The RAPTOR Sniper Rifle (also referred to in-game as Sniper Rifle or just Sniper), is a powerful long-ranged weapon that appears in many games throughout the Serious Sam series. Depending on the game it appears in, the RAPTOR utilizes either a semi-automatic or bolt-action mechanism, with its rate of fire varying slightly between games.
Overview[]
The RAPTOR is one of the most powerful long-range weapons in the world.[1][2] It represents the best and latest in long-distance, high-precision firearms. It utilizes 16 mm armor-piercing, Kevlar-coated bullets that can are powerful enough to penetrate through most known armor types.[1] The rounds fired from this weapon are lethal and can instantly kill any small or humanoid creature, although tougher opponents require multiple rounds to be dispatched. This makes the RAPTOR an extremely effective and deadly weapon against Mental's Horde.[2]
The RAPTOR's built-in scope employs a flexible 2x-4x zoom ratio, which allows the operator to choose between a larger peripheral field of view and more precise aim at longer distances, allowing the bullets to reach their target with maximum precision. The RAPTOR is equipped with an auto-stabilizing, excess pressure exhaust mechanism that will lower the exit speed of the bullet when it is not fired from a balanced sniping mode.[1] This provides maximum safety and minimizes injures to the user.
The RAPTOR fires a single bullet every time the fire key is pressed. There is a brief pause between shots while a new round is chambered into the weapon. After that, it can be fired again. The rifle's scope has a crosshair that shows where the center of the screen is. Noitceably, there is no weapon sway when using the scope, allowing the player to land incredibly accurate shots when the weapon is zoomed in.
In Serious Sam: The Second Encounter, on the lower left-hand side of the scope is a triangle that will change color depending on the gun's state; it will be green if the gun is ready to fire, while it will be red during the reload animation.
In The Second Encounter and Serious Sam 2, the damage the RAPTOR does is dependent on the player using the scope or not; if the player is not using the scope, each shot is about as powerful as a 12 Gauge Pump-Action Shotgun blast. If the rifle is fired while the scope is being used, it will be almost as powerful as two rockets. Either way, the weapon will always be perfectly accurate, like other bullet-firing weapons.
In Serious Sam 3: BFE, the RAPTOR sees an increase to damage and is now semi-automatic instead of bolt-action, allowing the weapon to be fired more rapidly. The weapon has high recoil and does the same damage scoped as it does unscoped. The weapon is extremely inaccurate without using the scope, and gives it terrible spread that is similar to that of the Double Barrel Coach Gun.
In Serious Sam 4, the RAPTOR behaves a lot differently than its previous incarnations, and has had its damage output reduced by half. To compensate for this, the weapon now deals up to three times as much damage to an enemy if they are shot in the head or any other weak point of their body. Unique to the game, the weapon now carries 10 rounds and has to be reloaded after its magazine has been expended. Its scope zoom also cannot be increased like before when holding down the secondary fire key. Like other weapons in the player's arsenal, the RAPTOR can be dual-wielded, although the weapon becomes much poorer in terms of accuracy and the player will be unable to use the weapon's scope. Additionally, the player needs to have the Dual Wield Harder S.A.M. skill unlocked to be able to dual-wield the weapon.
In Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem, the RAPTOR is replaced by the TCC-2 "Perun" Crossbow, which is just as deadly, if not more powerful than the latter weapon.
Appearances[]
The RAPTOR, given its extremely high damage output, is an uncommon weapon, along with sniper ammo. In some games, however, like in The Second Encounter, it is a common weapon. The sniper rifle and ammo for the weapon can also be found in secrets.
Serious Sam: The Second Encounter[]
The RAPTOR appears on the first level in each era. It is first obtained in Sierra de Chiapas. It appears a second time in Ziggurat, and for the third and final time in The Citadel.
Serious Sam 2[]
The RAPTOR first appears in Ursul Suburbs. It later appears in Greendale, Siriusopolis Uptown, and Siriusopolis Downtown. It can also be found in Command Center as a secret.
Serious Sam 3: BFE[]
The RAPTOR is very rare in the Serious Sam 3 campaign, appearing only three times throughout the entire campaign. Like the XL2 Lasergun, the sniper rifle appears exclusively as a secret weapon. The first time the player can obtain it is in the level The Silent Riddler, and again in the level The Power of the Underworld, and for the the final time in The Last Man on Earth. Finding the sniper rifle in The Power of the Underworld for the first time awards the player with the "Vista" achievement.
Examples of levels where ammo for the sniper rifle can be found are in Under the Iron Cloud, Unearthing the Sun, and The Lost Temples of Nubia.
