Serious Sam Review (no fat)

Game Description

This game is no romp in the park. It's not about staring at the beautifully rendered monuments that bring forth the essence of Ancient Egypt (and a few other civilizations). In fact, if you think you can catch a breather during this game, it's not going to happen.

The game pits the profanity spewing hero, Sam Stone, against a powerful, demented villain who goes by the name Mental. Mental has unleashed his minions upon the worlds and they are on a ruthless rampage, one that our hero has to put an end to. Sam roams around the vast expanses, collects artefacts, accomplishes missions and leaves a trail of blood and carnage behind. Easier said than done as the waves of mutants and monsters just keep coming. It's a relentless assault. Fortunately, Serious Sam is very serious about one thing - unleashing some Serious hurting.

Cutting edge graphics, unique and fierce monsters, an impressive arsenal and a trigger happy hero all contribute to making this an immensely addictive experience. As Sam muscles his way through the hordes, one thing becomes evident - a bunch of programmers in Croatia poured their heart and soul and created a brilliant game called Serious Sam.

Serious Sam Gameplay

Set in the FPS vein, Serious Sam is not about a plot. It's about constantly being on the move and withstanding wave after wave of incoming monsters. The storyline may seem fragile but it doesn't have any significance in this game. Serious Sam is all about action and minimal talk and thought.

Croteam kicks the game off with a sequence that fills you in on the happenings of the time. You'd be tempted to fast forward all that and get straight to the action. You start off with minimal weapons but a few minutes of moving around and a couple dead monsters later, your arsenal will look substantially better. Controlling Sam is easy and if you have played an FPS or two before, you don't even have to glance through the help page.

Weapons range from pistols and shotguns, to the extremely powerful cannon, belching out huge black orbs of explosive that can mow down anything in its path, and the all consuming Serious Bomb that can wipe out anything within a radius with one flash of brilliance. There's also a XM214-A minigun that can fire several rounds in a minute and an XPML21 rocket launcher that will soon be your favorite possession.

And if you think these weapons are cool, you'll soon find out that they are not cosmetics. Some enemies seem human from a distance but as they get closer, you'll see that they lack a vital part of their anatomy - their heads (which they hold in one hand). The rest of the monster cast range from gnashing gnaars, Kleer skeletons and Sirian Werebulls on a rampage to the aerial attacks of the Scythian witch-harpy, Lava Golems and the Aldurian Reptiloid waiting at the final stages of the game to eradicate you.

What's the difference between Serious Sam and other FPS titles like Doom, Quake, Unreal and like? The Waves of Enemies.

You've taken out thousands of monsters. Your ammunition has almost run dry. You come to a long, a very long corridor. It's a vast expanse that's straight and true. The silence is eerie. And then it starts! You feel the tremors as you wait in anticipation, sweat on your brows and finger on the trigger. And then you catch a glimpse of a kleer skeleton charging in from the distance. "It's only a kleer skeleton", you say to yourself. But what's that behind it? A thousand more!

And that wave is followed by a wave of werebulls, biomechanoids and so on. Not an easy game to complete, unless you play tourist mode where dying is not a possibility.

Serious Sam - Graphics

Croteam's patented game engine (the Serious Engine) is a great piece of programming. For starters, it renders some beautifully detailed monuments and landscape. The maps are vast and extremely playable. Effects like lighting and shading are cleverly utilized to create gorgeous scenes (you'd be tempted to take screenshots every few seconds to use as wallpapers). There's also a degree of responsiveness in the environment. Shoot a tree and its leaves fall off, fire some bullets into water to see ripples and so on. The HUD is effective and gives you a nice view of a monster that's slashing away at you.

Serious Sam - Sound

From the carnival style music during the title sequence to the background score that doesn't interfere with the game's intentions, the music isn't meant to be Seriously addictive. It's more of a foil to the brilliant graphics and action that the game features. Sam spews one liners every now and then and the voice acting is very well done as it complements Sam's persona. Monster sounds are very authentic sounding and you can actually feel the tremors that a marauding Werebull can generate when it charges at you at 45 mph.

Serious Sam - Summing Up

It's a question of whether Mental's hordes thrive or Serious Sam manages to clean up the place. The game doesn't have a plot that will tax your brain but it has plenty of finger scorching action to make up for it. It's shoot now, ask questions later.

Croteam scored a major point over other gaming houses with this title that they brought forth out of the blue. The incredible Serious Engine is a technological breakthrough that renders incredible graphics and manages to pack a screen with thousands of monsters without compromising on quality or Artificial Intelligence.

The game excels in every department except perhaps for the plot, so it is a treat for FPS gamers. While its not a title for everyone, its Serious Sam and its seriously addictive… beware.

Serious Sam - Cost

Serious Sam currently retails at $9.99US at the time of writing.