The Technopolyp is a strange enemy first introduced in Serious Sam 3: BFE. In makes more appearances in Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope, Serious Sam 4 and Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem.
The Technopolyp is the product of an attack helicopter that has been infected with colonies of minute cyber-parasites, most likely a more complex cluster of Protopolyps, and almost certainly related to the kind employed to convert humans into Processed Anthropolyps.[1]
Overview[]
The Technopolyp is an obscure colonial organism whose origin is not well known. However, its ability to hijack machinery suggests that it was genetically engineered as a biological weapon, most likely by Mental or the Cult of the Eightfold Manifestation. The reasons for this are not fully understood, although the cause could be for the need of improved air support.[1]
The creature itself consists of a huge number of individual microscopic organisms, called zooids, that can reproduce and reconfigure the super-organism as needed. This enables it to quickly adapt to any host machine and to repair damages to the organism itself, or to the host machine, during battle.[2] Due to the helicopter's armor, Technopolyps can endure multiple hits from rockets and other explosive projectiles and take a substantial amount of damage from bullet-firing weapons before being destroyed. They can, however, be instantly taken down with a cannonball fired from the SBC Cannon.
Aside from the helicopters that Technopolyps are seen attached to, it is possible that they can fuse with other military vehicles as well, such as APCs or tanks, but so far they have only been seen hijacking helicopters.
Application[]
Technopolyps, like other air units in Mental's army, are usually deployed to locations where air power is more convenient for dealing with an enemy threat, or for wiping out groups of resisting forces. If the enemy proves to be tough to deal with, more Technopolyps may be needed. During the Battle of Mesa, a conflict that took place between the Earth Defense Force and Mental's forces (from which the latter emerged victorious), a huge number of Technopolyps took control of the helicopters that were lost during the battle, providing Mental's forces with an inexhaustible supply of heavily-armed helicopters.
Appearances[]
In their appearances, Technopolyps are seldom seen and are not usually encountered until the middle to late portions of the games they appear in.
Serious Sam 3: BFE[]
The first Technopolyp Sam encounters appears as a boss in No Place to Hide after taking control of Garret's helicopter. Afterwards, the enemy appears sparingly, usually one or two at a time. During the fight with Ugh-Zan IV, Technopolyps appear more frequently to assist him, and will keep spawning until either the player or Ugh-Zan dies.
Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope[]
Technopolyps are more common enemies in this title that then are in Serious Sam 3.
Serious Sam 4[]
Like in The Last Hope, Technopolyps are a lot more common compared to their appearance in Serious Sam 3. The first Technopolyp encountered appears in When in Rome, and is encountered every now and then throughout the levels.
Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem[]
The first Technopolyp appears in The Song Of The Stormbringer, just as soon as Sam makes it to the communications tower. Several more appear during the later levels. They are slightly more common this time around compared to Serious Sam 4.
Weaponry[]
The creature attached to the helicopter has no weapons of its own, but it can utilize the machinery it has hijacked and make use of its weapons (if it has any) against their opponents, such as the machine gun or rocket pods of an attack helicopter. These weapons are dangerous and can quickly deplete the player's health and armor if they don’t immediately seek cover.
Behavior and skills[]
When engaging the target, in the case with attack helicopters (the most commonly seen host), the Technopolyp will use either the helicopter's machine guns or rockets.
Serious Sam 3: BFE/Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope[]
The Technopolyp has more advanced AI then other enemies, and will actively fly around the player in random directions until it goes stationary, at which point the Technopolyp will open fire. The bullets they fire, at first, have low accuracy, but will become more accurate after a few rounds are fired. Like the bullets fired by the Arachnoid in Serious Sam 1, the Technopolyp's bullets have hitscan properties.
In Serious Sam Fusion, on at least Hard difficulty, Technopolyps sometimes switch from using the machine gun to firing rockets, which are easier to avoid but deal higher damage on impact. The player will hear an audio cue when the Technopolyp is about to fire its missiles. The ones in the Ugh-Zan IV fight always use rockets in both versions of the game.
In Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope, as with every returning hitscan enemy from Serious Sam 3, Technopolyps are reworked to use projectiles, which in this case are the rockets they rarely used in the latter game.
Serious Sam 4/Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem[]
Technopolyps behave much differently from their past incarnation. They will continue to move around in the sky instead of going into a stationary position. Unlike the Serious Sam 3 version, the Technopolyp can fire and fly around at the same time. They now fire rockets instead of bullets, which makes them much more dangerous than before.
When attacking, the Technopolyp will fire a volley of rockets that will home in on the player. These rockets can deal moderate damage if the player gets hit by one, but can be easily evaded by strafing or sidestepping.
Unlike the Technopolyps that appear in Serious Sam 3 (the original version, at least), Technopolyps in these titles can be damaged with any weapon, although given their high hitpoints, it takes much longer to destroy a Technpolyp with small-arms fire.
When a Technopolyp has been killed, the helicopter will circle around in the air until it eventually falls down to the ground and explodes. This explosion can actually damage the player and deal a fair amount of damage.
Tactics[]
General[]
- Try to get close to a Technopolyp's underside when fighting one. This makes it easier to hit it because doing so closes the distance between the player and the Technopolyp and makes it a larger target.
- The best time to hit a Technopolyp is when it's still while firing at the player. It cannot dodge projectiles while firing, making it easy to hit it with projectiles. This works especially well if the player is in cover but can utilize gaps or holes in the ceiling (if there are any) and open fire at the Technopolyp.
Serious Sam 3: BFE[]
- When using the XPML21 Rocket Launcher against Technopolyps, do not fire while it is moving around. The rocket launcher's rockets are too slow to hit the Technopolyp, even when their direction has been compensated.
