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Serious Sam
By: Frag-girlie
4/9/2001
What can I say about Serious
Sam other than it's a good thing for open minds
and second-chances. I didn't have the advantage
of playing the demo, so my first taste of the
game was when I played death match with my friends.
And to put it bluntly, I didn't like it much.
Honestly, I didn't even consider playing it again
for several days. Then I was home one night after
work and decided to give the single player mode
a try and that's when it happened, I got sucked
in. I don't know exactly when or how it happened,
but minutes . . . hours had passed and suddenly
everything was dark around me because evening
had set in without my noticing. "I was only
going to play for a minute, " I thought and
I found myself saying, "but if I could just
kill this guy it will be a good place to save
the game and stop." Then I would and before
I could even hit the quick save button 50 more
beasts were running at me attacking. Needless
to say, if you have played this game you know
what I mean. It overwhelmed me so much visually
I found myself forgetting to blink until I completed
the level and that left my eyes burning and watering.
Phone calls, dinner, dog needs to go out? Who
cares, it will all have to wait because there's
just one more thing I need to do first. It was
crazy . . .
The Croteam people really did a good job with
the new engine they developed for this game. It
has the ability to throw tons of different monsters
and beasts at you at once while still maintaining
the graphical depth and architecture in the surroundings.
My machine wasn't noticeably bogged down even
with the multitude of attackers on the screen.
That's about enough on the subject and all I'm
going to say, I'd rather talk about playing the
game.
There are these big robotic
guys with homing missiles, kamikaze headless bomb
carrying men running at you that explode if they
hit you, jumping frog things, charging bulls,
and more; and that's not even addressing the things
that come at you from the sky and water. You are
never safe the attacks just seem to run on and
on. As you make your way through the villages,
you'll see what I mean. Most of the time I feel
thankful I've perfected circle strafing, because
I seem to be using it a lot as I try to avoid
being mangled to death.
 
You can tell
quite a bit of thought was put into the scenery.
There are multiple corridors to find your way
through, catacombs winding about, as well as desert
and village scenes. You really feel as though
you're running through Egyptian ruins and old
castle-type places during this game with trouble
waiting around almost every corner.
  
There are
even secrets to be found and traps set for
the unknowing victim. "Oh, I see a health capsule
over there . . . I think I'll run over and
grab it - I could use the extra health." BANG!
Down slam some bars to trap me in for the
next few minutes desperately fighting to save
all that life I just picked up. What a waste
that turned out to be. If I had only left
that dang capsule alone . . . got me again!
Oh thank heavens for that quick-save F6; I
think it is rapidly becoming one of my favorite
features. Without it, the game would be impossible
to say the least!
Along with
the attacks come really cool sound effects
and mood music. Picture yourself walking along
this dark corridor, minding your own business
when all of a sudden you hear this really
creepy music that makes your heart pound and
the hair on the back of your neck stand up
. . . or is it personal conditioning from
all those scary slasher-movies I've seen?
Anyway, you know something bad is about to
happen so you decide to turn and run out of
the room, but when you turn around, there
it is, a big skeletal-Texas-longhorn-horse
looking creature with pointy-slasher front
paw things he's attacking you with.  And
that's just one example of what you might
find lurking in the darkness. I jumped clean
out of my chair a few times and exclaimed
in fright a few others. It's a good thing
the phone is close by . . . I can call a friend
for mental protection from my own fears. I
think I'll turn on some lights and make sure
the doors are all locked. Having done the
once over in my house I feel safe again, all
is clear. A good sound system is really a
plus and can give you some helpful insight
to what is happening around you. Most of the
attacks are preceded by some kind of musical
warning. My sub woofer is producing some really
good, deep heart-pounding sound effects for
sure.
I consider
the weapons all to be the fairly standard
array found in most shooter games' arsenals.
There are pistols, machine guns, grenades,
homing rockets, canon balls and laser-type
blasters all there at your disposal, as well
as a few more I've surely forgotten to mention.
The ammunition is somewhat limited however,
so you'll have to learn to be wise with it,
or perfect your shot. Realistically, the best
sharp-shooter in the world could not pass
some of these levels without quick saving,
dying and running out of ammunition a few
times before finally being successful.
Serious
Sam is mostly a turn-your-brain-off and shoot
'em up kind of game, although there are a
few levels with secrets to be solved before
you can advance. I wish the death match play
was better, I expect that will be one of the
first updates we see. I haven't even played
that part again to be perfectly honest. I
do, however, enjoy running around trying to
shoot my friends before they shoot me, so
I'm anxious to see what happens.
All in all
if I hadn't been given this game, it is one
I would probably go out and buy. And for twenty
bucks, it's relatively cheap too. It is not
the storyline kind of game that's available
on the market today, so if you are looking
for that, you'll be disappointed for sure.
You do get to run around shooting lots of
stuff, however, which is just what I need
some days after a long day of dealing with
the grumpy taxpaying citizens that frequent
my day job.
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