Reviews

• gamedeal user

  May 7, 2020

  Many people's childhood game
• gamedeal user

  Jul 4, 2020

  [h1][b]”Different Sam, Same Old Serious”[/b][/h1] Serious Sam 2 (SS2) is the most controversial title of Croteam’s games in term of design direction and some console element. I could understand reason why someone dislikes its direction and pretend it never happens. However, it still delivers solid old school FPS and interesting element which I keep revisiting sometimes since the first release in 2005. I used to play retailed version many times. My latest playthrough was completed on Steam version (Serious difficult). [h1]Ultimate Adventure to Ring Mental’s Doorbell[/h1] The story takes place after SS: The Second Encounter. Sam “Serious” Stone is summoned and tasked by Sirian Great Council to search for five pieces of medallion. It is a key to make Mental, Sam’s ultimate nemesis, to be vulnerable. So, Sam can finally finish his mission and save humanity once again. SS2 visual design and theme is brighter, shiny, and much more colorful compared to the rest of franchise. It also has a lot of notable changes such as weapon design and function, various new enemies that share similar behavior or behave like sub version of certain enemies from The First / Second Encounter. Those changes were made to fit the cartoonish and goofy theme that may not appeal to everyone, especially fans that get used to original tone / design from previous titles. However, it doesn’t change the fact that SS2 has the most diverse and spectacular environments. Collecting five pieces of medallion is just an excuse to introduce different planets with beautiful landscape and living NPCs (can sometimes do combat assistant and provide support items). From eastern style palace in Chi-Fang planet to fairy tale floating island and medieval castles in Ellenier planet, Sam journey will finally end at Sirius, the place full of futuristic skyscrapers and advanced technologies (which explained why Mental force are powerful). I personally think the lore and settings in SS2 are much more intriguing and have potential. I also have no problem about cliché' storytelling (go there and collect those things). Unfortunately, it suffers from weak writing by forcing humor and many silly acting to the point that becomes cringe for audience. Writing is never a strong point of this franchise in the first place, but I expect SS2 to have some improvement. NETRICSA (or Sam’s personal computer) also comes back with better appearance and can chit-chat with Sam. NETRICSA may have interesting character and personality. I found her provide less lore / intel compared to what she had in previous titles (detailed bestiary, weapon info, location). It also cause some enemies look out of place because of lacking explanation to support their existence. [h1]Shoot and Dodge Until It’s Done[/h1] Serious Sam is simply about moving and shooting like standard FPS. Each new entry is more of the same. You fight the horde of Mental, bigger horde, and large scale bosses at the end of each main chapter. The key is to utilize your movement, effective weapon, range, environment, and prioritize enemies in order to survive each fight. It becomes more challenged on higher difficulty where most attacks are deadly as the game constantly throws mixed up enemies in your screen. Each main bosses fight relies on its gimmick, but the visual and telegraph are clear enough to guide player The weapon design has been modernized with some replacement. I adore their silly design and animation of new toys (eight-barreled semi-automatic shotgun, kamikaze parrot, plasma rifle, dual Uzis). Hand grenade is welcome addition and powerful enough to get player out of sticky situation. Despite of some weak sound, they still deliver decent punchy feedback and fun to hold trigger. Not many games allow you to gun down Centaur, American Football, Spider Mech, and Attack Helicopter while listening to awesome soundtrack at the same time. It’s such an enjoyable and unique experience for old school genre. SS2 also features many turret and vehicle section from Hover Bike to flying sawblade UFO. They feel weighty, but easy to control and help fight against fast enemies (because SS2 has ton of flying enemies). I don’t think vehicle section is bit too long, but I wish for longer playtime of some vehicles (combat dino, rollerball). SS2 has score system and power pickup pretty much like previous titles, but add score item as reward when player destroy props or discover secrets. For every 10k score, player grants one extra life. Extra life system provides benefit for console version, but it’s pointless for PC that already implements quick-save function. I only found extra life useful to reset when it got messed up right after quick save. [h1]Stumble into Mental’s Trick[/h1] As much as I love the variety of SS2, there are some flawed designs that are hard to ignore. Hitscan enemies can be sometimes frustrating to deal when they mix up with melee enemies (ex: Zombie Stockbroker w/ Horde of Kleer), not to mention most smaller scale / tight corridor levels. Physics in Serious Engine 2 that only functions on props and environment (imagine how well if every enemy has ragdoll feedback). The problem is its janky and floaty feeling. It’s noticeable and out of control when you need to access some secret areas or mid-air interaction (I’m looking at you, railing bird ship section). I also dislike red mist of blood splatter in vanilla version. In addition, SS2 has co-op feature (both online and LAN). Online co-op server supports up to signature 16 players for maximum mayhem. It’s bit buggy, but still functional. [h1]Melody of Mayhem[/h1] SS2 is full of unique sound effects to identify individual enemy. Weird animal roar, baby scream, squishy sound, mumble in Japanese language, AHHHHHHHHHH! and more. Each world setting has its own ambient soundtrack that fits mood very well such as tribal theme, traditional song, metal, and beat-up electronics. Some fighting tracks kick in and give a feeling of brave lone hero or some sort of motivation. [h1]Still, Are You Serious?[/h1] I think SS2 doesn’t deserve the hate. It has both improved element from previous titles and some bad elements, but the change doesn’t deviate from Serious Sam core gameplay. It’s worth playing just for chaotic fight on screen and I wish to see this level of variety for future Serious Sam and other old school. Lastly, I also recommend playing with “Renovation Mod” that you can find on Steam guide / [url=https://www.moddb.com/mods/serioussam2renovation]Moddb[/url] (in case you want improved blood effect, redesigned weapon mesh, and some animation change). It’s time to get serious once more! [quote][i]If you found this review helpful, please consider and give a thumb up, any feedback and exchanging idea are very appreciated[/i][/quote]
• gamedeal user