Jewel of the Nile[]
The sniper rifle appears as a reguler weapon in the DLC, unlike in the main campaign. It is found inside the temple where the statue of Isis needs to be placed on Gathering of the Gods. Ammo for the weapon is also plentiful, and is often found inside military bases or supply depots.
Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope[]
The RAPTOR can be bought from the weapons menu just like any other weapon, and it no longer appears in secrets.
Serious Sam 4[]
The RAPTOR first appears in Gates of Hell, along with its ammunition. A second RAPTOR is given to the player by Annabelle if they choose to complete the side quest "Southern Belle Tower" in A Breakfast in France. If the player didn't complete this side quest, they can get another RAPTOR in In Carcassonne. The weapon appears for the final time in From Earth With Love.
Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem[]
The RAPTOR appears only in the level Siberiade, where it is seen used by One-Eyed Olga, and cannot be used by the player. Outside of that, it has been replaced by the TCC-2 "Perun" Crossbow, but is still usable in moddable versions of the game, and can be placed into custom levels with the Serious Editor.
Tactics[]
General[]
- The RAPTOR is excellent for thinning out a horde of weak/medium strength enemies from a distance, such as Kleer Skeletons and Scythian Witch-Harpies. However, if a horde of enemies is getting close to the player, they should switch to another weapon, as the RAPTOR is not very effective in close quarters, especially given its low rate of fire.
- The sniper rifle is the ultimate weapon against Common Aludran Reptiloids due to them often being spawned in faraway places. It takes three shots to kill one in The Second Encounter and Serious Sam 3, and two shots in the HD and VR remakes. The Reptiloid can be instantly killed if shot in the head with the RAPTOR in Serious Sam 4.
- Using the sniper rifle to take out individual enemies with low health (such as Beheaded Rocketeers or Zorgs) is a waste of ammunition; instead, rapid-firing weapons are best suited for eliminating them.
Serious Sam: The Second Encounter[]
- Individual medium-strength enemies, such as Arachnoids, Minor Bio-mechanoids, Sirian Werebulls and Zumb'uls, can also be quickly defeated with this weapon. This can be quite useful for quickly eliminating single to medium-sized groups of medium-strength enemies, especially if they are faraway.
- Its scope makes the RAPTOR a great weapon to locate and kill enemies placed far away from the player, such as Common Aludran Reptiloids Fiendian Reptiloid Demons.
- The RAPTOR is an extremely useful weapon against Rotating Cannon and Static Cannons, especially from medium to far range. Both types of cannon can be destroyed with a single shot from this weapon.
- Caution should be taken when aiming the scope at rotating cannons, as they will immediately fire an extremely fast cannonball at the player from within their sighting range. It is also easy for a player to get distracted and not notice any stray cannons outside of the RAPTOR scope's field of vision and they may not have enough time to dodge any cannonballs heading their way.
- Despite what NETRICSA says, the RAPTOR is moderately useful against large enemies such as medium Lava Golems or Major Bio-mechanoids, being able to defeat these enemies in roughly four to five shots. Despite that, it's more ammo-efficient to use stronger weapons like the cannon or rocket launcher on said large enemies, as the rounds for the RAPTOR are best spent elsewhere.
Serious Sam 3: BFE[]
- Ammo is very rare for the RAPTOR in the campaign, so the weapon should be used very sparingly or as a last resort against tough enemies such as Major Bio-mechanoids or Scrapjacks, though it is more effective to do this when they have taken sufficient damage.
- Unlike the other games, certain enemies take reduced damage from the sniper, most notably from Adult Arachnoids and Scrapjacks.
- The RAPTOR is ideally the best weapon to use against groups of Scythian Witch-Harpies, especially in Jewel of the Nile, where they are more common.
- In the original version of Serious Sam 3, this weapon is useless against Khnums and Technopolyps due to their high health and that bullet-firing weapons have no effect on them.
- The RAPTOR is also a great weapon against Common Aludran Reptiloids and Adult Arachnoids. It only takes about 4 or 5 shots to kill one.
- If the player has plenty of ammo for the sniper rifle in Jewel of the Nile, the sniper can be used to quickly take out small groups of Hatchling Arachnoids.
Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope[]
- The RAPTOR, especially when dual-wielded, is extremely useful for taking groups of Adult Arachnoids, Cloned Snipers, Juvenile Antaresian Spiders and Zumb'uls.
Serious Sam 4[]
- The RAPTOR is an excellent weapon for sniping out weak or medium targets from a distance.
