A great gem of a FPS get's it's HD remake! Ready for a nostalgic trip in the past? In HD?
Back in 2001, Croteam's Serious Sam The First Encounter made quite an impact. The PC FPS did away with complicated storylines, consistent enemy designs and small scale battles in favour of one core design philosophy: putting as many enemies on screen at once and making them explode into piles of guts when shot. This made the original game one of the most thrilling shooters ever to hit the PC and earned it a place in the hearts of many hardcore PC gamers. Some eight years later Croteam and Sam are back, with the original classic given a modern makeover for current hardware.
The Egypt setting of the original is therefore back, as are the men that charge at you and explode in your face. The scorpions that fire gattling guns make a return, as do the charging boney beasts, floating heads and men with rotating blades for faces. The enormous beasties that serve as bosses are here too, along with plenty of weapons, pick-ups and secret areas. Serious Sam is an arcade shooter, the kind of which we haven't seen for some time. Playing this HD remake is like you've stepped into a time machine, and fans of the original will instantly find themselves back in 2001.
For those completely unaware of the series until now, at the time of its release Serious Sam was probably closest in feel and gameplay to the original Doom. There's more depth to the gameplay here, though, with enemies coming at you from all sides, in greater variety and at differing speeds. This is a devilishly difficult game that will push your keyboard and mouse skills to their limit. You're only going to see Serious Sam HD through to its conclusion if you've got great hand eye coordination and the reflexes of a ninja. It's easy to panic when hordes of enemies are bearing down on you, but doing so and wildly firing in all directions is a recipe for disaster.
Little on the market today can be compared to Serious Sam's crazy, relentless action, but the Left 4 Dead series is certainly carrying the torch for relentless FPS action. The Valve series throws wave after wave of enemies at you, but it does so with more intelligence than Croteam's game. Having seen what can be done with swarms of enemies and pacing, Serious Sam HD's completely scripted encounters feel old in comparison, highlighting the game's true age a little more clearly than I'd imagined would be the case.
There's no competitive versus multiplayer to speak of, but Serious Sam HD does include sixteen-player co-op play. It's pretty standard stuff, but adding that many extra players makes things even more enjoyable and there are numerous ways to tweak the experience to suit those playing - making the game even harder if you want. It's not going to take up much of the time you've dedicated to playing Left 4 Dead 2 with friends, but it's a fun romp that's worth a go.
While the game has the "HD" moniker, the visual makeover is more than a simple bump in maximum resolution. Enemy models are the most improved, sporting far more detail than they did in the original game, but the lighting, effects and environment detail have also been overhauled. Serious Sam HD doesn't look as good as new releases, such as Modern Warfare 2, but it has a certain charm that few games can offer. Enemy designs are barmy, battles play out over huge indoor and outdoor arenas, and best of all it all runs well on fairly modest PCs. There's some suitably freaky music and sound effects to accompany the on-screen carnage, too, making you twitch in shock on more than one occasion.
What needs to be remembered is that this isn't a brand new Serious Sam game, but the original in new clothes. As such it feels a little dated compared with modern releases. It's undoubtedly fun and relentless in its strive for all-out action, but with a recommended price, it feels a bit light. For nostalgia alone, die-hard fans will get a lot out of this HD remake, but gamers who have been spoilt by current genre favourites will find Serious Sam HD a bit too simple for its own good.
Wow, well, let me start by saying this is an amazing twist of classic gameplay, being engineered by modern game mechanics. It takes all the fun of games like Doom and Time splitters and rolls it up into one smoking hot package.
GAMEPLAY: When Goldeneye 007 came out on N64 back in 1997; it really redefined the fun factor in a game. While others were trying to produce story driven First person shooters or extremely realistic First person shooters, Goldeneye shoved that into the dirt and walked right over those ideas. It focused squarely on gameplay and that's exactly what serious Sam does but in much more fast paced and violent manner.
To start, the game is just a basic shooting gallery with loads of devastating weapons and simplistic functions. For example Sam starts off with a Revolver and Military knife and then you see a few enemies, but by time you have progressed the game is throwing One hundred plus monsters at you from every direction and your just blasting them all with rockets and bullets, and by then you'll be sucked into the game that you'll forget that you were smiling the whole time, simply because the gameplay is just enjoyable as hell, that and most of all it rewarding, as you progress you get bigger and better weapons and power-ups.
