The XM214-A Minigun, or just Minigun, is a powerful, fully automatic machine gun and is one of Serious Sam's signature weapons. Since the minigun has an extremely rate of fire and can make quick work of single strong enemies or large masses of weak enemies, it is widely considered the most iconic weapon of the Serious Sam series.
Overview[]
Sam mowing down a horde of Kleers with the minigun in Serious Sam 4.
Having evolved through Gatling, to M61 Vulcan and then the M134, the XM214-A is the latest in rotary machine gun technology.[1] The weapon is self-powered, comes complete with a built-in magazine and a state-of-the-art recoil adapter. Firing at over 1200 rounds per minute, and with enough damage potential to make mince meat of any small to medium-sized creature that stands in its way, the minigun is the most powerful personal weapon available to Earth Defense Force infantry.[2]
The minigun's main flaw compared to other weapons in the series is that the weapon's enormous destructive potential and high rate of fire comes at a very high ammunition cost.[1] Also, unlike other weapons, there is a slight delay before firing, as the barrels need to spin up to full speed, although in Serious Sam 1, the minigun will sometimes fire immediately once the player presses the fire button. In other games, though, like in Serious Sam 2 and Serious Sam HD, the minigun fires at half the rate of its classic counterpart, but it deals double damage per shot, which means it spends less ammo than usual.
In Serious Sam 3: BFE, like its previous incarnations, the minigun functions as a powerful crowd control weapon, and is able to cut down waves of enemies like grass. Ammunition, however, is not as abundant as it was in the previous games, though it is still relatively common in secrets.
In Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope, the player can purchase ammunition from the weapons menu with points.
In Serious Sam 4 and Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem, the minigun remains a very powerful weapon and functions just like its Serious Sam 3 counterpart. Like the minigun from Serious Sam 1, it deals 10 damage per shot. It can also carry 1000 rounds on Normal difficulty as opposed to the usual 500, mimicking its Serious Sam 2 rendition.
Appearances[]
Given the weapon's extremely high firepower and damage output, it is quite a rare weapon, and doesn't usually appear until the mid to late section of whatever game it appears in. It can, however, be obtained much earlier than usual if the player obtains the weapon via secrets, which can give the player an advantage when a large amount of enemies appear or during a boss fight.
Serious Sam 1[]
The minigun first appears in Serious Sam: The First Encounter in Metropolis, though it can found earlier in Oasis as a secret. In Serious Sam: The Second Encounter, the minigun first appears in The City of the Gods, but can be found as a secret in Valley of the Jaguar, after Sam says he smells "some serious firepower". The second time the minigun appears is in The Elephant Atrium. It also appears in the "midnight mega secret" in The Citadel. The final time it appears normally is in Land of the Damned.
In Bright Island, the minigun is first obtained at the end of The Sunken Pyramid, just before the Elder Arachnoid boss fight. If missed, it can be obtained again in Crystal Cove.
Serious Sam Advance[]
The minigun is first obtained in Pyramid Maze Entrance.
Serious Sam 2[]
In Serious Sam 2, the minigun first appears in the boss fight against ZumZum on Magnor. It appears again on the Kleer, Ellenier, Kronor and Sirius planets.
Serious Sam 3: BFE[]
In Serious Sam 3 and the VR remake, the minigun is first acquired in The Dark Bride, although it can be acquired earlier than this in The Silent Riddler as a secret. Unlike previous games, ammo for the minigun is relatively scarce in this game due to it now being a separate ammo type from the M29 Infantry Assault Rifle's bullets.
Jewel of the Nile[]
The minigun only appears as a secret weapon in the expansion pack. It is found once in Together Forever in the military base, and for the second time in Born Again under a lake. Ammunition is much rarer as well compared to the Serious Sam 3 campaign.
