Customer Reviews

Serious Sam: The First Encounter

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Remember how much fun DOOM was? Well, SERIOUS SAM is a definate throwback to DOOM and DOOM 2. There is non-stop action in this game! Great weapons and graphics. There are several instances in SERIOUS SAM, where you are just swarmed with monsters coming at you! I believe 368 monsters was the most on the screen at the same time! Pretty intense fun! Fun is the key word here. You'll have a lot of fun playing SERIOUS SAM! If you don't like FPS, you may like this one for sheer action!

There isn't much story, but who cares? The whole reason this game was made, was to make a DOOM-style game with a ton of enemies coming at you. it isn't to hard for newcomers either. There aren't a lot of eloborate puzzles to solve, just a lot of shooting of monsters!

CroTeam has made an impressive game here people. The graphics are indeed stunning, but I am no expert when it comes to grapics, but it looks just as good as the QUAKE 3 engine.

To top it all off, this game is seriously fun; ....

There will be those that say that Serious Sam is just another shooter like Quake or Unreal and they would be close. There are those that would say that SS is just another squad based combat game like Tribes and they also would be close. Then there are those that will look at the graphics, environments, worlds, weapons, bad guys, AI, speed, configurability, support, mods, scripts, and adrenelin gland crushing action and say..."This is pretty freakin intense!" and they would be right on target. If you have only enough money in your budget to get one newly released game, get the one you've been waiting for with the most anticipation. If you are lucky enough to have enough for two...also grab Serious Sam. You will find yourself trying to decide which game to play. Over and over again.

With it's hardcore action and lacking storyline, this is *the* game for everyone who loved id Software's Doom games "way back then". Those that are too young, or for some reason never played these wonderful pioneering games, should also pick up this game, to see what they've missed, and also have a really good time.

What's wonderful about Serious Sam is the unique game engine these guys from Croatia (that's in Eastern Europe) has made. What do you do when you don't have the money to lisence an existing game/3D engine like the Quake engines or the LithTech engine? You make your own, of course! The engine that these Croatians came up with is unbelievable. It has all the fancy effects you could wish for, like fog, bumpmapping, particle effects, etc. But where it really shines, is when it comes to rendering the extremely large levels that Serious Sam is build up of, and the insane amount of enemies.

And insane it is. Actually in one of the level you're pitted in a quite small room, against 2-300 small toad-like creatures jumping over a wall with one mission in life: kill you. Mowing through them with the machine gun is unbelievably fun. Also in the normal levels, you're pitted against hordes of enemies, from small to HUGE, even at normal difficulty. When I played through the game on normal, I virtually had my finger glued to the quick-save button (F5 - remember that). You never know what's around the next corner, but you're likely to die.

Alas, the game is quite difficult (on Normal that is), but that isn't why i deducted a star in the rating. The reason for that is that after I had mowed through about 2000 enemies (I don't remember the number exactly, it might have been many more) with an impressive array of weapons, it was suddenly over! I had used only about 6 hours of effective gameplay. And that's a bit short. When a friend and I cooperatively beat the Serious difficulty, we used about 4 and a half hour.

If you aren't an experienced FirstPersonShooter-player, you probably will have some troubles getting through the game on Normal, but you also have Easy and Tourist modes, so there should be enough fun for eveyone in here. You also have Hard and Serious if you're feeling good, and also a Mental mode, only unlocked if you manage to beat the game on Serious difficulty...this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, buy it now! If you really like this type of action games, you've probably never had as much fun behind your computer as when playing Serious Sam. It's a bargain, and remember: Not all great games come from the US :)

Despite its cheesy box cover art and dorky title, Serious Sam (SS) is one heck of a hoot. Between "heavy" titles like "Deus Ex" and "Baldur's Gate II", SS comes as needed relief. After all, what's better than gunning down hundreds of Beheaded Cannonball Berzerkers with a gatling gun while traveling through a temple in 15th century Egypt? SS never tries to be serious, and this is what makes the game superb. The graphics, albeit limited in scope to the Egypt locale, are rendered beautifully, especially on fast machines (love my GeForce 3!). The gameplay is nothing new, so expect your index finger to cramp up quite regularly. For what SS lacks in length, it makes up for in price. At $20, this game is an absolute steal. It's quite difficult, even on the easiest settings, so get used to the Quick Save key. The bottom line: If you're looking for mindless, fun action, then SS is your game. For $20, nothing compares to this gem of absolute mayhem.

Serious Sam is a game that makes you remember the first days of FPS (first-person shooter) games before everybody and their uncle decided to make one. A game that doesn't take itself seriously and has old school tricks such as hidden rooms, panels to push, secret entrances, etc. The game reminds me of Duke Nuke Em in that the main character, Serious Sam, is always uttering a funny phrase or something that is extremely ironic. (Like when he yells, "Is that all you got?!" and suddenly about 100 beasties start running at him.)

All the usual weapons are available: gattling guns, rocket launchers, etc. The monsters are creative departures from the usual FPS games. But the best part of the game is the price. The game also comes with (or you can download) utilites to make maps, skins, etc. The multiplayer mode is fun and uses three different types of formats for online games.