Most people may think the cartoony look is to target a specific audience, wrong. SS is full of fast paced shooting and wacky creatures. The Violence level maybe a bit extreme respectfully since the game looks so cartoonish that an unsuspecting parent may buy this title for a little one. It's full of gore; so don't think that shotguns going to be teaching your kids anything useful (well maybe).
One thing you'll notice right off the bat is that the game is not really ‘serious' in anyway, as a matter fact it quite comical as its all supposed to be a funny cartoon like shooting fable. So with that, you know some stuff is actually sort of cute. For instance, your not fighting the most horrid ugly space demons ever laid eyes on in fact its no more than big buggy like aliens and wired parasites as well as human things , like headless clowns, and pigmies and kamikaze zombies. The levels also look fun and bright as they are all fun and games, until the gallons of blood stain the happy environment. The small movies can Also have humor in them but it's somewhat dry, like Sam diving into a water cave and having aliens hold up score cards, (not funny, but clever).
Serious Sam is actually quite long and has plenty of replay value as well. You have plenty of levels of mindless slop shooting under four difficulty settings each one considerably harder and crazier than the next. Since they toss in more enemies it becomes even more fun to watch them die by the hundreds. So you're getting your moneys worth either way.
GRAPHICS: Artistic and pretty; words that could be used to describe this games amazing graphics. The Gun models look fresh as could be and even look better than some other more modern FPS guns. They all move with precision and with out a frame rate slow down. Another great thing I liked in the graphics department was the great level design, it seemed that the levels were carefully touched up and were lined with lovely details, that being said you can also really see its awesome textures. The textures look great on the PC! All the lighting and glares show up just as colorful and brilliant as ever before, that also include the effects in guns as well as the aliens. All the animations including the cut-scenes were preformed real smooth on the Rig I was using and the way the game looks as a whole is just so lush and fresh that it really sticks out.
SOUND: The sounds of all the aliens are crisp and the weapons sound a tad weak but maintain a powerful beat down, overall the basic sounds are really sweet. As far as music is concerned, it isn't very good but you'll be so implanted in the action that you forget that there even is sound! The game sounds little different in 5.1 surround sound but try it if you get the chance it makes it somewhat more powerful.
OVERALL: Get this game it's a great FPS and by time your done playing you'll be so amazed that you'll want to play more and more till it hurts!
Sam on consoles? And the consoles are shaped like a cube or something? Hm... yeah... Serious enough!
This game is 20 bucks worth of pure carnage and gun-play. You are "Serious" Sam Stone, a government agent that travels through time to whoop alien / zombie ass, and I love every second of it. With little story or explanation for all of the death, this game (forgive the pun) sticks to it's guns. Now, let's get started.
STORY: What story? Aliens traveled back in time to ancient Rome to take over the world or something? Seriously? Oh well, it's a mindless shooter with a crappy story. Who cares. Killing time!
CONTROLS: I hate it when people don't list the controls in the review for a game, so here they are: R - Fire, L- Jump, A - Action, X/Y - Switch Weapons, B - Secondary Fire, Z - Information. That's bassically it, all of the controls are responsive, and I found them plotted out very well. Thats for the GC, for the rest, list them yourself. The only problem I have is that there is almost no rumble at all, I know this sounds dumb but in a game where all you do is kill, I'd like more than just a faint rumble after you jump. That's just me though. I should also mention that this game is duel anolog, meaning you walk and strafe with the control stick, but aim with the C-Stick.
SOUND: The sound in this game is superb, and you can actually use it to your advantage. For example; when a kamikazi suicide is running at you, you can tell how close he is to you judging by how loud his screams are. This is a very nice touch, and it's very helpful. I have no complaint with the guns, they sound pretty much authentic to me (of course I'd have no idea what I'm talking about considering I've never touched a real gun, nonetheless fired a Minigun) Sam's bad-ass, tough-guy, almost Solid Snake-like voice is done very well. You'll like him if you like Bruce Cambell's character Ash in Evil Dead (which I do). He also spouts out hilarious one-liners from time to time like the one in the title. The one thing I don't like is the stupid little kid sound effect it makes when your in the menu, that just annoys me.
