Game: Serious Sam: The Second Encounter (2001)

Developer: CroTeam

Publisher: Devolver Digital

Platform Played: PC

Price: On Sale at Steam

Background: I had first played Serious Sam 2, and I was not impressed by the series or the game. Frankly, I was not in the right mood. I’m glad I revisited the series with Serious Sam 3, and this had me interested in Serious Sam: The First Encounter. I’m glad I played. The game does a great job delivering a challenging and immersive single-player experience via its comedy and combat sequences.

Comedy: Sam’s action movie inspired one-liners are similar to the fictional Duke Nukem, 80s Arnold Schwarzenegger and present day Dolph Lundgren et. al. Here’s a video of all sorts of one-liners from Serious Sam in the Second Encounter.

The atmospheres are also quite comedic. Ancient Persia or Babylon the designers didn’t seem to have their history straight or their geography at all regarding this game’s second episode. Neither Babylon nor Persia had minarets. Minarets came in the 600s and 700s in this region as Islam did not start until then. The age of the ziggarat and the Tower of Babel was long before Mohammed ever walked the Earth. Regardless if this was intentional or unintentional it was hilarious.

No minarets back then, nor were there double barreled coach guns.

The Tower of Babel!

Also the early middle aged themed levels in Poland were scored in such a way I thought I heard Nerf Herder’s Buffy The Vampire Slayer Theme.

Combat Sequences: Some of these are long, but that’s when your Serious Bombs come in handy. This kind of combat is more dangerous than Doom. More quick that Quake’s, and far more Nuclear than Duke. Dozens of enemies will descend upon you. Regardless of whether or not they’re headless kamikazes, Kleer Skeletons, mercenaries, demons, or good old monsters… You’ll have to get serious! Flamethrowers, sniper rifles, mini guns, laser cannons, grenade launchers, shotguns, and other tools are there to help you do serious damage. I’m not digressing, I’m serious. Okay, I’ll stop.

Final Analysis: I’m glad I gave this series a second chance. I’m currently playing through Serious Sam 2.  Once I beat that, I’ll return to number three.