Not a disappointment for FPS fans and a game that could draw in computer game users that normally shy away from FPS software.

If you're tired of the same old shooter games where you jump, shoot, sneak, jump, shoot... then get this game! Serious Sam throws out all the crap that shooter video games have become and gives you a game where you run and kill anything and everything.

If you are like me, you do not enjoy games like Thief 2 where you must spend hours sneaking around looking for the right shaded pixel to walk on. And if you're like me, you think that this whole "awesome" 3d graphics for PC video games is highly overrated in games like No One Lives Forever (where human faces look like they are wrapped around rocks) then this game is for you. No sneaking, great graphics, and hours and days and weeks of fun fun fun!

Best of all, you get a score! HA! To think it took 10 years for a gaming developer to think of this.

Then there's the price... for this masterpiece of minimilist arcade type action. This game is the asteroids of first person shooters - level after level of the same thing but you still love it cuz it's hard and too much fun for one person to have.

The game, itself, is pretty much a Doom/Duke Nukem clone, in terms of play style and "attitude" (right down to the smart quips that Sam occasionally offers), which means that it has all the strengths and weaknesses inherant in that style of FPS. But it's a D/D that's been updated with the best graphics engine that I've ever seen on a game, period. Indeed, if you go to Croteam's page, you'll see that they're pitching the engine as hard as they're pitching the game, and I don't blame them.

Really, this is one beautiful game. The levels are physically huge (as in you can, literally, see for miles of *real* terrain), the colors are crisp, the lighting effects are beyond unbelievable, and the physics engine is so impressive that it has to be seen to be believed.

Of course, such graphical power comes as a price. I have a VooDoo3 and a P2 450. I can play the game on this system (after downloading the WickedGL driver), but I need to play it on the "Speed" settings, which basically turn down the graphics to their minimum settings. It still looks good, but I compared it against a friend's machine, which is a 1GH P3 with a maxed out GForce2 card. The difference is like the difference between a Hanna-Barbara cartoon and a Disney epic. Aspects of the game were practically photo-realistic. It looked even better with his 3D glasses.

If you're running anything slower and less capable than my system (see above), I really wouldn't recommend buying this game; you'll just frustrate yourself. If you have a system that's adequate, such as mine, I think it's worth it. If you have a graphics powerhouse, then buy this game, if for no other reason than to show off the capabilities of your system, because there's no other game on the market that will do as good of a job.

I thought Gamespot (respectable gaming website) was insane in giving a budget title the GAME OF THE YEAR AWARD. Especially since this game involves so unoriginal...

I love originality. But I must admit. This game rocks.

It's got nothing that other games haven't tried before. Bad-ass wise-cracking heroes. Huge monsters. A number of weapons only a tank could carry. Monsters. Almost inexistant plot.

But the thing is, this game is FUN. The game sometimes reaches the point of utter insanity, literaly hundreds and hundreds of enemies swarming your way. There are no puzzles, there is no jumping platforms. It's just shooting shooting shooting.

What seems to strike me as the best part of it all are the weapons. Nothing incredibly original, you have the double-barrel shotgun, you have the machine gun, you have the rocket launcher, super-laser-weapon of sorts. But what amazes me is that every one of them is useful at one spot or another. There is no ultimate weapon. Even the most powerful weapon is useless at certain parts of the game.

The graphics are great. This is a great way to impress your friends with your new 3D card. If you don't have a good card, no biggie, just tone down to the bare minimums, and it'll work great.

I'm raving about the game, and I've never even tried online co-op, where you can go through the single-player levels with your online buddies. That supposedly is the best part of the game.

I would gladly pay full price for this kind of entertainment. The campaign is 5 hours long, but you can always go through it again. Games that are pure action don't get boring after the first go.

Serious Sam. It doesn't do anything new, but it does everything right. And in the end, that's all that matters.

If you think the only way to play a shooter is like Half-Life or Deus Ex, you might not like this game. If you prefer bot/arena combat, you might not like this game. But if you grew up on Doom and Duke Nukem, and you've been eagerly awaiting for something to come along that can meet those, here is your game. The engine, while not Quake3, is BEAUTIFUL, and the game is just plain FUN. It's only $20. Pick it up. It is the best $20 game you will ever purchase. (I say "will ever" because you WILL buy this game, it is THAT fun!)

This first thing i thought of when i played this game was Doom...except WITHOUT THE KEYS. Omg the only think i remember not liking about doom was the stupid keys you had to collect in the sometimes maze-like levels. This game reminds me so much of Doom 1 and 2 though, except with much better technology and movement of course, considering its been several years since those 2 games came out...

The game looks as good as Quake 3, at least as far as i car enough to look (too fun to notice), but it's more fun to play than Quake because it has a linear progression to it instead of just Deathmatch single player. As for multiplayer, this game also has deathmatch as well as scoring fragfests where you get more points for killing better players. However, unlike Quake3, this game comes with co-op muliplayer without having to buy the extra team pack (and you'll notice this game is.. up top...)

Easily the best deal for a FPS since Quake 3 with team play is.. more. This is the most fun I've ever had playing a FPS, and I've played them all (Doom, Quake, Unreal, UT, and counter-strike). This is a pure FPS.