GAMEPLAY: This game gave me exactly what I wanted in terms of gameplay, few puzzles and all killing. This game even mocks other games by Sam saying things like, "Sure beats collecting key cards!" when you blow a wall up get into a building or, "Oh boy, a jumping puzzle! I love jumping puzzles!" when you have to jump over lava. This is one game that really knows itself. The guns were very good, giving you Dessert Eagles, Uzis, Shotguns, Flamethrowers, Miniguns, and even a pirate cannon just to name a few.
Alot of the guns also have different ammo types like Ricoche Bullets, which is sweet. Something that I found cool was that every enemy has a kinda weakness to one of your guns, like some will go down in one Shotgun blast or others with a quick pistol blast. This adds up to quick weapon switching, which makes the responsive controls a blessing. You bassically walk through Rome and temple, killing things. But it's tough at points you'll be walking up a hill, then an almost army of zombies will come pouring over the top, causing you to pull out your Minigun and lay down some hell.
There also some vehicles, including a Hummer that Sam hooked up with some Roket Launchers to go blastin' through the country with. This game is good at giving you health at the right time, at giving you armor at the right time so you don't die also. They will sometimes do this very cleverly. For instance, sometimes they'll be armor and health sitting out and when you get it, you find out that is was a trap to lure you out and then enimies will start rushing you.
MULTILAYER: Very nice, letting you do the whole game in co-op, or giving you the classic split-screen battle. The battle arenas are nice, as are the weapon sets and characters. One of my favorite levels is just two empty towers where your character stick to any surface their feet touch, making for some awesome battles. my only complaint is that there are no stages with vehicles.
OVERALL: So, get this game NOW! It's $20, and it's more than worth that. It's one of the best console games I've ever played. Very seldom is a PC game recreated on the consoles with such success. Heck, if this game were $60 I'd pick it up as soon as I could.
i haven't found the trailer, but seriously, this cut-scene is for the oscar!
Well here's my feeling after playing 5 stages into it. It's Serious Sam alright, and plays pretty well. The graphics are between say DOOM and Duke Nukem Advance, but this is likely due to the fact you can get 10 things spawned on screen at the same time without nasty drag on the frames per second.
That's right, unlike some other first person shooters on Gameboy Advance this one will toss 6 guys at you from up front and another pack from behind. Keep moving, keep the guns blazing, or die fast. The audio is good, got the yells of the kamikazes, grunts, gun and blast sounds, and some decent music too. I have to give credit where it's due seeing how much can be on screen, run fluid enough, and give an overall good audio presentation. Control is mixed bag, but overall works very nicely once you're used to it. At first it will feel like poo and in tight corridors it can suck trying to aim, but most the game is large arenas.
You'll be happy the controls whip around as they do in large arenas because that's how the PC one works laying down the law strafing like a madman. You can pinpoint aim using the B button and moving the directional pad, but it makes you a target too, so be quick and beware. Serious Sam Advance also comes with a ton of levels, 10 weapon choices, many new and returning enemies, and pretty decent pickups (and amount of) as you go along.
Downsides, well a few, so really the game is like 8/10 worthy, and here's why. I instantly dock a point because the geniuses there went with a password save ...stupid and archaic. The lack of battery will end up costing you a few things and oddly gaining some too?! You lose all your stats and score, but gain full ammo on a restart as the code saves weapons, not the ammo, so you end up with a full restocking of gear.
This is somewhat of a gimme, but kind of nice I suppose if you're low on a certain gun you like. The rest I hammer it for quite simply is the tough aim in narrow areas. You really can't pinpoint your aim well without using B and becoming possible (likely) cannon fodder. Password and tight area gunplay aside, it's sweet.
Would I recommend this? Yes, as a purchase with a proviso. The game starts awful on the first stage with a pistol and tight corridors which are handled somewhat poorly. Give the game at least 4 stages deep and let it grow on you.
NAME: SERIOUS SAM ADVANCE SYSTEM: GAME BOY ADVANCE
One man against a whole army of monsters, skeletons & more monsters. Seriously!!!!
Note: This review will likely contain some minor spoilers.
