In the spring of 2001, PC gamers across the globe were hit by an unusual game, one that promised loads of first person shooter style fun for only $19.99. Many people were obviously initially skeptical about this claim for a number of reasons. First, a game with a weird title such as Serious Sam seemed nothing more than a throwback to the original Doom at the time when game developers had evolved their design to build non-linear story driven first person action adventure games. Second, an attempt to deliver a game with its own 3d engine all the way from Croatia at a dirt-cheap price was for many gamers a sure recipe for disaster. Fortunately for all of us, the developer of Serious Sam, Croteam, gave us something which has seriously (no pun intended) been missing in many games for a while: an explosive adrenaline rush with an addictive levels of Jet (game trivia corner) called - fun.
Serious Sam: The First Encounter went on to become one of the top games of 2001. In 2002, Croteam released a stand-alone expansion pack titled Serious Sam: The Second Encounter, which offered yet another round of ьber action packed excitement. As the PC game arena became flooded with Serious Sam fans, the developers from Croteam decided to spread the Serious Sam epidemic to Xbox and other consoles. In fact, the game's popularity became such that by the end of 2003, Serious Sam was ported to all of the major consoles with versions available for Linux and even the Palm OS.
The Xbox version of Serious Sam fuses both Encounters that are available on the PC into a single seamless insanity of super gaming fun. The technical nuts and bolts of this game are impressive. The 3D-graphics engine is simply amazing even in the year 2004. Serious Sam is one of the few games that can render over 50+ enemies in decent polygonal detail jumping at you at any time within 60+ frames per second (on most PC systems including the consoles). Though the overall scene's polygon count cannot compare to games with engines developed today, the atmosphere created by Serious Engine (Croteam's proprietary 3D-engine) is breathtaking. Serious Sam takes place at the time of the Egyptian, Aztec, Mesopotamian and European Medieval civilizations and its engine reflects those time periods vividly with various architectural models, textures, music, special effects and it completes the overall feel of those eras. The map design is solid in a sense that it offers intricate, original, and to date the largest game map size available (100 square miles of virtual space).
As far as the game play goes, Serious Sam is 100% action. In your quest to save the world, you will have to crush thousands of malicious creatures which are lead by your arch nemesis - Mental. As a human steamroller, you will be armed with numerous weapons ranging from the old FPS favorites (chainsaw and double barrel shotgun) to flame throwers, Tommy guns, and many more which are too original to be mentioned here. Serious Sam also offers some puzzles with numerous secret areas, which can be uncovered along the main path. The game play can get a bit repetitive at times but each new level brings something unique so the fun never truly dies. Another great area that Serious Sam excels in is its overall humor. The game designers did not go for the seriousness that many games strive for, but went straight for Monty Python type humor. You will encounter many hilarious lines, turning the whole gaming experience into not only an adrenaline rush, but into a game that will be sure to bring out the comedian inside!
The Xbox multiplayer component offers a two-player cooperative play through its lengthy 36-mission campaign, either via a split screen or system link. The game also offers a huge selection of character models to choose from for multiplayer - many of which are Serious Sam rejects: guys like Pirate Pete, Groovy Gregory, Santa Sam, and so on. Even the female players won't be disappointed as there is a female character to choose: Serious Sammy - Serious Sam's long lost sister. The only thing that could have made this game a perfect masterpiece would have been the Xbox Live support, although the available multiplayer options are still good.
Overall, Serious Sam for XBox is a must have for any XBox gamer. It offers unparalleled fun with a lot of replay value at a bargain price. After you are done playing Serious Sam in both single and multiplayer modes, you will definitely end up craving for more. The good news is that Serious Sam 2 is in the works and it promises to deliver even more serious fun! Until then watch out for those nasty Gnaars!
I have been addicted to gaming since I played Pong for the first time when I was six years old. In the meantime, I have played thousands of games (all possible genres) on various systems from Atari 7800 and ZX Spectrum to Commodore 64, Commodore Amiga 500, PCs (Intel 8086 to the latest Intel and AMD chipsets), all Nintendo systems, all Sony Playstation systems, all Sega systems and finally Microsoft's XBox. Aside from gaming, I love to read (sci-fi, military history, politics, mysteries, puzzles...) and love to play chess which I do on a daily basis...
