Serious Damage is an item that, when picked up, greatly increases the amount of damage the player does for a certain amount of time, depending on the game. Its appearance is based on the logo from the Serious Sam games.
Serious damage appears as a floating version of the Serious Sam logo. In most of its appearances, it gives the player 40 seconds of extra damage (usually x4), while in Serious Sam 2, it gives the player 60 seconds. When serious damage is active, the player will have a purple and red glow around them in Serious Sam: The Second Encounter, Serious Sam: Xbox, and Serious Sam Classics: Revolution; a lava texture with a fire effect on the user's screen in Serious Sam HD and Serious Sam VR; and a red-liquid-like texture surrounding them in Serious Sam 2.
Serious damage can be found scattered throughout levels as well as in secrets. If a serious damage is found normally, then it's usually a big sign that the player is going to fight off a large horde very soon.
Tactics[]
Serious damage is a very useful item against hordes of enemies. It is particularly useful when paired with a rapid-fire weapon, such as the Thompson submachine gun, XL2 Lasergun, or XM214-A Minigun, as it gives them the strength to quickly slice through multiple groups of enemies at once.
The player should never use the XPML21 Rocket Launcher or fire explosive projectiles (e.g. grenades, cannonballs, CDF-ST-005 Plasmathrower beams) while in close quarters, as the resulting splash damage can easily kill the player or leave them with very little health left.
Additionally, attempting a rocket jump with serious damage active will easily inflict 200 damage to the player, while getting hit with a grenade will instantly kill the player (in Serious Sam HD, it will inflict 300 damage rather than 700).
Serious damage also helps to conserve ammunition.
In the classic version of The Second Encounter, serious damage is very helpful against Highlander Aludran Reptiloids or the Aludran Reptiloid: Highlander's Bride as the player can use the SBC Cannon on them and still kill them quickly despite their otherwise very strong resistance to cannonballs. If the player does not wish to use the cannon on them, they can still use the MK III Grenade Launcher on Highlanders as five serious damage-boosted grenades is enough to kill them (nine in the case of the Bride) and can eliminate them more quickly than the cannon.
Related achievements[]
Serious Sam VR: The Second Encounter[]
Serious Damage
Kill 100 enemies with Serious Damage active.
Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope[]
Please Just Die Already
Activate serious damage.
Serious Sam Fusion[]
Serious Damage
Kill 100 enemies with Serious Damage active.
Trivia[]
While serious damage is not officially used in the Fusion version of Serious Sam 3: BFE, as well as Serious Sam 4, it can be reimplemented into those games in their respective moddable versions via the Serious Editor.
In Serious Sam 4, serious damage's quadruple damage multiplier was reused as part of the Rage Serum gadget's Serious Rage effect.