Before reading the review, answer the following questions:
1) Do you like campy, slapstick humor? YES/NO 2) Do you like using BIG guns? YES/NO 3) Do you like games that don't take themselves seriously? YES/NO 4) Do you like huge head-counts? YES/NO
If the answer to most of these is "YES", this game is your salvation. Croteam has put out yet another gem of a game. It features big guns, a variety of enemies, huge levels, and a multitude of secrets that you'll be seeking out in no time.
Now for the fun part, the intro:
WHO? You are Sam "Serious" Stone, a strong do-it-all hero out to save the universe.
WHAT? The Earth has been attacked by the alien lord Mental. After a trip back in time to stop the invasion, Sam takes a spaceship into outer space to destroy Mental himself.
WHY? Because if you don't do it, the Earth meets its end.
HOW? By picking up weapons, ammo and health, and blasting anything that dares block your path.
Serious Sam 2 is a FPS developed by Croteam. The first Serious Sam games became famous for bringing back the 100 % pure fast paced action FPS gameplay, with tons of guns and even more enemies to shoot at with those guns. I'm happy to say that Serious Sam 2 is like the original games and haven't been changed into something different. Sure, the game isn't perfect, sure some fans of the first games may prefer them better, but overall the game is another great SS game worthy of your finger bleeding attention.
STORY: Enter Sam, the hero. Sam is fearless, Sam is reckless, Sam is THE guy. Once again, our one-liner sprouting hero is caught up in a battle against the evil MENTAL and his minions. One minute, he's a happy-go-lucky guy, the next, he's battling every alien in the universe (or so it seems). Sam travels from world to world, meeting new and improved enemies as well as some fan favourites from the first series. The story is very thinly presented. The developers make no bones that the story is nothing more than a vehicle to allow Sam to sprout one-liners. The text is written in English that makes you laugh, only because it makes sense barely, and I believe this to be intentional to capture the flavor of the game. But there is a plot. Sam has to collect five pieces of a medallion before he can save the world and face MENTAL. Yep, that's the plot.
GRAPHICS: As it was in the first game, the one thing that strikes you is the amount of space in each level. The levels are huge. The game engine is another beast altogether. If you are afraid of twitch gaming and don't like to be overwhelmed, stay clear of this game. In all of my years of gaming, I have never faced the sheer amount of enemies that are present in this game. How the game engine handles all of the frantic action and explosions is a masterstroke by Croteam. The game rarely if ever slows down and the character animations are rendered very well. The cutscenes are of a good but not great quality, but the game levels are done extremely well and often in vibrant colors and settings. You'll see no muted palettes in this game.
The levels in this game are greatly varied, from the volcanic wasteland of the Kleer planet to a level that has you feeling like you were shrunk down to the size of an ant, avoiding bowel movements as you walk. There's plenty to love about the level designs.
SOUND: Sound is excellent in this game. Sound is your first warning that the world is about to collapse around you. Be it the clopping noise of incoming Kleer skeletons, the ever increasing yell of the Kamikaze bomber, the squeaky sound of the unicycle exploding clown, or the oncoming rush of the wind-up Were-bull amongst others, you know that it's time to grip the trigger tightly, because this happy place you're in is about to come crashing down in a blaze of glory (cue Bon Jovi). Sound plays a big part in this game, as you will have to spin around at times to pick off all of your enemies. Surround is a bonus.
In-game music is a mixture of many styles, but always fitting and well implemented. The game features everything from goofy circus music to cheesy 80's rock anthem-styled themes. The music is great, and sets the not-so-serious tone straight off the bat.
GAMEPLAY: Stealth is a word that does not exist in this game. The idea is to pick up ammunition and blast your way through everything, not paying any attention to the amount of ammunition you have left. The basic formula is simple: Sam walks into a room. Sam looks around. Sam sees nothing wrong. Sam eats a power up that gives him one measly energy point and all hell breaks loose. This game pits you mostly in open area environments where you are provided with weapons and power-ups. Once eating them, a pitched battle ensues, often being the type that feeds you a constant stream of enemies before you can continue. The carnage is magnificent and the frenetic action often will have you whooping it up once the battle is over. But you thought it was over...it really isn't. You see, Croteam seems to have this morbid sense of humor in that they'll throw a few hundred enemies at you and let you fend for yourself. Once the battle is over and you're wiping the sweat off of your brow...WHAM! Another 400 enemies hit you. When that's over, you wipe your brow and just for good measure, they'll throw another 20 at you. You can NEVER rest easy in this game.