  Jan 27, 2014

  Like many First Person Shooters from the 90s, Serious Sam 2 is a fast paced with wide range of weapons, wide variety of levels with diverse design, like a Giant's junk yard, or jungle, or tree villages, swamp outposts, floating lands, and so much more! Oh! You got the good ol' enemy variety as well, with the return of the Kamikazes and kleer skeletons, my favorite so far is that, and the Rhino Cybertoy, which replaced the Sirian Werebull. The main complaint I hear that Serious Sam 2 is too cartoony. My response to that is... I love it! I can see more of Serious Sam series as a more cartoony series than a realistic series. Instead of being in a episode of one specific area like ancient and modern egypt. It's actually a lengthy and fun game, as I said, this game has 42 levels, and the levels are diverse. It feels colorful as well, given the cartoony feel. There are many aresenals this game has to offer, such as turrets, more guns from the previous games, and vechicles (What happened to that in Serious Sam 3?!). You can use any weapon of your choice to kick butt, like I would use the double barrel shotgun, and other weapons to fight against enemies! A great game! Go buy it!
• gamedeal user

  Jun 26, 2016

  -Presses Quit -Game asks "are you serious" 11/10
• gamedeal user

  Jan 2, 2022

  Like many fans of Serious Sam First and Second encounter on the PC, this extremely over the top cartoon direction didn't sit well with me. I had no interest in it and skipped it completely. I then enjoyed the HD remasters of the original tremendously and then the series was down hill from there. Serious Sam 3 and 4 struggles to find what made the series special. After all these years I decided to try out SS2 due to the recent patch and I'm shocked how good and fun this game is. It kinda pains to admit that this is, probably, the best game in the series. Although I still prefer Serious Sam to remain more realistic in it's art direction, there is no deny how much fun and variety... to the point of redundancy.. which in this case is a very good thing. How you have unique monsters to fit the theme of a specific level and how some monsters are basically the same, but with minor differences like the Footballer and the Rhino... the Kamikaze and the Clown etc.. Redundant but also slightly different. I'm quite surprise how much enjoyment I'm getting out of this game. Which makes me wonder how come they hit this high and then the series became so dull with lots of modern tropes wasted on it.
• gamedeal user

  Mar 7, 2015

  Amazing game, really loving these type of games, if you like shooting everywhere and have no idea for what cause, then this game is for you, the story isn't the greatest, but hell yeah it's hilarious. I suggest that you look at some gameplays before buying it, it can be pretty chaotic when you're out alone in the battlefield with those creatures. It's definitely worth the money.
• gamedeal user

  May 15, 2022

  Serious Sam: Goofy Ahh Edition
• gamedeal user

  Mar 7, 2021

  This is the best Serious Sam game yet. I'm serious.
• gamedeal user

  Nov 25, 2020

  Super silly classic horde shooter with a Duke Nukem-like main character and an arsenal of awesome weapons.
• gamedeal user

