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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 HD: The First Encounter.  This subject appears in Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter.  This subject appears in Serious Sam 4.  This subject appears in Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem.  This subject is from the Mental War era. 

 
"Mental's forces consider humans to be frail and slow, and are often surprised by melee attacks with such low-tech weaponry."
Serious Sam 4 concept art
 

The Military Knife (Combat Knife in Serious Sam 4 and Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem), is a melee weapon that appears in several titles in the Serious Sam series. It is one of the first weapons the player spawns with when they start a new game or upon respawning in deathmatch.

Overview[]

The military knife is a standard-issue Earth Defense Force single-bladed knife used for close-combat. It has proven to be a useful tool in the struggle against Mental's forces, particularly when ammunition runs low.[1] Despite seeming like the most underwhelming weapon in Sam's arsenal, the knife should never be underestimated. Not only does the weapon have a slightly longer range than one would expect, but the damage it deals per slash is devastating to all but the largest of enemies. Enemies with at most 100 health can be instantly killed, without alerting the whole group or horde of the player's presence.[2]

In Serious Sam 4 and Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem, the knife's damage output has been drastically increased (130 damage per slice as opposed to 100 before), and the knife can easily finish off enemies in a single slash. The knife has now been given piercing capabilies, and can pierce through several enemies at once. This is easily achieved by strafing or charging through a group of enemies while slashing them with the knife. The player can also perform a finishing move on certain types of enemies with the knife. This is initiated by pressing the USE key when right in front of the enemy.

Additionally in the aforementioned games, the knife can be dual-wielded using the S.A.M system, once the player has unlocked the "Dual Wield" skill. Given its high damage output, this makes it possible for the player to unleash a whopping 360 damage in total with dual-wielded knives, which can be devastating against medium or even tougher opponents.

Tactics[]

Serious Sam 1[]

  • The knife should be used only to silently kill smaller enemies or wound bigger ones. For example, the Sirian Werebull requires only three slices, which means one could preserve ammo by using the knife.
  • The knife should never be used for stronger enemies, such as Major Bio-mechanoids or ranged opponents. However, with skill, it can be used to destroy Arachnoids and Common Aludran Reptiloids without them hitting the player once.
  • The knife also shouldn't be used against explosive enemies, such as the Beheaded Bomber (unless the player immediately backs away from him after killing him), Beheaded Kamikaze, and Zumb'ul.
  • The knife is heavily effective against both types of Gnaars, Scythian Witch-Harpies, and Zorgs, with the capability of killing them with one swipe. Against Kleers, two slices will do. The knife does more damage per minute than both shotguns, so it's a good alternative when the fighting arena is spacious for evading enemy attacks.
  • If combined with Serious Damage in Serious Sam: The Second Encounter, the knife can be a very devastating weapon that can almost kill medium-powered targets. With serious damage activated, it can even gib smaller enemies.

Serious Sam 4/Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem[]

  • As the knife is now more powerful, it serves as a a very useful emergency weapon if the player is running low on ammo or as a last-resort for elimination of enemies.
  • The knife is a useful weapon against lone individuals or small groups of weak enemies, such as Beheaded Firecrackers, Beheaded Rocketeers, and Processed Anthropolyps.
  • It is very effective against both female and male Gnaars. As male Gnaars have a tendency to swarm the player, a single slice can tear through several of them at once.
  • It is useful against lone or small groups of Kleer Skeletons, as it can now kill a Kleer with a single slice, as compared to two slices from the previous game. The player should time their strikes precisely, however, as their attacks can easily miss and the Kleer(s) may evade it. It is best to use the knife at a Kleer when it is charging straight towards the player, and then slash it just before it leaps.
    • Additionally, the knife is best reserved against Kleers if there are few to no enemies present, especially ones that use ranged attacks.
  • The weapon comes in handy in the first and second levels of the game, especially against the weaker enemies that spawn in groups.
  • The knife is powerful enough to take down medium targets like the Aurigan Haemovore and Emetic Anthropolyp in one slice, making it useful against small groups of them. It can also be dual-wielded once the player has unlocked the Dual Wield skill.
  • The knife shouldn't be used against ranged enemies, even weak ones like Hatchling Arachnoids and Octanian Gamma Troopers, as the player risks running straight into their line of fire by doing so. It can, however, be used to quickly slash Octanian Commanders, so long as the player is quick enough to get behind their shields and dodge their projectiles.
  • Like serious damage, the knife's damage output can be drastically increased when the player uses a Rage Serum. The knife becomes a devastating weapon that can easily finish off tough enemies in just several hits. This isn't always recommended, though, as the player has to be right next to the enemy to attack, which puts the player in danger.

Behind the scenes[]

  • Back in the Alpha phase of Serious Sam 1, it was possible to change the position of the knife in the hands. When used like this, the knife could deal much higher damage to enemies and gib weak enemies like the Rocketeer. While useful, the impact speed is noticeably lower than in the original. It was removed when the public test demo was released.
  • The knife had a different model in Alpha, with a wooden handle instead of a metal one.
  • In Test 1, the knife could be swung at a faster rate, though it dealt less damage.
  • In Test 2, the knife's damage was increased substantially, being able to gib enemies from across the room, which was likely an oversight. The knife was later nerfed to deal 100 damage in the final release.
  • A scrapped weapon, the Machete, was originally going to be the standard melee weapon for Serious Sam 4, but was replaced with the knife in the final version. The machete can still be found in the game files.

Related achievements[]

Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter[]

Achievement Desperate Fragger SSHDTFE
Desperate Fragger
Frag 25 players with a knife while having no more than 10 health left.
Achievement Butcher SSHDTFE
Butcher
Frag 100 players with a knife.
Achievement Swordsman SSHDTFE
Swordsman
Frag 100 players in a knife-to-knife fight.
Achievement Backstabber SSHDTFE
Backstabber
Frag 100 players with a knife from behind.

Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter[]

Achievement Braveheart
Braveheart
Deliver the final blow to Mordekai with the knife.
Achievement Matador
Matador
Kill 50 Syrian Werebulls with the knife.
Achievement Desperate Fragger SSHDTSE
Desperate Fragger
Frag 25 players with a knife while having no more than 10 health left.
Achievement Butcher SSHDTSE
Butcher
Frag 100 players with a knife.
Achievement Swordsman SSHDTSE
Swordsman
Frag 100 players in a knife-to-knife fight.
Achievement Backstabber SSHDTSE
Backstabber
Frag 100 players with a knife from behind.

Serious Sam Classics: Revolution[]

Achievement Guns are seriously useless
Guns are seriously useless
Finish 2 levels in The Second Encounter using only the knife in at least normal difficulty.
Achievement Too Serious for weapons
Too Serious for weapons
Complete a level in The Second Encounter using only the knife on at least normal difficulty.

Trivia[]

  • The knife is very similar in appearance to the OKC-3S bayonet or KA-BAR knife.
  • Though NETRICSA states that the player can use the knife for stealth attacks on enemies from behind, this isn't usually possible most of the time, as enemies are alerted to the player's presence even if they are behind them.
  • If the knife is ported into Serious Sam 3: BFE with the use of mods, and the player enters third-person view, they can see that their player character will use the Sledgehammer animations when using the knife.
  • In Serious Sam 4, the player can use the knife while sprinting even without the Born To Run skill.

Gallery[]

Serious Sam 1[]

Pre-release[]

Retail[]

Serious Sam 4/Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem[]

References[]

  1. Serious Sam 4 NETRICSA description
  2. Serious Sam 1 NETRICSA description

List of appearances[]

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