- With Rage Serum active, the RAPTOR becomes a lethal weapon to almost every type of enemy, and it can effectively take out tough enemies like Major Bio-mechanoids or Khnums (especially if the Khnum is shot in the head). Using the gadget beforehand helps the player to conserve ammo as well.
- As the RAPTOR only holds 10 rounds in its magazine, the player should be sure to reload often and to do so after finishing off a group of enemies. The S.A.M skill The Quick and the Dead can help to alleviate the weapon's slow reload speed.
- It is somewhat effective against Major Bio-mechanoids, but it takes at least five shots to kill one, so it should really be used against an individual rather than a group.
- The RAPTOR works extremely well against medium or tough targets, such as Aludran Reptiloids, Draconian Burners, Draconian Pyromaniacs, Scrapjacks, and Sirian Werebulls. It can instantly kill the latter by delivering a round to the head.
- Dual-wielded RAPTORs are not ideal for medium to far range combat due to the weapon's poor accuracy when hip-fired. The weapon is, however, deadly to most enemies at close range, and can be useful for gunning down small groups of medium enemies such as female Gnaars, Kleer Skeletons or Sirian Werebulls.
Behind the scenes[]
- The RAPTOR was probably going to be reloadable at one point. This can be see in Serious Editor 3.5's files and enabling the "Shoots to reload" parameter. According to its animation, it was probably going to have the same reload animation as the shotgun, although the player's character will not animate accordingly in third person.
- During the pre-Alpha stage of Serious Sam 4, the RAPTOR resembled what appears to be a hunting rifle. It was bolt-action instead of magazine-fed, as Sam can be seen reloading a new round into the chamber every time he fired the weapon.[3] The weapon's bolt-action mechanism was eventually scrapped, as giving the weapon a delay between shots would've likely made the weapon ineffective if the player was dealing with large groups of enemies.
Related achievements[]
Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter[]
|
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| Kill 100 Harpies with the Sniper rifle. |
Serious Sam 3: BFE[]
|
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| Find the Vista secret. |
Serious Sam Fusion[]
|
| |
| Kill 20 Harpies with the Sniper rifle. |
Trivia[]
- The RAPTOR is the only sniper rifle so far to appear in the series. There is an exception however; the TCC-2 "Perun" Crossbow. While the crossbow is technically not a sniper rifle, it does function in a very similar manner to one. The only difference is that it uses crossbow bolts as ammunition rather than high-caliber rounds.
- The RAPTOR appears to be based on several models:
- In The Second Encounter, the weapon is a modified Heckler & Koch HK41, a semi-automatic version of the Heckler & Koch G3. The only difference between these is the The Second Encounter version has a wood and chrome finish.
- In Serious Sam 2, like the RAPTOR from The Second Encounter, the sniper rifle is also a modified HK41. The only difference between these is that the Serious Sam 2 version has a dark green and black coloration, as well as different scope sizes.
- In Serious Sam 3, the weapon model is a GIAT FR F2, a French 7.62 NATO bolt-action sniper rifle. Also, despite the FR F2 being bolt-action, this weapon is fired semi-automatically. Additionally, due to the firing sound being reused from Serious Sam HD and simply being a cleaner and louder version of the firing sound in Serious Sam 1, the player will hear a 'bolt' being primed if they wait long enough after firing a shot, despite no animation accompanying it.
- In Serious Sam 4, the sniper rifle is based on the Barrett M82, an American semi-automatic anti-material precision rifle.
- The RAPTOR models in the virtual reality ports have a much larger scope compared to the normal version of the weapon.
- The RAPTOR in Serious Sam 4 has a bipod, but it serves no purpose in-game.
- The RAPTOR will gib a player if they are killed with this weapon.
Gallery[]
Serious Sam: The Second Encounter[]
Pre-release[]
Retail[]
Serious Sam: Next Encounter[]
Serious Sam 2[]
Serious Sam 3: BFE[]
Serious Sam VR: The Second Encounter[]
Serious Sam 3 VR: BFE[]
Serious Sam 4[]
Pre-release[]
Retail[]
List of appearances[]
- Serious Sam: The Second Encounter (First appearance)
- Serious Sam: Xbox (non-canonical appearance)
- Serious Sam: Next Encounter (non-canonical appearance)
- Serious Sam 2 (non-canonical appearance)
- Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter
- Serious Sam 3: BFE
- Serious Sam VR: The Second Encounter (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 (NPC, cutscene, and moddable version only)
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Serious Sam: The Second Encounter NETRICSA description
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Serious Sam 4 NETRICSA description
- ↑
Serious Sam 4 pre-Alpha footage on YouTube
