BERSERKERS

In The Lord of the Rings, they have cave trolls. In Troy, its that guy with the
sledgehammer. The Chaos Legions in 40K unleash Khorne bloodthirsters. The berserker
enemy can be found in many war films, games and stories, but I want to focus specifically
on berserkers in video games. I have keyed into three main berserkers which are found in
some of my favourite hacknslash games, so here we go.

BERSERKER

Increased hunting senses

Large muscular figure
Natural armour
Great speed

First up in this edition is, typically, the aptly

named Berserker from the Gears of War
franchise. Appearing in the first and third
instalments of the series, Berserkers are
introduced to the player as extremely fast,

extremely powerful beasts of the locust horde. They are blind,

but due to their bat-like senses, their hearing and smell is
very strong, meaning that being close to her (yes, her!
Berserkers are the females in the Locust horde) or making a
sound near her will cause her to run at you. Her very first
actual appearance, after the short video sequence in Ephyra
(Ill try not to spoil too much here!), is arguably
pant-shitting for those who casually walk around corners in
the game. Berserkers, over time, have developed special armour that is impenetrable by
ordinary weapons; instead the idea is to lure her into the great outdoors, so that you can
get a direct hit with the Hammer of Dawn satellite gun. She is big, strong, and her overall
brutishness means youll want to dive to the side when she approaches. If youre brave, you
may even buzz your lancer at her, but only if youre confident with the controls

PYRAMID HEAD
Second in this list is Pyramid Head from Silent Hill 2,
who also makes appearances in both of the films, and is

Large helmet
Muscular body

known by fans as the main antagonist in the series.

Surgical robe?

This mysterious character manages to turn up at the

Fused fingers

most random points during the game, but fortunately

for the jittery player (who incidentally should NOT be
playing Silent Hill games in the first place) he moves
quite slowly. Unfortunately, however, his Buster-esque
mammoth of a sword does significant damage, and you
will definitely want to avoid direct contact when
possible. Yeah, find the rifle; its better that way. The
idea behind Pyramid Heads character is that he

Great Knife

represents guilt and sin in humanity. Though metaphorical in being, he seems to be just a
man with a loincloth and well, a big pyramid on his head anyway, one swing of his
sword will do much damage, which is enough of a sign for me to get out of his way.
Pyramid head, the Red Pyramid Thing or Bogeyman, depending where youre referencing
from, is most definitely a powerful monster, however it is suggested that since he attacks
both humans and other monsters in the town (for example, manikins), that he is neutral
in his position as a Silent Hill monster, a separate creature entirely. The helmet itself
appears to be a chunk of rusted steel grafted onto his head, and at times a tentacle
will shoot out to impale his prey, further complimenting his state as a monster.

TANK

Hulking muscles
Vacant expression
Lust for blood
Open pectoral wound
Powerful weapons

Next, I give you the Special Infected

Tank from the Left4Dead series. Tank is
the most powerful enemy in the games,
and fortunately for the player, he is
affected by serious brain damage, or
rabies-incurred cerebral infection,
meaning that he is in a constant

state of unbridled rage. His abnormal muscle mass shows an

obvious ability to smash puny humans out of his way, and
though he appears to be jawless, the missing bone is actually
enveloped in his thick neck muscles. Like the Berserker in

Gears of War, Tank will, at the sight of you, smash through everything in his way to get
to you, including hordes of infected. Fire and small passageways are the best tactics
against this formidable foe, and you can distinguish between his breathing and footsteps
from those of Hunters before they get too close. Unlike the Berserker however, Tank can
be killed in any number of ways, and all weapons will affect his health bar in some way
it just depends on personal preference when up against him, for example, you may decide
that attacking this monstrosity with a frying pan may not be the most sensible
strategy

CYCLOPS
Finally, I give you the God of War Cyclops. My first introduction to this fantastic enemy
was in a demo of GoW3, which features a fight with the giant one-eyed beast before
destroying Ares. At first your attempts seem futile, as its tough skin and large body are
formidable against Kratos Blades of Exile. The fun bit comes when you see the tell-tale
O symbol, allowing Kratos to mount the monster and continuously stab it, controlling it,
until eventually you are able to tear out the Cyclops eye out, in a gruesome, bloody, epic
scene. The Cyclops is not particularly difficult to defeat, but it has the typical wide-spread
sweeping attack of its arms, causing damage to both Kratos and the other enemies
surrounding the two. In the trailer video of God of War: Ascension, a multiplayer fight
features four Spartans attacking one very large Cyclops, which is more accurate to Greek
mythology, similarly tearing out the ugly eyeball from its socket with hooks and chains. As
much as these enemies are great fun to finish off, you almost have to kill them before

many more enemies come pouring into the

way. Here ends my list of notable berserker
bosses, check out Cartoon Classics next
week!
Single eye
Large and formidable
Chains and cuffs
Strong muscles
Hard skin

:)