| Serious Sam II review |
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Far too many games seem to be very eager to lean towards the idea that more realism equals a better game. Take the GTA series for example: where the third in the series was one of the best examples of pure gaming fun, San Andreas seemed far too intent to cram as much of real life into the game as possible. We all have enough on our plates, worrying about keeping up to date with the latest trends and making sure we can still fit into our favourite pair of jeans, without having to worry about our onscreen avatar's unsightly extra pounds. But the developers of Serious Sam, Croteam, seem equally as keen to get as far away from this ideal as anyone could possibly hope to be. Luckily for the first-person shooter fans out there, this ‘lack of realism’ brought us the original Serious Sam, which proved to be one of the most energetic and fun-filled gaming titles of recent years.
The original Serious Sam title proved that ye olde-style FPS action, when enemies weren’t required to have even an ounce of brain power, didn’t yet need to be confined to distant memory and the odd bout of retro action. Serious Sam simply gave players the tools for slaughter in the guise of a solid selection of the mainstay weapons of the genre (with a token few odd-ball inventions thrown in) and huge numbers of enemies who were seemingly more than happy to give up their lives for whatever the cause, and run full pelt towards Sam who was always dying to blast them into nothingness.
So how could Croteam improve on what transpired to be a fun, but brainless, first-person shooter? Why, “just add more enemies and weapons” is the straightforward answer. With an improved game engine, offering an even wilder number of enemies onscreen at any one time (the original often had numbers in the low hundreds) the unrelenting action continues as Sam battles Mental’s minions once again.
This time around Serious Sam Stone is called to plough his way through a multitude of enemies in eclectic surroundings to put Mental’s forces firmly to bed once and for all. But in all honesty, Serious Sam II offers the perfect opportunity to skip each and every cutscene and simply get on with the action, so those who want to ignore the sometimes cringeworthy humour can get back to the slaughter quickly.
The game's monstrosities come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, from knee-high lizard-type creatures, to huge King Kong-style multi-storey gorillas. The tradition of the hulking great end-of-area boss continues, all of which are the size of sky-scrapers. Even the headless bombers make a re-appearance, their screams bound to strike fear into the hearts of all those that furiously scan the horizon to see just where they’re coming from. These enemies won’t just be taken down with the standard weapon set however. On numerous occasions Sam has the opportunity to sit atop a huge car-sized behemoth of a weapon and take out the oncoming meanies. It’s a simple, well-worn mechanic - get on one of these bullet-spewing chunks of metal and suddenly enemies appear in greater numbers, and will happily contribute to cranking up the kill ratio yet another percentage.
Weapons-wise things have stayed pretty much the same, a definitive case of “if it ain't broke, don't fix it”. All the traditional weapons are present and correct, from weedy pistols up to great hulking rocket launchers, and again a few oddball choices that the developer’s playfully illogical minds have conjured up. The biggest weapons pack a meaty punch, though most powerful of all are the bog-standard grenades, which can clear a small group of enemies with ease - particularly useful when the hordes become a little too numerous. Grenade action is obviously best kept to long distance however, as a close blast can rapidly hack away at Sam's health bar.
While Serious Sam II finds the ‘fun’ gene replicating quite freely, the unfortunate few technical drawbacks keep this sequel from gaining the praise it could so easily have garnered in the visual department due to the sheer onscreen abandon. Despite the somewhat drab looks, a few too many enemies rushing towards you accompanied by a dozen or so more explosions than should strictly be necessary and the framerate begins to stutter. The quality of textures throughout the world varies wildly, from some quite exquisite examples to truly pathetic-looking sections. Obviously nobody could really ever expect visuals in keeping with the likes of the recent Xbox Doom III conversion, especially considering the plethora of enemies onscreen, but Serious Sam II conspicuously finds itself a little too low on the graphical ladder. The sublime physics engine too unfortunately doesn’t survive the transition from PC to Xbox in any kind of working order. Enemies fall in a pre-determined fashion, and every in game item either doesnt move at all, or moves in a comically unrealistic fashion.
Thankfully unlike the hamstrung graphics and physics, the controls are as solid as could be hoped. The Xbox pad stands up to the hectic action perfectly well, and to combat the lack of precision of the twin analogue sticks when compared to the good old keyboard and mouse combo, there’s a slight auto aim feature. Now it could be assumed that auto aim would very well make things a little too easy going, but instead it merely gives a helping hand when things get a touch too hectic.
For fans of old-school run-‘n’-gun action, there’s little reason not to get your hands on a copy of Serious Sam II. While the graphics may not stand up to today’s best on Xbox, and the level design may suffer from quite a few flaws, the sheer thrill of seeing the end-of-level kill total push its way into the hundreds after a hectic half-an-hour’s blast can’t be beat. Yes it’s as shallow as the puddle a C-list celebrity secretes on their inebriated way out of Stringfellows, and maybe not even half as attractive as a tarted-up Dean Gaffney, but there’s so much fun packed into the package that very few would fail to find a grin slowly spreading across their face as they take on Mental’s relentless multitudes once again.
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System: Microsoft Xbox
Genre: First Person Shooter
Developer: Croteam
Publisher: 2K Games
Players: 1-4
Version: European
Reviewed: Nov 2005
Writer: Chris Pickering
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Pros:
- Frantic non-stop action
- No unnecessary clutter
- So many enemies
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Cons:
- Dull aesthetics
- Poor level design
- Cringeworthy humour
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Serious Sam II Video: 3.8MB
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