Serious Sam: Second Encounter

Rating:
Summary: Seriously Difficult
Review: I have owned Serious Sam: Second Encounter for more than a year now, but I never play it. But just today I thought I'd give it another go. After my experience, I decided to write a review.

To begin with, Serious Sam: Second Encounter is a gorgeous game. The graphics are amazing, and the music is awesome and really gets your heart pumping. On those qualities alone, I would give it 5 stars. This was actually my first first-person shooter since my days of playing Doom. Naturally, I was amazed at the difference in graphics and gameplay. Serious Sam was way more advanced than Doom. However, I have played many first-person shooters since my purchase of this game a year ago (most notably, Return to Castle Wolfenstein and No One Lives Forever 1 and 2) and I have to say, as nice as this game was when I first bought it, there are a lot better games out there.

I had purchased both the first Serious Sam and Second Encounter at the same time. About half-way through the first one, I gave up and found cheats for it on the internet. Why? Because this game is virtually unbeatable. There are no difficulty levels to choose from, which is insane, since the whole game seems to play out in what would be one of the highest difficulty levels, if it had any. At any time in the game, you have about what seems like 20 different species of enemies coming at you in groups of a dozen each. This hardly seems fair. I know, I know. Games aren't supposed to be easy, but this one is just downright frustrating. You have things coming at you from the front, the back, the sides, up in the air and sometimes up from the ground. There is no way you can keep track of and eliminate all of these threats, especially since they all seem to keep multiplying. So in other words, unless you are in God mode, you just keep dying...and dying...and dying...

So in other words, Serious Sam: Second Encounter is for serious players. Anyone looking for a challenge will sure find it here. But for anyone who wants any sort of a chance to win a game (without first suffering from a stroke), I suggest staying away from this one. Like I said, the game looks great. But you know the old saying. Looks aren't everything.

Rating:
Summary: old-skool really is COOL!
Review: I liked every moment in Serious Sam 1. That is why I am looking forward to getting this game as soon as possible. It is fun, that is all that a game should be - just FUN! and Serious Sam is the definition of fun - it gets it all right: graphics, weapons, swarms of enemies, and gorgeous locales.

Rating:
Summary: serious review
Review: I love the game the backround and the effects are beautiful and the water effects are cool I like the locations and the easter eggs the game has.

Rating:
Summary: A cool shooter
Review: I played the Serious Sam: Second Encounter Demo. It includes Single Player, Multiplayer, and Co-op play. Single player seemed groundbreaking, same as the first Serious Sam, but with even bigger environments, more variety in enemies (the old ones make a return but look a lot netter - nicer textures, geometry, etc.), A LOT better graphics, and more weapons (but I was disappointed that they did not include the flamethrower, Sniper Rifle was a "serious addition" though).
The demo also featured a new array of power-ups, such as Serious Speed, Invincibility, and Serious Damage.

I was really amazed when I noticed the improvements in the Serious Engine. The game looks simply fantastic!! It is still as fast and furious as its predecessor, and still offers huge environments swarming with tons of enemies, but the graphics sure make one hell of a difference. Grass, trees, water, and buildings, and the sky look more realistic than ever, and the video options menu allows you to adjust everything, from raising the anisotropic filtering to 128 to adjusting your refresh rate of the monitor, you will find every graphic option there without even leaving the game. And did I mention that the models improved much? That's right, those low-polygon enemies had some major makeover. Sam also looks way better than he did before.

The soundtrack is pretty sweet too, suites the FPS genre and the particular setting in the game perfectly, the music changes into a faster tempo when Sam faces any baddies and gradually gets softer when they are gone. The music is a mix of techno and the Aztec drumbeat, just like the first one was the mix of techno and the Egyptian music.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the singleplayer, especially the part where you get to the Jaguar Valley - an open ended valley, probably the biggest environment in any FPS on the market, it's area seems even bigger than any level in Halo. There you will really get a feel of the freedom that Serious Sam 2 offers. I did not see any slow-downs or lag throughout the whole demo in single player while it was set to quality; my average framerate was 60fps - very nice. I have a P4 1.4 GHz, 512 Megs of RAM, and a Geforce 3.

I highly recommend downloading the demo of SS: SE... It will justify buying it, believe me. The gameplay is same as the first Serious Sam or as any old-school shooter (Doom, Quake, Duke Nukem 3D, Wolfenstein 3D, etc.) Any FPS fans gotta love it!

Rating:
Summary: Serious Sam is a trip... and LSD trip...
Review: I was just looking for a shoot-em-up game and this one was good. But, like many of the games, you have to shoot the opponent a zillion times to make sure they're dead... The graphics are fantastic, the opponent aliens are weird...but cool...Overall, I figure if I feel I got my money's worth, it's a good game. This one is worth the money...

