Written by: Joseph

 

 

 

 

Following on from Serious Sam HD, everyone’s favourite brash hyper-macho FPS character, who isn’t Duke Nukem, returns to our screens in "Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter". Croatian developers Croteam have revamped their 2005 sequel for release on XBLA.

 

 

Harking back to a bygone era when it was illegal to play an FPS without a mouse and keyboard, the Serious Sam games are an unapologetic homage to the likes of Quake and Doom. Sam’s design philosophy is resolutely mid-nineties, with improved graphics the only contemporary concession.

 

True to form, in 2010 all things remain the same. The visuals for Second Encounter have been fed through the new Serious Engine 3 (developed to power the upcoming Serious Sam 3) and look crisper and shinier than their blocky predecessors. It’s considerable improvement, even compared to the first XBLA Serious Sam.

 

 

Serious Sam’s most obvious touchstone is Duke Nukem, evident in the crass humour and outlandish monster designs. Seeing one of Sam’s famously decapitated suicide bombers for the first time is pretty funny, but it stops making you giggle after the 400th wave. Less amusing are the sparse grunty epithets Sam excretes in what passes for Second Encouter’s plot.

 

 

Almost all of the exposition can be found in a database accessed by pressing the B button. The information is largely inscrutable and lacking context. The entries were obviously created by a non-fluent English writer. This would be fine if it stuck to a straightforward summary of your objectives, but when you’re trying to be witty, the ability to craft complex sentences is essential.  

 

 

As you’d expect, the gameplay remains identical to the original. The whole point of Serious Sam is that it’s exactly like the shooters of the mid-nineties. Modernisation might make the game better, but it would betray the whole premise.

 

Doom didn’t have an RPG-like perks system, therefore Serious Sam must also eschew that innovation. There were no recharging shields in Quake! You are not allowed them, Serious Sam. 

 

 

The most notable addition to this version of Second Encounter is a Co-Op mode, which lets you and 3 friends to play through the game’s story missions. The PC release can handle up to 16 players, hinting at a vista of explosiony madness 360 users can only dream of.