Beyond the frantic pace and excellent range of weapons (including a homing bomb parrot), you will also find plenty of secrets and secret areas. Some of these provide you with crazy power-ups, like "Serious damage" or "Serious Jump", while at other times, they serve to be funny for no real reason. There's nothing more gratifying than finding a secret area only to have the game pronounce "Serious Ninja Chicken has been found!". Ironically, when the game starts to feel a bit too "serious", the game throws you some cliched and slapstick humor, helping to keep the experience fresh and enjoyable.
DIFFICULTY: This isn't a difficult game, contrary to the fact that the head count in this game probably amounts to about ten thousand enemies - and I'm not exaggerating. The weapons are powerful and a true joy to use. Ammunition is abundant, and the enemies can be dispatched quite easily as long as you have room to move and dodge. The average gamer will be able to complete this game, but will have some sweaty palms for his/her trouble.
OVERALL: Serious Sam is serious fun. If you want realism, do not pick up this game. If you want carnage and overpowered weapons mixed in with some campy humor and very funny circumstances, be sure to snap it up in a second. Serious Sam 2, put simply, is a romp. There's a great time to be had by all, and aside from some battles that you thought would never end, there's not much of anything to complain about here. And one more thing. When you're fighting endless enemies, yell : YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Back in 2001, a small East European company named Croteam shocked the computer gaming world by releasing the original Serious Sam, an irreverent and whimsical first-person shooter that broke all the existing rules. Worrying little about story and never taking itself too seriously, this old school title involved hordes of over-the-top enemies attacking you in a nonstop fashion. Received warmly by critics and consumers alike, a sequel -- Serious Sam: The Second Encounter -- quickly emerged around a year later. Now, after waiting over three years, we have a significantly advanced third installment in the form of Serious Sam II. Can this release succeed among today's hyper-sophisticated gamers?
The story in Serious Sam II is as usual little more than window dressing. You again face the arch-villain Mental from the planet Sirius, and he has stronger and more multitudinous minions than ever to do his bidding. To defeat Mental, the hero Sam Stone has to find his way to several distinctive worlds, collecting five pieces of a special medallion of power in the process, and then return to Sirius for an ultimate confrontation against evil. While you are traveling, you meet local denizens in each world, many of whom look like transplanted smurfs. At no point during the frenzied fighting do you think a lot about plot development.
The worlds in Serious Sam II are both diverse and fascinating. While the architecture and design of the first world, mixing South American and Egyptian motifs, looks a lot like that in the earlier installments in the series, the later worlds do not. The swamp world Magnor is wonderful second environment. Later you visit an oriental world, a world filled with lava, and a fairyland world with my very favorite area called Floterra. Some areas have you pressing on through various passages, while others have you clearing an area of an infestation of creatures. After you finish collecting the medallion pieces, the fun is not over, as you still get to visit Kronos and ultimately Sirius itself.
One tradition the Serious Sam franchise has always maintained is the appearance of great monsters, and this latest release does not disappoint. The huge range of foes is really impressive, from giant spiders to evil clowns to headless bombers to rampaging rhinoceroses. Each has its own style of attack, although none are very sophisticated. Some, such as those that look like a tyrannosaurus rex with a Christmas cap on, are very silly in appearance; and having some be explicitly wind-up foes adds to the sense of whimsy. My favorite enemies are the football orcs who charge at you with incredible ferocity and throw lethal footballs your way. The battles against the imposing bosses begin easy but then get more challenging, frequently requiring special tactics beyond just blowing them to smithereens while dodging their shots.
The weapons are completely satisfying but not at all realistic. The shotgun is powerful but slow loading and overly effective at any range; the plasma rifle, chain gun, and rocket launcher are also especially useful in combat. The enemy-seeking parrot bomb is lethal though peculiar looking and awkward to use in some cases. I really enjoyed my first experience shooting cannon balls at helicopters. If you are lucky, you will pick up the Serious Bomb, which destroys everything in sight. My favorite weapon is a giant rolling ball with spikes on the outside that can destroy anything it faces. I also really enjoy commandeering the turrets and mowing down the opposition. Generally you have plenty of ammunition available in the form of widely dispersed pickups, so you can keep shooting nonstop without fear of running low. When you begin a new world, you only have the most basic weapons regardless of what you have previously collected.