Rating:
Summary: The original....WAY IMPROVED!
Review: I'm gonna say right off I have only one flaw with this game, and that's that the weapon sounds are a bit undesirable. They could just have a bit more..umph?

The reason why is that this game is WAAAAAY over-the-top. IT's supposed to be. That's what makes it so much fun. And really really funny in places. Of course, what's a really-way-over-the-top game without some really-way-over-exaggerated weapon sounds?!

I'll also tell you straight off there's a secret with a reference to Duke Nukem Forever, and I almost DIED when I finally got the joke.

People have been reviewing this game saying that it's nothing but mindless shooting. I say that's not true. While there is TONS of shooting involved, sucessfully defeating the 'waves' takes some strategy. For instance, there are these bone-horse things that gallop at you in a line. The only way to defeat them is to stand back and fire something at them (I reccommend the flamethrower on these things), so you have to choose a spot making sure you can back up without running into a wall (because you are totally [out of it] if this happens. It happened to me, and EVERYTHING just corners you).

Then there's also decisions about what to shoot first. Sometimes the game is gonna be throwing HUGE waves at you. You're gonna have to decide who's gonna come down first. If you take out the horsey thingies and the bigger, tougher monsters are too close, you're gonna die. If you take out the bigger, tougher monsters and the horsey thingies are too close, if you don't have space to start backing up, you're gonna die. Personally I think playing this game more easily and not dying is all in having a good shooting strategy.

And then, this game isn't all shooting. There are a few interesting puzzles. And when one of those pills appear, you already start snickering and save before picking it up, cause you know something extremely bizarre is about to happen.

And then: This game is FUNNY. Get that in your mind. FUNNY, FUNNY, FUNNY. IF you don't think it's funny, go stand in a field while the headless dudes with bombs on their hands run towards you yelling "Aaaaaarrgghhh!!!" without laughing. Then, even fighting the waves is pretty funny for a while. It's like, "Oh my god! What the [heck] were these game developers thinking??!!? AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHRRGGHGHHHH!!!1"

This game also has plenty of secrets. For example, one of them spawns a *BLEEEP! Censored! Otherwise the secret will [stink] and you will scream "I WANT REFUND".* which is really funny.

Then, the levels are truly amazing. They're huge. You don't think huge? THINK BIG. Like, really big. Without fog. Buildings all over. Like, so big it takes you 20 minutes to walk around one area. Just ONE. Weapons and monsters all over the place!

And not once does it lag.

If you think this game is mindless shooting, think again. Get Serious Sam for the serious fun and lose some sleep.

Rating:
Summary: Fun and difficult, but repetitive
Review: I've been playing "Serious Sam: The Second Encounter" for about a week and a half now; one of my sister's friends thought it would be fun and so loaned it to me to give it a shot--no pun intended.

I have mixed feelings about this game, which I will do my best to convey via a list of pros and cons. Here you go:

PROS:
1. Excellent graphics--muscles actually move in the werebull, for example.
2. A variety of interesting weapons. You get everything from the (useless) revolver to a portable cannon, and ammunition can sometimes be sparse; this forces you to be adaptable. You can even knock down trees or set things on fire.
3. There is a sentient computer that you carry around with you. Every time you kill something you haven't killed before, every time you get a weapon you haven't had before, and every time you come across something important in the gam,e this computer analyzes it for you to an exhaustive extent. It gives you hints into how to use your new weapons and how to kill new enemies. That's just really cool.

CONS:
1. The style of the gameplay gets really repetitive. You see, the reason this game is as difficult as it is is because the game has a habit of putting every single enemy against you, in large numbers, all at once. You don't just fight a few kleer skeletons; you fight about fifty kleer skeletons, two lava golems, about ten harpies, four major bio-mechanoids, ten minor bio-mechanoids, three juvenile arachnoids, two adult arachnoids, twenty beheaded kamikazes, ten beheaded bombers, and five werebulls.

All of that all at once. Every time you go around a corner, you don't fight one or two enemies, you fight about ten of everything the game's put against you so far. This is what makes the game a challenge, and it has helped me in those areas of other games where you fight a whole bunch of monsters, but it gets OLD. Seriously. It gets REALLY old, and it kind of bothers me that the game has to rely on that to make it difficult. Compare this to the comparatively difficult "Half-Life" by Sierra; this game is far superior, with superior graphics, and it manages to be equally hard while still providing a variety in its gameplay and a mix of puzzles.

2. Come on. "Serious Sam"? How can you possibly take that seriously as the A-game that it is instead of some lame B-game spinoff of "Quake" or whatever? They could have done a much better job naming this thing.
3. Multiplayer is difficult to set up and it simply does not lend itself well to anything but deathmatch, even though it is possible to play the whole game multiplayer as in Blizzard's "Diablo II".

