Serious Sam

Pros

• The weapons in this game are a lot of fun to use.
• Serious Sam has a lot of secrets that enhance the arcade style game play.
• Each stage in this game throws an impressive number of enemies at the player.

Cons

• This game needed a few more boss fights.
• Serious Sam's level design should have been more complex.

Serious Sam is an intense first person shooting game that takes place in ancient Egypt. The player moves, shoots and collects power ups on the map. This game was originally released in 2001. The game has been remade a few times since its original release.

This game takes arcade style first person shooting to a new level. Every level throws hundreds of enemies at the player. Most of the enemies charge straight at the player. The stages have designs that are similar to games like Quake. The player often needs to traverse the map several times and activate scripted events to progress.

Serious Sam is a very difficult game because the enemies are relentless. Enemies constantly spawn behind the player, so standing still and shooting in this game is impossible. The game makes full use of 3D sound effects. Each enemy has a unique footprint sound effect, so it's necessary for the player to listen carefully for enemy footsteps in order to survive.

Serious Sam gives the player a large arsenal of guns to equip. The pistols the player receives at the start of the game become useless very quickly. The shotgun in this game is also surprisingly weak, but it is found early on and holds a lot of ammo. The most powerful weapon in this game is the cannon. This gun shoots a massive cannonball that breaks through entire rows of enemies at once. The mini gun weapon is also extremely useful for mowing down large clusters of enemies. The rockets in this game are surprisingly ineffective because they are slow and do not deal a lot of damage.

The maps in this game are fun to traverse, but the game's setting never changes. Serious Sam has great music and solid graphics. Most of Serious Sam's game play consists of linear indoor and outdoor areas. Simple doors and tunnels usually connect these areas. A few areas in Serious Sam require the player to find switches, but this game has no real inventory or puzzles. Serious Sam works best as a straight up arcade style shooting game. One thing that Serious Sam needed was a few additional bosses. The final boss in this game is very challenging. Figuring out how to finish the final boss in this game could take over an hour because it is split into three different sections. Players can save anywhere while playing Serious Sam. This makes the game a little bit less challenging, but the game would be nearly impossible without a save feature. Serious Sam is a great game for those looking for an old school arcade shooting experience.

Pros

• The weapons in this game are a lot of fun to use.
• Serious Sam has a lot of secrets that enhance the arcade style game play.
• Each stage in this game throws an impressive number of enemies at the player.

Cons

• This game needed a few more boss fights.
• Serious Sam's level design should have been more complex.