Post-Game Content & New Game+
Congratulations, Sam! You've successfully kicked Mental's ass (again) and saved humanity from certain doom. But the fight isn't over yet. Serious Sam 3: BFE offers a robust post-game experience that will test your skills, push your limits, and reward your dedication. This section will guide you through everything you can do after the credits roll, from unlocking new difficulties to diving into the exhilarating world of New Game+.
Unlocking New Difficulties
Completing the campaign on any difficulty will unlock the next higher difficulty level. This is your first step towards truly mastering Serious Sam 3. Each jump in difficulty significantly alters enemy behavior, spawn rates, and damage output, demanding a more strategic and precise approach to combat.
- Tourist: The easiest difficulty, perfect for new players or those who want to experience the story without too much challenge.
- Easy: A step up from Tourist, offering a slightly more engaging experience.
- Normal: The standard difficulty, providing a balanced challenge for most players.
- Hard: Enemies hit harder, appear in greater numbers, and often use more aggressive tactics. Expect to be challenged.
- Serious: This is where the real fun begins. Enemies are relentless, health and armor pickups are scarcer, and every encounter is a desperate struggle for survival. Only the most skilled players will conquer Serious.
- Mental: The ultimate challenge. Mental difficulty is a brutal gauntlet designed to push even veteran Serious Sam players to their breaking point. Expect instant death from many attacks, overwhelming enemy waves, and a constant need for flawless execution. Unlocked after completing the game on Serious difficulty.
Pro-Tip: Don't be afraid to experiment with different weapon loadouts and strategies on higher difficulties. What worked on Normal might get you instantly killed on Serious. Prioritize crowd control, environmental awareness, and precise aiming.
Secrets and Collectibles
Even if you've completed the campaign, chances are you've missed a significant number of secrets. Serious Sam 3 is packed with hidden areas, bonus weapons, and humorous easter eggs. Replaying levels with a keen eye can uncover these hidden gems.
Finding All Secrets
Each level in Serious Sam 3 contains a set number of secrets. These can range from hidden health and armor pickups to powerful weapon caches or even unique enemy encounters. The in-game statistics screen for each level will show you how many secrets you've found and how many remain.
- Cairo (Metropolis): Look for destructible walls near the beginning of the level, often indicated by cracks or slightly different textures. One notable secret contains a Rocket Launcher early on, significantly boosting your firepower.
- The Silent Riddler: Pay close attention to elevated platforms and broken structures. A secret area near the end of the level can yield a substantial amount of Armor Plates.
- Alley of the Sphinxes: Search behind the large Sphinx statues and in alcoves along the main path. A well-hidden secret here can provide a crucial Serious Bomb.
- The City of the Gods: This level is notorious for its verticality. Look for pathways that seem to lead nowhere or require precise jumps. One secret involves jumping across crumbling ledges to reach a hidden platform with a Minigun.
Strategy: When replaying levels for secrets, take your time. Explore every nook and cranny. Look for glowing items, suspicious textures, or areas that seem intentionally out of the way. Some secrets require specific actions, like destroying a particular object or activating a hidden switch.
Unlocking Achievements
Many achievements in Serious Sam 3 are tied to specific actions, completing the game on certain difficulties, or finding all secrets. Post-game is the perfect time to mop up any remaining achievements you haven't unlocked.
- "Serious Sam" (Complete the game on Serious difficulty): This will be a true test of your skill.
- "Mental" (Complete the game on Mental difficulty): The ultimate bragging right.
- "Secret Seeker" (Find all secrets in a single playthrough): Requires meticulous exploration.
- "Headshot Master" (Achieve a certain number of headshots): Focus on precision with weapons like the Assault Rifle or Sniper Rifle.
- "Weapon Master" (Kill enemies with every weapon): Ensure you've used each weapon at least once to secure a kill.
New Game+ (NG+)
Serious Sam 3: BFE doesn't have a traditional "New Game+" mode that carries over all your weapons and upgrades from the start. Instead, the post-game experience is focused on replaying the campaign on higher difficulties and in different modes, which effectively serves a similar purpose of extending replayability with a fresh challenge.
Replaying the Campaign on Higher Difficulties
unlocking and conquering higher difficulties is the primary form of "New Game+" in Serious Sam 3. Each playthrough on a new difficulty feels like a fresh experience due to the drastically altered enemy encounters.
Co-op Campaign
Experience the entire campaign with up to 16 players in online co-op! This is an incredibly fun way to re-experience the game. The increased firepower and strategic possibilities that come with multiple Sams can make even Mental difficulty feel manageable (or even more chaotic, depending on your teammates!).
- Communication is Key: Coordinate weapon usage, target prioritization, and health/armor pickups.
- Revive Your Teammates: If a teammate goes down, you have a limited time to revive them by standing near their fallen body. Prioritize reviving over engaging enemies if the situation allows.
- Share Resources: Don't hog all the health and armor. A strong team is one where everyone is well-equipped.
Survival Mode
Survival Mode pits you against endless waves of enemies in various arena-style maps. The goal is to survive for as long as possible, racking up points and competing on leaderboards. This mode is excellent for honing your combat skills and trying out different weapon combinations.
- Maps: Survival Mode features several dedicated maps, such as "The Pit", "Death From Above", and "The Last Man Standing". Each map offers unique environmental challenges and choke points.
- Power-Ups: Keep an eye out for temporary power-ups like Serious Damage, Invulnerability, and Serious Speed. These are crucial for surviving later waves.
- Weapon Management: Ammo is limited, so prioritize efficient kills and switch weapons frequently to conserve ammunition for your most powerful tools.
- Score Multipliers: Maintain kill streaks and perform headshots to maximize your score.
Beast Hunt Mode
Beast Hunt is a competitive multiplayer mode where players hunt down specific enemy types for points. This mode adds a unique twist to the traditional deathmatch formula and encourages strategic target prioritization.
Versus Modes
Serious Sam 3 also offers several traditional competitive multiplayer modes, including:
- Deathmatch: Classic free-for-all combat.
- Team Deathmatch: Two teams battle it out for supremacy.
- Capture the Flag: Steal the enemy's flag and return it to your base.
- Last Man Standing: A round-based deathmatch where the last player alive wins the round.
- My Burden: A unique mode where players compete to hold a powerful artifact for as long as possible, gaining points but also becoming a prime target.
Exploring these multiplayer modes can provide countless hours of additional gameplay and a different kind of challenge compared to the single-player campaign.
With all these options, Serious Sam 3: BFE ensures that the fight against Mental's hordes continues long after the final boss is defeated. So grab your Minigun, reload your Rocket Launcher, and prepare for endless Serious action!