Serious Sam 4[]
In Serious Sam 4, the player gets to use the minigun in the second level of the game, Death from Below, which is much earlier than in any other Serious Sam game except The Second Encounter (if counting secrets). In the level, Jones lends Sam the minigun to use during the fight against the Saggitarian Sidewinder. The player does not keep the minigun after this, however, as it belongs to Hellfire. The second time the player is given the minigun is when Sam meets Nonna and helps her fend off some of Mental's forces in Machina Ex Deus. The minigun is then later acquired in Vive la Résistance and for the fourth and final time in From Earth With Love.
Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem[]
The minigun can be acquired in Crime And Punishment when entering the train station building after passing through all the trains. It can then be used in every level via the New Game+ option.
Tactics[]
General[]
- Tap the trigger to keep the minigun ready to fire, but do not attack unless large groups of enemies spawn.
- The weapon can be used to easily dispose of hordes of smaller enemies or wound larger ones, especially Common Aludran Reptiloids, Gnaars, and/or groups of Kleer Skeletons. The minigun's extremely high rate of fire also allows it to destroy a Reptiloid's projectiles while at the same time damaging the Reptiloids.
- It is useful for dispatching small groups of Sirian Werebulls from medium to far range before they can get too close. This is especially true for levels that see large numbers of Werebulls, such as Metropolis or The Guardian of Time.
- One of the best medium to long-ranged weapons.
Serious Sam 1[]
- The minigun is of the best anti-Highlander Aludran Reptiloid/Major Bio-mechanoid weapons, especially with Serious Damage active.
- The minigun is excellent at mowing down hordes of weak enemies like Gnaars and Kleers.
- The weapon works effectively against small to medium groups of Cucurbitos and Zumb'uls if playing in The Second Encounter. With serious damage is active, the minigun can obliterate groups of these enemies in seconds.
- Other enemies that can be made quick work from this weapon are Arachnoids, especially the juveniles. Arachnoids are suspectible to flinching when damaged, so the minigun is great at preventing them from shooting at the player.
- In Serious Sam HD, the minigun can no longer wound beheaded enemies since it deals double the damage, which is instant death to them.
- In addition, it depletes ammo at a slower rate, making it a more viable option as ammo depletion isn't as much of a concern.
Serious Sam Advance[]
- The minigun is a great weapon to use against groups of strong enemies, such as the Gunrilla. Its rate of fire is fast enough that it can quickly kill most strong enemies.
- It is also very effective against large groups of medium-strength enemies. The rate of fire and damage per bullet can kill a medium-strength enemy in seconds.
- The minigun is also useful against a single strong enemy. It can make a strong enemy constantly flinch, which makes it easier to kill. The weapon also does enough damage to kill the enemy quickly.
Serious Sam 2[]
- The minigun can be used against almost anything the player desires.
- Unlike the Serious Sam 1 variant, it depletes ammo at a much slower rate. This makes the minigun a very viable option as you don't have to worry about wasting too much ammo.
- It is not too effective against enemies with an overwhelming amount of health, such as The General and large Spider Mechanoids.
- Dual-wielding the minigun makes it much more useful against powerful enemies or huge groups of enemies.
Serious Sam 3: BFE[]
- In The Dark Bride, if the player spots the minigun, they should stay behind it and not pick it up. It may be tempting to try out the weapon, but just let the minigun turret do the shooting against the horde until it's over, as picking it up will waste the ammunition of the minigun and the player will have to take care of the horde themselves, which can also result in the player dying in the process.
- The minigun deals enough damage quickly enough to stun Scrapjacks to perform a melee grab on normal, hard and serious difficulties. In the Serious Sam Fusion edition of the game, Scrapjacks are even easier to finish off with the minigun as their health has been reduced to 460.
- Fire in bursts to maximize the minigun's potential and effiency. Shooting wildly at enemies is not recommended due to ammo wastage and greatly increases the amount of sand plumes the bullets make when they land. This can actually reduce accuracy and cause frame rate issues for those playing on low-performance systems.
- It is best used against medium-strength enemies, especially during close combat. As minigun fire is less controllable than the assault rifle, it should not be used against small and medium-sized groups of weak enemies.
