Health Pickup System

Prequel to the 2001 classic, set during Mental's invasion of 22nd-century Earth.

Serious Sam 3: BFE is a 2011 first-person shooter video game developed by Croatia-based indie development studio Croteam and published by Devolver Digital. It is part of the Serious Sam series and the prequel to the 2001 video game, Serious Sam: The First Encounter. The game takes place in 22nd-century Egypt, during Mental's invasion of Earth, as implied in The First Encounter. The game features a 16-player online, as well as a 4-player splitscreen co-op campaign mode.

Quick Facts

Developer: Croteam
Franchise: Serious Sam

Lore & Background

Serious Sam 3: BFE serves as a prequel to Serious Sam: The First Encounter and depicts the events on Earth before Sam's journey into the past. Prior to AD 2060, humanity had slowly begun uncovering artifacts and ruins left behind in ancient times by the Sirians. Mental dispatches his space fleet to attack Earth, leading a three-year conquest that drives humanity almost to extinction. Survivors turn to the Time-Lock, a device capable of time travel. Sam 'Serious' Stone is dispatched to Egypt to recover hieroglyphics containing instructions for powering the Time-Lock. He eventually activates two plasma-energy generators in Karnak and Luxor, and after fighting through Nubia and Hatshepsut Temple, kills Ugh-Zan IV. The Time-Lock activates, and Sam escapes through it to 3000 B.C. as the Moon impacts Earth, destroying the planet.

Reader's Guide

Like previous titles in the series, Serious Sam 3: BFE involves fighting against many hordes of enemies in wide-open environments. However, it has more closed environments than its predecessors, particularly in the early levels. There are 13 weapons in total, five of which have a manual reload. The signature close-combat weapons from the first game, the knife and chainsaw, have been replaced with a sledgehammer with three modes of attack.

There is no regenerating health; health and armor power-ups are scattered throughout the levels. Levels are full of secret areas containing health, armor, ammo, and sometimes weapons from later levels. Some weapons such as the Lasergun and the Sniper Rifle are secret-only. There are no puzzles, but the player must find keys, pull levers, and find environmental anomalies to progress.

New gameplay mechanics include sprinting (unlimited, but cannot attack while sprinting) and iron sights for the pistol and assault rifle. The player can perform hand kills or kick enemies to conserve ammo.

Did You Know?

If the game code detects an unauthorised copy, it spawns an invincible arachnoid that can charge, melee attack, and attack from range with twin chainguns.
A downloadable content pack titled Jewel of the Nile was released on 16 October 2012 for Windows and Mac, and on 17 October 2012 for Xbox 360.
A virtual reality remake titled Serious Sam 3 VR: BFE was released on 9 November 2017 for Windows and Linux.