  Jul 2, 2014

  [b]This is a long review so if you just want a brief summary of why I recommend Serious Sam 2 then skip to [u]Results[/u] and read from there. [/b] Serious Sam 2 is a fun game that offers more ridiculous combat, but drifts a little too far from the Serious Model to be called “Great”. After the success of the original Croteam had a higher budget to put towards Serious Sam 2; sadly, Serious Sam 2 takes a path similar to the Martix 2 where an increased budget leads to a worse product. The game albeit fun has some additions which take away from the hilarity and well-crafted elements that made the series great. [b]Story:[/b] Serious Sam finally meets the Sirians, the race that in the future Mental destroyed before his attack on humanity. The Sirians noticed Sam’s serious combat skills from the First and Second encounter so they portal him to their ship. It is there that they tell him of his prophecy, to defeat Mental and free the universe. To do this Sam must venture to five planets and acquire the five pieces of the medallion. Only then will he be able to weaken mental and eliminate him once and for all. His quest will take him to five planets in order to retrieve the pieces of the medallion from four tribes: the Simbas, Zixies, Chi Che, and Elvians. It is up to Sam to either save each of these groups from Mentals oppression and retrieve their medallion pieces. [b]Campaign:[/b] Serious Sam 2 is divided into seven planets: M’digbo, Magnor, ChiFang, Kleer, Ellenier, Kronor, and Serius. The campaign consists of a whopping forty-two levels (including boss fight levels). Unlike the First and Second Encounter some of the levels are not nearly as long or engrossing. [b]Gameplay:[/b] Similar to the previous titles of Serious series the difficulty curve is well managed, where you can make it ridiculously hard or meticulously difficult. Serious Sam 2 introduces new weapons, and battle concepts. You can now get 200 health/armor by picking up any health packs (unlike the original where you could only go over 100 if you found special health/armor packs). By allowing you to get 200 health/armor Serious Sam 2 really builds upon the originals gameplay by giving you more control in how you will fight, but this is short lived as the weapon choices and ammo limitations dampen the combat. You will rarely find ammo throughout the campaign, and when you do you will burn through it without being able to find more. I found myself using the Auto Shotgun and Double Shotgun almost the entire campaign as I never had enough ammo for the other weapons. Upon venturing to new planets you lose all your items, meaning you have to start collecting weapons all over again. This would be fine, but I noticed in M’digbo I only acquired nine of the fourteen weapons. Every time you start a new level you revert back to 100 health and lose your armor. This means if you performed well on the previous level all is in vain because you losing all your work anyway. You also have lives in this game, so you may think you are reloading a past save but actually its putting you back at a checkpoint with one less life. [b]Hints:[/b][spoiler] >Save between each area, then if you die load your save (this way you don’t lose lives). >Save your ammunition in the first and second planets (after the first two planets, ammunition is plentiful). >Forget about ending the level with full health/armor (you lose your health/armor between levels). >Make sure you load your campaign from the save files (as you lose any lives you acquired earlier otherwise). >Make sure when you die to reload from the save file (if you just click continue it will revert you back to the last checkpoint and you will not have the armor/ammo/health you had when you actually got to the checkpoint). >If your level glitches, try saving and reloading the level right where you saved. (This can cause the enemies to spawn allowing you to get past enemy kill-count triggers related issues) >On the second planet level “Forsaken Compound” is known to glitch on Hard or Serious Difficulty. If the rocket launcher does not spawn after you get right across the bridge your level has glitched and you need to restart. [/spoiler] [b]Results:[/b] Serious Sam is an epic first person shooter series that pushes the limit and then takes it further. The action is amazing, the bosses are intense, and the enemies are plentiful. You won’t be solving any puzzles in this one, but instead you will be gunning down the masses. There are five planets; each planet has its own unique design and unit models. The campaign offers loads of different elements that make you want to push on, making each level more epic than the last. If you want a realistic game this is not for you, but if you don’t mind going crazy having a good time Serious Sam 2 is the game for you. I would get this with the Serious complete back (only if you can grab it on sale). Honestly if you just want to try out a new game $9.99 is a little high for this game. Pros: +Interesting new enemies, some which play off the originals and some that are completely unique. +Introduction of vehicles (makes some of the levels a little more serious). +Secrets are more amusing +Six separate planets to visit all with their quirks. +Enemies have themes to match their locations. +Levels offer much more variation in play-style and ambience. +More bosses which require various tactics to defeat. +Fun, explosive, and fast paced gameplay that keeps you wanting more. +Netrisca can talk (you still have to read some things, but she will just tell you major clues). +Ability to have multiple profiles, so if you are sharing a computer you can easily switch between other individuals campaigns. +Blasting thousands of enemies to bits as you run around like a true action hero. +Lots of nostalgia!!!! Cons: -Poor cinematic quality (it’s as if the cinematics are actually lower quality than the gameplay). -Introduction of allies (you never needed them before – why now?) -You lose your weapons upon starting up at a new planet (although this occurs also between campaign transitions in TSE the campaign for Serious Sam 2 connects each planet into a single campaign). -You have lives (you never had lives before this) -You always start each level with 100 health (regardless of whether you had more or less at the end). -Some of the levels have bugs, which force you to restart the level. -You lose Serious Bombs between levels. -There is not one point in the campaign where you have every single weapon at one time. (Except for on the final level) -Levels are nowhere near as large as TFE or TSE. -Awful dialogue (attempts to be funny, but falls short atleast for me) -Too childish (the game has cartoonish unit models that take away from the Serious in Serious Sam)