Hi everyone I'm Jack Red, I been playing Serious Sam games the last few days. I wanted to see if I could finish them before the new year. Maybe with just enough time to review another somewhat lengthy blog entry. Oh wait that's what I'm doing right now my bag lol. Oh man I can now safely say I now like Serious Sam more than Duke Nukem.
OMG two of these are some of the absolute most ridiculous games I ever played. In fact, I might be able to do a follow up blog to my previous list. Trust me if you thought gaming couldn't get any more out there, mess up and straight up insanity. I guess you aren't playing the right games lol. I am very excited to do these following reviews.
1. Serious Sam II
Before I start talking about this game. To clarify anyone that might be confuse over the titles of Serious Sam games. As stated in my Serious Sam The First & Second Encounter review blog. Both of those are actually two games. Yeah I know not what most would expect when around that period it was more about expansion packs prior to dlcs.
Serious Sam II is in fact the second main entry following both those games. Originally they ported those on Xbox with some notable differences. Croteam decided to make a follow up that surprisingly pushed the envelope despite lackluster reviews. Serious Sam II is nearly as long as both games combine.
I felt in most categories this has to be the best main game out of the entire series. Sure some people won't like the more cartoony, ridiculous direction. Personally I grew up with a lot of classic cartoons including the Looney Tunes. So to me I felt right at home with it. This is the funniest out of all the main games for many reasons.
Most weapons are done well enough with some interesting new weapons like birds with bombs. Sure why not lol moving on there's vehicles including dinos you can ride. I felt several portions was parodying Halo series due to how they control. Serious Sam II has some of the most mess up lines I ever heard in a video game.
Even some levels has so many levels it puts the final levels of Serious Sam 1 combine to shame. I am really not kidding about that. The boss fights are the most interesting change of all. A lot of them requires using your head to figure them out simply some you can't just gun down. Some of them are among my favorite Serious Sam boss fights.
For a FPS to have over forty levels to be this good is a huge achievement. To me this is sorta like Duke Nukem Forever done right despite coming several years before that. This game packs so much that even some areas having invisible walls can be ignored. To clarify a lot of levels are surprisingly large.
Serious Sam II also has some of the craziest enemies yet. Yes a lot of them are similar to old ones but just enough for it to work. A great example of this are the clowns. They move on small unicycles laughing with bombs similar to kamikazes running scream aaaaahhhh. This one has a great variety for an enemy roster.
The actual story is very difficult to take seriously. Yes it does take place after The Second Encounter. Personally the cartoonish side really helps it stand out more. Especially to those claiming Serious Sam is a Duke Nukem rip off. More recently I realized despite some similarities they're very different characters.
To me the one character Serious Sam is ripping off without question has to be the classic Doomguy. I could do a blog on that if anyone is interested. Back to this There's plenty of changes to keep the game refreshing, addicting and the right level of challenge. It never truly feels like it's too much even with a ridiculous amount of enemies.
The sound design altogether is absolutely amazing. It quickly blows the entire Serious Sam 1 despite some songs I like more from those games. Serious Sam II is truly one hell of a game. This game took what I loved so much about the original then took it to a total different level. WOW I haven't been this blown away by a FPS sequel in a long time.
I am in all honesty that impressed by all the hard work that went into this game. Obviously I'm playing the PC version. I got to be honest it plays just right. The variety of everything makes it a truly unforgettable experience. I would even say it's a candidate not only among the best this franchise has to offer.
I personally debate this might possibly one of the absolute best shooters I ever played. It really deserves more attention than it currently gets. The cut scenes not only gave us more story but some great humor too. I won't spoil the ending but trust me it should get you laughing. OMG this is one intense game at all.
The final level by itself took me a long time to finish due to a very ridiculous amount of enemies. Some of the craziest hordes of enemies you will ever see in any game is found here. The final boss by itself is really worth playing this game for. It is surprisingly epic that I can't honestly pick a word or two to perfectly describe it any better.
There is a learning curve but you should quickly get use to whatever this game throws at you. Croteam made a truly amazing game for the genre. In almost everything possible ways tops the entire Serious Sam 1 experience. I do highly respect those games but after playing this I actually respect them even more.
2. Serious Sam 3: BFE with Jewel of the Nile dlc
Serious Sam 3 is a prequel that does go into The First Encounter. This explains some stuff not explained prior like how did he go back into the past. Yes there are some clear differences I must discuss. Before I do the very look of this game blew me away. For me it made some of the best looking Source engine games look dated compared to this.
To clarify most Source engines are amazing to what they bring to the table. Some weapons do require to be reloaded. Which may turn some people off although to me it really isn't that bad. Sure there's a small delay before you can fire it. At least it doesn't take forever see what I did there lol. Jewel of the Nile dlc is only three levels taking place during The First Encounter in between a few levels.
Thus it's their version to Doom 3: The Lost Mission but way better. Serious Sam 3 I would say it a good game. Honestly I'm not trying to turn the entire blog upside down by stating this. To me it does have a lot of great things going for it. But compared to the previous main games, I felt this does comes off as the weakest.
Usually when I say something like that I bash those games like no tomorrow. Serious Sam 3 does have some nice surprises too. You can use melee to kill enemies in violent ways predating Doom 2016 games by a few years. Just like Serious Sam II, most older weapons are done just right. I guess it's time to state the obvious this was way better than the entirely of DNF.
I actually like most of the levels including those with somewhat of a learning curve to them. I don't feel like anything was force at all. In fact in terms of taking a classic shooter to modernize this. I would definitely say this is one of them done right. There's mostly old enemies with cave demons that sorta remind me of those cat enemies from Turok reboot game.