- Also, firing rockets at where the player believes the Technopolyp will move to can be a gamble, as they always fly in random directions when pursuing the player and this can be considered a waste of rocket ammo.
- The A-24 Devastator is a much better choice than the rocket launcher when dealing with Technopolyps, as the projectiles are much faster compared to rockets. However, the player still needs to aim ahead of the Technopolyp if they want to hit it while it is moving.
- The SBC Cannon works great against Technopolyps although only a handful of them are encountered while wielding a cannon.
- If a Technopolyp is with other enemies, it should be a high-priority target because of how damaging and accurate its bullets can be, especially in higher difficulty levels. If left unchecked, the Technopolyp can easily kill the player while they're not expecting it.
- As Technopolyps were changed to have 50% resistance to bullets and plasma in the Fusion version of the game (90% for the boss version), bullet-firing weapons still are not to be used, especially shotguns due to them only having a x0.35 damage multiplier against Technopolyps.
Serious Sam 4/Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem[]
- While the rocket launcher may not seem like an ideal choice at first, as Technopolyps appear by the time the player has acquired the homing rocket upgrade, it makes the rocket launcher the ultimate anti-Technopolyp weapon. It only takes roughly four to five rockets to bring one down. As the rockets will track the Technopolyp, this can make it very useful for ones that are moving around in the sky.
- Aside from the rocket launcher, the FRPCL is another brilliant weapon for dealing with this enemy if the player has acquired it; the projectiles fired by the weapon can destroy this enemy in seconds. The player can also use the weapon's chainsaw mode by holding down the secondary fire key to destroy the Technopolyp's rockets up close without harming themselves.
- Just like in Serious Sam 3, the Devastator is a very effective weapon against them due to the speed and damage of the projectiles it fires, despite the projectile speed being lower compared to before.
- As Technopolyps can be damaged by any weapon in this installment, strong weapons or rapid-firing weapons such as the TCC-2 "Perun" Crossbow, MK III Grenade Launcher, XL2 Lasergun, XM214-A Minigun, and XPMR "Burner" Raygun work great against lone Technopolyps, though it takes a considerate amount of ammo to bring one down.
- The XL2's death ray upgrade can wipe out groups of Technopolyps quite easily, but it consumes a lot of ammo this way.
- If the player is low on ammo or doesn't have a better weapon, a lone Techopolyp can still be destroyed by spending a full magazine of the AK-74MX or the M29 Infantry Assault Rifle on it or hitting it with a few 12 Gauge Pump-Action Shotgun grenades. If the player is patient enough, even dual-wielded SOP38 Pistols can help to deal with this enemy. This is most notably seen in the level "A Breakfast in France", where a Technopolyp appears in the area of the first sidequest and can only be taken down with the assault rifle or pistols.
- The SBC Cannon remains a great last resort weapon against the Technopolyp, although they are quite rare to encounter while wielding said weapon.
- The Technopolyp's death explosion now deals damage, so keep a safe enough distance from the helicopter before it crashes into the ground.
Behind the scenes[]
- The Technopolyp is misspelt as "Technopolip" in Serious Sam 3: BFE. This also applies to the in-game files referencing it.
- An early Serious Sam 4 concept design shows a slightly different version of the Technopolyp infecting an attack helicopter equipped with advanced energy weapons instead of machine guns.
Related achievements[]
Serious Sam 3: BFE[]
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| Secure the bird. |
Serious Sam 3 VR: BFE[]
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| Secure the bird. |
Serious Sam Fusion[]
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| Secure the bird. |
Trivia[]
General[]
- Though NETRICSA states that the Technopolyp can regenerate, it is never seen doing this in any of its appearances, most likely for balancing purposes.
- It is estimated that there are more EDF helicopters that have been taken over by Technopolyps than flown by EDF pilots.[3]
- Technopolyps have one of the longest death animations of any enemy.
- Their death animation varies between games:
- In Serious Sam 3: BFE the helicopter will circle around for a bit before exploding mid-air.
- In Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope, it will explode upon death instantly.
- In Serious Sam 4 and Siberian Mayhem, it will reuse the death animation from Serious Sam 3, but the helicopter will instead crash to the ground and explode.
Serious Sam 3: BFE[]
- In the original version of the game, if a player dies to a Technopolyp in co-op, an on-screen obituary message reading "[player name] was perforated by a Technopolip." will appear.
- The Technopolyp is one of four enemies that does not appear in the Jewel of the Nile campaign. The others are the Cloned Soldier, Witch-Bride of Achriman, and Sandwhale.
- The Technopolyp's rocket reuses the Major Bio-mechanoid's rocket model.
- The Technopolyp reuses the Thompson submachine gun's shooting sounds when firing at the player with the helicopter's machine guns.
- The Technopolyp actually has four separate entity parameter files:
- The first one is just named
Technopolip.epand is used in most levels where the enemy appears. - The second one is named
Technopolip_Cutscene.ep. The variant used in the level "Broken Wings" introduction cutscene is immune to all damage in the Serious Sam Fusion version. - The third one is named
Technopolip_Heavy.ep. This variation mainly prefers to fire missiles instead of bullets, especially on higher difficulties. - The fourth and last one has the name of
Technopolip_Boss.ep, used only for the Ugh-Zan IV boss fight. As stated above, this Technopolyp always uses its missile launchers against the player.
- The first one is just named
Gallery[]
Serious Sam 3: BFE[]
Serious Sam 4[]
List of appearances[]
- Serious Sam 3: BFE (First appearance)
- Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope
- Serious Sam 3 VR: BFE (non-canonical appearance)
- Serious Sam 4
- Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Serious Sam 4 NETRICSA description
- ↑ Serious Sam 3: BFE NETRICSA description
- ↑ Serious Sam Fusion loading screen trivia