serious Sam 3: BFE[]

Black Hawk approaching Cairo — Team Alpha's Black Hawk approaching the ruins of Cairo.

Sam, Rodriguez, Jones and the rest of Team Alpha are sent into Cairo to rescue Professor Stein from the Egyptian Museum, who needs help after the team escorting him are killed. Soon after Team Alpha make it into Cairo, their helicopter is shot down by a Major Bio-mechanoid. Sam is chucked out of the helicopter from the rocket impact due to not wearing a seatbelt, and is forced to fight through the dangerous streets alone.^[2]

Eventually, Sam makes his way to the museum's entrance, but finds that he is too late to save Rodriguez and the rest of the team, since they are already dead. Quinn instructs Sam to get into the museum, but is too late to save Professor Stein, as he is killed before he can be rescued.^[3] Not all hope is lost, though, as Sam did save the research that he found. Sam uploads Stein's data to headquarters and escapes from the museum. Once Sam is back out on the streets, he is contacted by Garret, who is tasked with extracting Stone out of the city. He gets to the extraction point, the Ibn Tulun mosque, but before Garret can land, his helicopter is shot down. After defeating the culprit responsible, a Major Bio-mechanoid, Sam hurries to the helicopter's crash site to rescue Garret, but as soon as he approaches it, a strange creature takes control of the helicopter, transforming it into a Technopolyp.^[4]

Sam runs from the Technopolyp, shutting down minigun turrets while eliminating any threats that stand in his way. He finds a rocket launcher near a gate, and uses it to destroy the Technopolyp. With the bird 'secured', Quinn offers Sam another lift via helicopter, but he declines, stating that it's too dangerous for anyone to fly in without getting shot down. Sam elects to travel to the Great Pyramid on foot, and meets heavier resistance from Mental's forces, and eventually he reaches a large, open area with the remains of destroyed buuldings. There, he gears up and deals with more of Mental's forces before a warship suddenly appears. The warship begins attacking Sam with its scorcher beams and teleports troops in to harass him, but Sam is able to critically damage the warship with his rocket launcher, which forces it to flee. With the area now clear of enemies, Sam finds a car nearby and uses it to drive out of the city and towards the Great Pyramid of Giza.^[7]

Like the rest of Egypt, Cairo was completely destroyed when Earth's Moon was hurled into it. This only occurred in the Serious Sam 3 timeline, however, so the fate of the city in Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem's timeline remains ambiguous.