Maybe I might be able to cover Turok in the near future. Who really knows anyway Serious Sam 3 nails the controls perfectly. I think one of the biggest surprises is you actually get a jetpack. Which has one of my favorite controls for one in any game take that GTA: San Andreas. You simply press or hold the jump button.
This alone spice up several portions for both the campaign & Jewel of the Nile dlc levels. A better way to put it I rather have fun with it than scripted like DNF. Sorry I honestly do like that game too but it sure made some questionable design decisions. We all know by now this game blew DNF away. The gore of this game is beautifully done.
I do like the boss fights with two of them becoming regular enemies. The only boss I didn't like & dislike even more as a regular enemy is Witch-Bride of Achriman. I believe she could be a parody to Metal Gear's Psycho Mantis. She could steal controls for a few seconds doing damage to you. The worst part is some areas more than one is in the area while other enemies are trying to kill you.
I felt she comes off as a cheap enemy at best. Serious Sam 3 is a solid follow up to everything it brings to the table. I am not saying I didn't enjoy it but I really did. It just wasn't as good as the previous games in some key areas. I would say one area it notably did was while listening to the voice over.
I did note the background music was much lower. Usually you can hear both of them just fine in the other games. I think a part of why they done it like this is some criticize you couldn't hear Sam's lines. I do question those stating that but here it is like the opposite happened. Which no one denies since we all agree it's a problem.
I will say Sam does have some great lines in this game. Some of them even got me to say what with a laugh. Back to Serious Sam II, a lot of them almost me to say wtf out load I'm not kidding. Serious Sam 3 has amazing graphics with just enough spicing up the game play. It just isn't done like the previous games in that area.
Obviously due to being a prequel they wanted it to be more like Serious Sam 1. Honestly I'm fine with that but I still expected a little more. I really don't feel cheated at all when playing this. Serious Sam 3 has a solid campaign from beginning to end. I will say if DNF does have anything over this it has to be dlc levels.
I am not saying Jewel of the Nile wasn't great. I did enjoy playing those three levels with a crazy final boss fight. Which can one shot you with his cannon. Yes a boss who can instantly kill you while other enemies are trying to kill you. I just felt The Doctor Who Cloned Me campaign was simply better in many ways.
3. Serious Sam Double D XXL
Serious Sam Double D XXL is the only Serious Sam game to rival the ridiculousness of Serious Sam II. Croteam contracted several teams to help tie in for Serious Sam 3. This was one of those games made by Mommy's Best Games. Recently I told them after playing a few minutes I like the game. They were very happy with my tweet.
A fact they became a part of those line up of games just a day prior to Croteam announcing it. This is sorta like Duke Nukem: Time to Kill & Zero Hour on consoles to help us wait for DNF. Which took much longer than anyone could've predicted lol. You can play as Serious Sam or a new character named Chuck.
You can play the campaign by yourself or with a friend. Even by yourself this game is very crazy fast. You can wield six weapons at the same exact time. I never seen anything similar to this anywhere else. Yes you could have more than one of the same weapon. The upgrades themselves are literately wow lol.
The overall length is much shorter than what you're used to in a Serious Sam games. But trust me you will want to replay these levels often. Yes you can select which levels to replay too. There's also challenges you could do. The audio department is truly amazing here. For a game developed by a different game I will say this does feel like another game in the franchise.
The boss fights are ridiculous in so many ways. Even if I took time to talk about just one of them. You really wouldn't know much until you take them on yourselves. There are some ridiculous new enemies but mostly classic enemies. I will say femikazes are among my favorite new enemies. I'm already a huge fan of kamikazes but this took it to a more ridiculous direction lol.
The game itself is broken up into three portions. Just like Serious Sam series, there are secrets hidden through out the game. Some of the later stuff you get makes replaying a lot more enjoyable experience. So much is going on at several times that it bags the question. Why doesn't this crash while Serious Sam: The Random Encounter does lol?
I guess we will never know but I truly enjoy playing this game. Croteam chose the right team for this game. Obviously they had little involvement with it but they knew they had something here. I wish Postal III would've been that to Postal series. Serious Sam Double D XXL as a bonus also comes with the classic version.
You can save by going up to those white orbs wait a few seconds then press r. In some levels they act as checkpoints in many games where you just touch them it automatically saved your process there. Speaking of confusing mechanics sometimes buying or editing your weapons the controls changes. I don't know exactly why this happens.
Serious Sam Double D XXL is already title by itself well done guys lol. The main antagonist isn't Mental for a change. General Maxilla is commanding his own army of them. I got to say he, Sam and even the merchant get some truly rememberable lines lol. There is so much care to the source material here.
In fact I was talking to the same friend that got me into Serious Sam series. I talked him into getting this game which he did shortly afterwards. I can tell you based on our conversation he loves it too lol. I do like Sam's voice actor does reprise his role in this game. Despite playing somewhat differently from other Serious Sam games.
It sure took many things I love so much about those game. This comes off a rather refreshing new took on the concept. It is almost like well aged wine you really can't get enough. But you problably should stop drinking lol. Everything about this game is very unique in it's own right. I am very impressed how well damn it truly is.
Extra stuff if you are still here just don't blame me please lol...
Oh wait I'm not done yet. Sadly I don't think I can get any further in Serious Sam: The Random Encounter. Unless by some miracle I can get pass the first boss without it crashing. Until then I won't be reviewing it. Also if you want me to cover what's left in Serious Sam Complete Pack. I can surely do that in the near future.
The same purchase I got Doom II yes again so what lol and Heretic & Hexen collection. Which doesn't including Heretic II as well as Hexen II's expansion since those didn't involve id Software. I know a crazy Christmas present from my brother that I do enjoy. I can not wait to see what 2019 will bring.
Ahhh Serious Sam Stone. The legend that will always be remembered for saving a beautiful princess..... XD!!!
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