Well, I’ll let you know my bias right off the bat – I’m a big fan of the Serious Sam series. There was alot to like about the original Serious Sam – the game, even new, was dirt cheap: $19CDN. That’s less than a third of what other games cost. It was developped by these talented developpers in their figurative garage over in Croatia. And the game? Great fun.
That said, the title didn’t come with its flaws. It was no more than a brainless shooter, in one large and monotonous classical Egyptian-style environment. Serious Sam: Second Encounter, another $19 release, fixed alot of that. The environments now varied, and our hero, Serious Sam fought the monsters accross a variety of locales. Again: lots more fun. The game, however, still remained a brainless shooter.
Now comes Serious Sam 2. The game is more expensive this time round; retailing at $34CDN. But coming with it is indeed a better game. Make no mistake: Serious Sam is no more than a shooter in which you kill thousands of monsters at once with a vast arsenal at your disposal. And that’s what makes it so much fun. It’s a game that suits me – I can play for 5 minutes, leave it, come back. That said, expect nothing like Rainbow 6, FEAR, Doom 3, Half-Life 2. This game is not that kind of involved shooter. To be honest, I wouldn’t be able to recommend Serious Sam if the game cost as much as the previously mentionned titles.
So what’s new/better? Well, there’s a story this time round, and you accomplish objectives. It’s still the run-of-the-mill kill everything that moves, but now you have a purpose for doing so. Go to village. Save village. Meet this guy. Enviornments are as varied as the last game. The graphics are improved, and work silky smooth even at high settings on my Athlon 2600 machine (GeForce 6800 Card, 1GB RAM). Graphics tend to be low-polygon, but the game more than make up for it in both scope and scale. Best of all: The game is infused with much humour. A main female character is voiced by a man pretending to be a chick. Your computer-aid can now talk, and attributes that to “a better game budget”. Fun.
Multiplayer is also present in this game, in the form of coop (haven’t seen deathmatch servers). Makes for great fun with friends.
All in all, this is a great game if you enjoy that type of shooter. If you have limited funds, maybe invest in another more elaborate title such as Half-Life 2, FEAR or whatnot.
Rating: 8.0/10