Although the physics in this release cannot compare to the best represented by shooters powered by the Havok engine, what you witness is not shabby. The impact of shooting creatures is portrayed in a reasonable minimalist fashion, though it is odd that a number of large creatures fall forward rather than backward when they die. You can shoot trees and structures, but the resulting destruction seems rather formulaic. You can pickup, carry around, and throw objects at will, and they ricochet and bounce around nicely. You can stack crates to get to valuable pickups otherwise inaccessible. What is missing is a sense of weight and of having a real impact on the surrounding environment (they cannot be used as weapons, for example). As a result, the ability to manipulate environmental objects seems more like window dressing than an integral element of the gameplay.
Puzzles have never played a major role in the Serious Sam franchise, and this latest release is certainly no exception. Most of these involve finding ways of getting through passages, such as through locating and detonating explosives to blast open passages and finding keys or picking up levers to open doors. Other puzzles include jumping challenges (where you have to avoid spikes or climb up the inside of a tower) and figuring out how to lower a bridge that is stuck. At one point after taking a hidden teleporter you need to take a ball from one carnival booth to use in another to make a creature fall and get dunked in the water. Some of the secret rooms contain puzzles, such as one containing letters on the floor where you have to spell out the word "SERIOUS." Although none of the puzzles is particularly challenging, they provide a welcome respite from the straight shooting.
Following the latest fad in first-person shooters, Serious Sam II allows you at numerous points in the game to get into vehicles, ride in them, and shoot from them at the enemy hordes around you. The vehicle control is fine, but to tell the truth I find this no more exciting that the overly long vehicle sequences in Half-Life 2. The vehicles here do add more of a sense of speed to the gameplay, and allow you to keep your distance from your foes when you wish to do so. While there are a few instances where it is absolutely critical to employ the vehicles to survive, I did not find myself eagerly anticipating these play segments. Graphics: When Serious Sam was first released, the visuals were on a part with the top state-of-the-art graphics found within any of the best first-person shooters. Unfortunately, with this latest release, this franchise has fallen significantly behind the curve. Nonetheless, what you see at the highest settings is still incredibly bright, colorful, and crisp, with an amazing ability to animate tons of objects on the screen at once with no significant slowdowns. Indeed, with rare exceptions the frame rates are quite smooth.
Both indoor and outdoor environments are rendered with equal effectiveness. Many of the open panoramic vistas are downright gorgeous. You see lots of flowers and grass on the ground, but much of it is easily recognized as two-dimensional. The diverse enemies appear ferocious and cute at the same time, decently rendered though without a high polygon count; at close range most look impressive, but the action is so frenzied that you rarely can stop to appreciate them unless you are about to get killed. However, nobody would rate the appearance of these beasts as comparable to the high standard set in Doom 3.
The special visual effects are mixed in quality. The smoke is outstanding - close to the most convincing I have ever seen in a computer title - but the depiction of water is just above average and that of fire is merely adequate. Shadowing and lighting effects are decent but not exceptional. The explosions are initially impressive but, as alluded to earlier, get more than a bit predictable. A few special settings are very well done, such as spikes poking out of a pool of blood and the dank sewer environment. The cut scenes are a source of real irritation. First, the graphics quality of these transitional cinematics is noticeably lower than those during the gameplay. Second, although you can disable captioning during the action sequences, you cannot do so within the cut scenes; the result is that some of the humor is spoiled because you are forced to see the punch line prematurely. Third, early in the game, there are just too many cut scenes, interfering with the smooth flow of the gameplay. Fourth, and perhaps worst of all, when you see Sam's face in the cut scenes, it is often so crudely rendered as to be stunningly deficient.
Interface: Serious Sam 2nd E. utilizes the standard first-person shooter mouse-keyboard input system, and Croteam has honed this to perfection. You may alter the default settings if you wish, but I found no reason to do so. The control system is highly responsive and in no way restricts the arcade reflex action during the game. The menu system and play screen are both early to interpret and relatively Spartan in design. It is very nice that when you are in battles you do not have a lot of indicators cluttering up the screen. One minor gripe is that the scroll bar and the up-and-down arrows do not work on the load menu; instead you counterintuitively have to resort to the up-down keys or the mouse wheel to get to the save you desire.