So. Three stars. Excellent graphics with beautiful scenery and a variety of weapons and enemies, but repetitive gameplay and sloppy multiplayer.

Rating:
Summary: Fun and difficult, but repetitive
Review: I've been playing "Serious Sam: The Second Encounter" for about a week and a half now; one of my sister's friends thought it would be fun and so loaned it to me to give it a shot--no pun intended.

I have mixed feelings about this game, which I will do my best to convey via a list of pros and cons. Here you go:

PROS:
1. Excellent graphics--muscles actually move in the werebull, for example.
2. A variety of interesting weapons. You get everything from the (useless) revolver to a portable cannon, and ammunition can sometimes be sparse; this forces you to be adaptable. You can even knock down trees or set things on fire.
3. There is a sentient computer that you carry around with you. Every time you kill something you haven't killed before, every time you get a weapon you haven't had before, and every time you come across something important in the gam,e this computer analyzes it for you to an exhaustive extent. It gives you hints into how to use your new weapons and how to kill new enemies. That's just really cool.

CONS:
1. The style of the gameplay gets really repetitive. You see, the reason this game is as difficult as it is is because the game has a habit of putting every single enemy against you, in large numbers, all at once. You don't just fight a few kleer skeletons; you fight about fifty kleer skeletons, two lava golems, about ten harpies, four major bio-mechanoids, ten minor bio-mechanoids, three juvenile arachnoids, two adult arachnoids, twenty beheaded kamikazes, ten beheaded bombers, and five werebulls.

All of that all at once. Every time you go around a corner, you don't fight one or two enemies, you fight about ten of everything the game's put against you so far. This is what makes the game a challenge, and it has helped me in those areas of other games where you fight a whole bunch of monsters, but it gets OLD. Seriously. It gets REALLY old, and it kind of bothers me that the game has to rely on that to make it difficult. Compare this to the comparatively difficult "Half-Life" by Sierra; this game is far superior, with superior graphics, and it manages to be equally hard while still providing a variety in its gameplay and a mix of puzzles.

2. Come on. "Serious Sam"? How can you possibly take that seriously as the A-game that it is instead of some lame B-game spinoff of "Quake" or whatever? They could have done a much better job naming this thing.
3. Multiplayer is difficult to set up and it simply does not lend itself well to anything but deathmatch, even though it is possible to play the whole game multiplayer as in Blizzard's "Diablo II".

So. Three stars. Excellent graphics with beautiful scenery and a variety of weapons and enemies, but repetitive gameplay and sloppy multiplayer.

Rating:
Summary: Great Environments - Good Gameplay
Review: I've played a lot of first person shooters, and quite a few platform games (like tomb raider), and I find that this game takes great qualities from them both.

For FPS fans, the gameplay is fierce. Tons of weapons, lots of ammo, and billions of enemies streaming at you from all sides. However, a bit of stealth and your sniper rifle will improve your chances of surviving a walk into the open.

The environments are huge, with great detail. No, not up to the 2004 releases like Doom3 or HalfLife2, but the textures are very detailed. While the textures are a bit repetitive, this allows for very fast gameplay. Your computer won't have any trouble drawing a vast valley with four massive pyramids and with dozens of enemies (some three times your size). The view distance is amazing, with only the detailed grass having an obvious draw distance (a very nice touch that allows you to feel completely surrounded by grass without having to draw all those polygons throughout the map).

The first world you navigate through is "Mayan". I actually work in Mexico and can tell you that the textures used for those maps are amazingly authentic. Some are actual photographs of famous Maya murals that make wonderful wall textures, making you feel like you're in a Maya palace.

Finally, the little puzzles and secrets that are found throughout the game give it a kind of "platform adventure" feel to it. This may be annoying to FPS fanatics who only want to walk down corridors and shoot whatever pops up. Serious Sam Second Encounter gives you all the action, with the added desire to explore every nook and cranny of the huge maps. The puzzles are not tricky, generally fun and sometimes skill-building.

I highly recommend this for some FPS fun on the lighter side of Doom3.

Rating:
Summary: A Top Gun!!
Review: I've played alot of video games but I can say straight off that this has been one of the best I have ever played.
Why do I say that?
Well the great graphics,sound,gameplay,intense immersion and challenge aside,this is one of the few games I own that I keep coming back to play again....and AGAIN!
Both of the incarnations of Serious Sam(1 & 2)are on the same high quality scale of the first person shooter genre and rate very high marks indeed.
Croteam the creators of the Serious Sam phenom were to release a third and final game to end the series but to date this unfortunately has not come to pass.
But I'll continue to keep my fingers crossed and on the trigger ready and waiting for that day when Mental and his minions challenge us once again to a battle to the death.
A game no true gamer should be without in his collection.