Death Squad

A successor to the Skeleton Warriors of Catacomb Abyss and Catacomb Armageddon, the Death Squad is the newest generation of undead Skeletons, encountered in Catacomb Apocalypse. Whereas most Skeletons in the series were melee fighters, Nemesis has given these bad bones modern technology and turned them into ranged fighters.

They look like Skeleton Warriors equipped with firearms and ammo belts.

In Catacomb Apocalypse

....That's not something your average Wizard sees every day.

Death Squads are animated skeletons equipped with firearms, and they are just as tough as their counterparts in Catacomb Abyss, with 12 Hit Points. What's notable is that they use a completely different strategy to compliment their new weapons, strafing about and moving around while shooting at the player. They first appear in The Underground Sewers. Thankfully, these guns are not hitscan attacks and instead they shoot miniature rockets. Death Squads also fire only single shots, despite the automatic nature of their weapons - no need to worry about them firing off a salvo like an Evil Eye or Time Lord.

Unfortunately, they do tend to show up alongside Devil Rays, which will try to get in shots while the player is dealing with the more obvious threats.

The big issue with these foes is that they appear in sizable numbers in areas they appear, where they can all provide covering fire for one another, and while the player is trying to deal with one, three more can be opening fire. Individually, the shots fired by the Death Squads don't do much damage, but the damage adds up quickly and can be hard to avoid when the player is already trying to avoid fire from another skeleton gunner. Worse, these foes can shoot through one another, so one getting in your face and blocking your field of fire while its buddies continue to shoot you is a major annoyance. Often using a Zapper is a good option for putting these undead foes down quickly.

Like the Skeletons of previous games, Death Squads require the Yellow Jewel to show up on the Crystal Sphere. When killed they collapse backwards and sink into the murk.

Trivia

• Clearly a reference to Wolfenstein 3D, considering that they are using the Chaingun from that game.