As is typical of computer offerings but still atypical for console releases, you may save and load at will, with an easy-to-use quick save system. One of the most pleasing dimensions of this release is that, unlike many recent first-person shooters, the load times are extremely short, both when you are loading a save game or transitioning between levels.
Gameplay: Playing Serious Sam II is like being at an arcade shooting gallery. You keep the trigger firmly pressed, destroying everything that opposes you, and the frenetic combat action never lets up. Your foes usually come at you in a series of waves, and just when you think you have finally gotten rid of all of them another swarm appears. There are so many adversaries firing at you from all directions that the best survival strategy is to keep moving. I wish these encounters represented more memorable epic moments the way there did in the first installment of this series.
As you progress, you notice that the level design is pretty linear, with only the occasional appearance of multiple ways to go that lead anywhere; often, as is typical of releases of this type, the best way to know you are not retracing your steps is the appearance of a new clump of enemies. To spice up the action, lots of pickups of all sorts are scattered about, and lots of secret areas are hidden in the large settings. Nonetheless, after a while the action gets highly repetitive; even within a single battle, there are times where you have to kill the same type of foe attacking you in the same way so many times that you wish it would all just end.
I have always enjoyed the lighthearted humor present in the Serious Sam series, and there is a lot to laugh at here. Particularly the frequent gaming-related humor is really funny (for example, after killing a giant insect, Sam announces that there are no bugs in the game). However, some of the jokes do not work well, and I find that the little smurf-like creatures you are helping on some of the levels get really annoying.
Multiplayer: As with the earlier installments, you can play Serious Sam II in multiplayer cooperative mode with your friends. Up to 16 players can play over a LAN or the Internet. A wide range of difficulty settings allows you to set up the multiplayer to suit the abilities of the human players. With multiple humans fighting the enemy creatures together at one time, you can implement different combat strategies and experience a whole new level of euphoria. While this is the only multiplayer mode available (deathmatch is noticeably missing), it is an absolute blast. Thankfully, there is no significant lag when you play.
Sound FX: The sound effects in Serious Sam II are generally great, including the realistic weapons fire and the satisfying groans and grunts of the creatures. Some noises really stand out; for example, the sound of ammunition pickups for plasma rifle is deliciously squishy. There is not much innovative in the audio, but it is very fulfilling.
The vocal effects are a bit uneven. Sam's voice is perfect as always, deep and gruff and somewhat self-deprecating. But some of these effects are extremely grating, such as when you here a female voice screaming "extra life" or "serious damage" when you collect certain pickups. The smurf-like inhabitants often issue utterances that are just plain nonsense. Lastly, the woman who guides Sam around by reminding him of objectives often simply states the obvious.
Musical Score: Like the vocal effects, the music in Serious Sam II is a mixed bag. Some of the background tunes seem generic, rather tuneless with just a repetitive beat in the background. Nonetheless, when enemies approach, the score helps to heighten the excitement, and generally the soundtrack matches the lighthearted tone of this offering. The music in the the latter sections of the game is by far the most rousing.
Intelligence & Difficulty: Serious Sam II has five levels of difficulty -- tourist, easy, normal, hard, and serious. This accommodates a wide range of player abilities, making the title accessible for novices and experts alike. Regardless, though the challenge increases the farther you progress, the overall difficulty is a bit lower than most of today's first-person shooters.
As is typical of this franchise, there is no noticeable artificial intelligence in Serious Sam II. Foes just run straight at you, with no subtlety or dodging or blocking moves.
Overall: Serious Sam II is a fun and frenzied shooting romp, but -- as a longtime fan of the franchise -- beneath my expectations. It seems as if the developer's mindset has been kind of frozen in time, reluctant to add new innovations to the series that would deepen and diversify the gameplay for its many fans. Somehow the tone of this installment is not just silly and lighthearted, but also a bit more cartoonish and childlike. Those who love retro first-person shooters and who are frustrated with the8 new wrinkles in recent releases in this genre will certainly enjoy this title; but many hardcore gamers will have progressed beyond what this release offers. In particular, the repetitiveness of the gameplay will leave many gamers limp. I still had fun with this release, but it clearly needed more oomph to be really taken seriously.
