At the dawn of the 21st Century, mankind make a startling discovery. Beneath the sands of the earliest known human civilization, traces of another, even more ancient- but technologically advanced- civilization are uncovered. The profound scientific implications of this discovery leads humankind to the far reaches of the universe. Everything seems perfect- but too perfect to last.

In the year 2104, human civilization is attacked by countless deadly monsters, spawned from another dimension. In the battles that follow, humankind fights valiantly, but nothing can stop the monsters from coming. Earth’s forces are steadily defeated, planet-by-planet, from Alpha Centaury back to their own solar system.

Because of his extreme bravery in battling monsters, Sam ‘Serious’ Stone becomes a legend. Wounded countless times- but never defeated- Serious Sam becomes a living symbol of the Earth’s resistance against the advancing evil.

But, no matter how bravely the human armies fight, they are defeated, time and again. Attempts to defend the solar system fail and the Earth is now under direct attack. Humankind stares into the face of its own annihilation.

World leaders must no turn to their last chance- an ancient artifact called the ‘Time-Lock’, a relic from a long-forgotten race, imbued with the power to teleport a single person back in time. The choice of whom to send is obvious.

Serious Sam becomes the final hope for humankind. He must return to the past and change it to save his race from extinction from an evil force determined to purge the galaxy of all intelligent life.

As a traditional first person shooter (AKA FPS), Serious Sam brings a new meaning to the word seriously. Think of Doom on steroids. Who could forget venturing deeper and deeper into the heart of the alien world, killing anything and everything that moves… ah those were the good ‘ole Doom Days. Serious Sam follows in the footsteps of this gaming masterpiece and taking first person shooters to a whole new level. Unlike Quake 3 and Unreal Tournament, it goes back to the “old school” FPS format where you scour each level killing everything in your path until you reach your destination and move on. Though some people rather prefer running around an arena against a set number of opponents, many (including me) also like the idea of venturing through a level and picking off all different types of monsters as you go, more like classic Doom.

The reason why I say it’s like Doom on steroids is because the enemies come in MASSIVE HORDES and you constantly have to dodge and shoot in order to survive. Let me also mention that most of the time they teleport out of nowhere so you have to be aware of your surroundings at all times. Of course, they equip you very well with lots of health and armor before you venture into such battles. Your “tools of the trade” include;

1. Knife-a simple but yet effective melee weapon, especially in the beginning of the game. Has a surprisingly long range.
2. Colt .45’s-although they are the weakest weapons in the game, you never run out of ammo-they’re a great way to save ammo when facing an individual enemy. The downside is you have to reload after about 8-10 shots.
3. Single-barreled Shotgun-this basic shotgun is great for infantry and other minor enemies with a short reload delay after every shot (like the pump shotgun in Doom).
4. Double-barreled Shotgun-fires two shots instead of one and has a wide spread range when shooting from far away (think of the double-barreled shotgun in Doom 2)/
5. Tommy Gun-rapid fire weapon which is best used to eliminate projectiles and kill any lesser enemy.
6. Mini/Gatling Gun-this gun is sick-it rips apart almost any enemy in a matter of seconds. Of course the downside is it eats up bullets twice as fast as the tommy gun so be sure to have plenty of ammo.
7. Rocket Launcher-who doesn’t like the classic rocket launcher? With a fast rate of fire, this gun can pick off most of the larger enemies with ease.
8. Grenade Launcher-it takes a while to master how to use this gun, but when you do it’s devastating, especially to a pack of enemies. Basically the longer you hold the fire key down the farther your grenade will go. Or you can rapidly click on the fire key and launch a whole bunch of short-ranged grenades instead.
9. Laser Gun-about the same rapid-fire rate as a tommy gun, but the “bullets” are stronger and come out of two separate sides of the gun. This weapon isn’t too effective for targets that are far away because the slow speed of it’s projectiles.
10. Cannon-two words-HOLY S%@T! I can’t get enough of this weapon! I admire CroTeam for having the creativity to make such an awesome weapon; and get this the cannon balls are HUGE and can rip through a few enemies before they explode.

Graphics
No complaints about the graphics, but if you’re looking for that “real-life” first person shooter look, this is not exactly it. The game is based on a “sci-fi fantasy” kind of genre more than anything else and therefore the graphics look more “cartoonish” than real life. Besides that the graphics are excellent… beautiful Egyptian landscapes and architecture. The ending boss is just incredible… but I’ll keep my mouth shut not to spoil it for anyone (oh yea and the game also supports open gl settings).
Sound
Not much to say here… each weapon pretty much sounds like the weapon it resembles-the music fits the battle scenes perfectly, the tempo getting louder and quicker as the action picks up and settling back down when it becomes quiet again. The sounds I like the most are the little phrases Serious Sam will say every once in a while when you get to a certain part of the game…but again I won’t spoil them for you either!
Fun Factor
I think every first person shooter fan should own this game; not only is it fun, but it’s one heck of a challenge even for the most seasoned veterans. The aspect I find most unique about Serious Sam is that it is pretty much the only game out now that offers great cooperative and multiplayer options alike. The whole Quake series, Counterstrike, Team Fortress, Starsiege Tribes, they’re all deathmatch-type games while Serious Sam offers a very intense cooperative experience in addition to it’s deathmatch capabilities. In fact, the only way I’ve beaten the game is with the aid of other players, even on normal difficulty!
Overall
Serious Sam=Serious fun, that’s the bottom line. Did I mention the wide assortment of game you can change? There is A TON of options you can change within the video and sound settings, most which should only be tampered with by people who know what they’re doing. Adding mods is also easy since it’s built right into the menu. Overall it’s just a great game.

Any negative aspects you ask? Well yes, I’d say there’s one-no cut scenes or movies-basically you just move from one level to the next, the same as Doom. I’d say that the ending makes up quite a bit for the lack of any CG movies this game should have had… You’ll just have to play the game to find out!


Recommended: Yes