Publisher: Gathering of Developers
Developer: Croteam
Game Site: www.croteam.com
Sam Stone was a 'Special Forces' commando who went into the outer reaches of space and.... No, wait.... I know, he went back in time and... no, maybe that's not right either. Look, he ended up in an Egyptian-themed series of levels, surrounded by weird monsters and got some super evil being named Tah-Umm or the 'Notorious Mental' - or something - all mad at him and stuff. Good thing he's got the attitude of Duke Nukem and the arsenal of a Quake Space Marine, because he's going to need 'em both!
As you can tell, Serious Sam is anything but serious. It's frantic arcade-style action more in keeping with side scrolling space shooters like R-Type than cerebral 3D shooters like Half-Life. It's the kind of game where the one-liners make you groan and the hero whistles the Indiana Jones theme when large boulders roll his way. Ever since Doom we've praised the games that add story depth, AI and realism to the 3D shooter mix. And we were right to do so. In the intervening years since Doom II reared its awesome ugly head we've lost something, we'd forgotten just how cool it was having all kinds of monsters running at you. We forgot about action and we forgot about shooting. Serious Sam is like a bucket of ice-cold water in your face to remind you what 3D shooting is all about; it's also like a towel you can use to dry yourself with afterwards. It's really just a hell of a lot fun. Here's why:
Serious Sam packs such a punch because of its proprietary game engine, dubbed the 'Serious' engine. The Serious engine isn't as pretty as Quake III and certainly nowhere near as good looking as Unreal engine showcases like Undying or Rune, but that's ok because it's got style. Instead, the Serious engine has been endowed with the ability to render huge outdoor environments, rolling hills, open spaces and building interiors all with equal aplomb. But that's not the important part, what the engine really does is let the developers throw scores of monsters at you all at once. There's nothing quite like the clench of fear in your gut when you face down 20 stampeding giant bulls, or, over the horizon come a dozen screaming headless guys holding fused bombs straight out of a Bugs Bunny cartoon. Not impressive enough? How about enough winged harpies to blot out the sun? Seriously, there are areas in this game where it feels like there are 100 enemies all attacking at once. The carnage, the explosions and the gibs fly fast and free and your ammo is depleted like never before. It's a rush and a thrill you can't quite get anywhere else.