Serious Sam 4/Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem[]
- Since the minigun can carry twice as much ammo as before on Normal difficulty, this makes it much more useful for longer periods of time than before.
- The weapon is very efficient at mowing down hordes of weak enemies like Aludran Microhoppers, Gnaars, Kamikazes, Processed Anthropolyps, Space Mummies, and Zubenhakrabian Spider Nymphs.
- The minigun can easily finish off groups of tough enemies like Reptiloids, Scrapjacks, and Sirian Werebulls if the player shoots them in the head while firing.
- Keep in mind that the minigun has terrible accuracy and spread when dual-wielded. It is only recommended to dual-wield miniguns for elimination of large groups of weak enemies at close range.
- If playing in New Game+ mode, however,, this makes dual-wielded miniguns extremely effective against the huge swarms of enemies that the player will very likely encounter, even in the early levels.
Behind the scenes[]
- The minigun had a different look in Test 1, and had a more glossy appearance. It also used different sounds.
- In the beta version of Serious Sam 2, the minigun had a monitor attached to it showing a line of some kind. The picture on the monitor was replaced by a static screen in the final version of the game.
Related achievements[]
Serious Sam 3: BFE[]
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| Kill 20 enemies with the Minigun without releasing the trigger. |
Serious Sam VR: The First Encounter[]
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| Kill 20 enemies with the Minigun without releasing the trigger. |
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| Kill 300 Enemies with the Minigun. |
Serious Sam VR: The Second Encounter[]
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| Kill 20 enemies with the Minigun without releasing the trigger. |
Serious Sam 3 VR: BFE[]
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| Kill 20 enemies with the Minigun without releasing the trigger. |
Serious Sam Fusion[]
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| Kill 300 Enemies with the Minigun. |
Serious Sam 4[]
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| Spend 1000 minigun rounds while firing continuously. |
Trivia[]
- The minigun is perhaps the most familiar weapon in the entire Serious Sam series, and Sam is seen holding it on many game covers.
- Notable game covers include the European cover for The First Encounter, The Second Encounter and Serious Sam 3: BFE.
- The minigun in the classic games and in Serious Sam HD is likely based on the real-world XM214 Microgun, a rotary machine gun based on the M134 Minigun that fires 5.56 mm rounds.
- In Serious Sam 3, the weapon is modeled after the GE M134 minigun.
- Miniguns in real life have a much fire rate than the minigun seen in the series, firing at between 2000 to 6000 rounds per minute.[3]
- The minigun's barrels have a more noticeable delay in Serious Sam 4 and Siberian Mayhem. This is just a cosmetic effect and it has no effect on the gun's performance.
- The minigun is one of four weapons that does not appear in the Legend of the Beast DLC. The others are the MK III Grenade Launcher, SBC Cannon, and the XL2 Lasergun.
Gallery[]
Artwork[]
Serious Sam 1[]
Pre-release[]
Retail[]
Serious Sam (Palm OS)[]
Serious Sam Advance[]
Serious Sam 2[]
Pre-release[]
Retail[]
Serious Sam: The Random Encounter[]
Serious Sam 3: BFE[]
Serious Sam VR[]
Serious Sam's Bogus Detour[]
Serious Sam 3 VR: BFE[]
Serious Sam 4/Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem[]
List of appearances[]
- Serious Sam: The First Encounter (First appearance)
- Serious Sam: The Second Encounter
- Serious Sam: Xbox (non-canonical appearance)
- Serious Sam Advance (non-canonical appearance)
- Serious Sam 2 (non-canonical appearance)
- Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter
- Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter
- Serious Sam: The Random Encounter (non-canonical appearance)
- Serious Sam 3: BFE
- Serious Sam VR: The First Encounter (non-canonical appearance)
- Serious Sam VR: The Second Encounter (non-canonical appearance)
- Serious Sam's Bogus Detour (non-canonical appearance)
- Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope
- Serious Sam 3 VR: BFE (non-canonical appearance)
- Serious Sam Classics: Revolution (non-canonical appearance)
- Serious Sam 4
- Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem
