Serious Sam
Encyclopedia
Serious Sam is the first game (consisting of two episodes) in the Serious Sam series
. It is a first-person shooter
(with third-person shooter
options) created by the Croatia
n development house Croteam
. Originally released for the PC
market only, Serious Sams rising popularity resulted in the porting of the series to a number of different platforms, including the Xbox
, GameCube, PlayStation 2
and Xbox Live Arcade
, among others.
The series follows the adventures of protagonist
Sam "Serious" Stone and his fight against the forces of the notorious extraterrestrial
overlord Mental who seeks to destroy humanity.
However, the more modern technology of the time allowed for a new take on that classic formula. Closed-in corridors are mostly replaced with wide-open environments, and there are many hidden areas and treasures to find, often in obscure and counter-intuitive locations. In addition the small groups of enemies are replaced by dozens attacking at any given time, and the enemies can often be many times the size of the player.
Combat makes up most of the games, with Sam's only help being NETRICSA (NEuro-TRonically Implanted Combat Situation Analyser), an advanced computer AI
surgically implanted into his skull. NETRICSA serves as an in-game strategy guide, cataloging encountered enemies and weapons, and at the same time providing bits about the background story and hints on how to progress. Ammunition and weapons are plentiful, and guns, for the most part, do not need to be reload
ed. Enemy designs are whimsical and often take inspiration from mythology and fantasy, and include anything from flying harpies, to giant bipedal cybernetic monsters, to headless suicide-bombers.
Serious Sam features cooperative gameplay
, something that was not common among first-person shooters of the time. Besides network/online play, Serious Sam also allows for split screen action supporting up to 4 players, a rare feature for PC games (though very common in console games).
The Serious Sam series may be well known for its humor, which manifests itself in both explicit jokes from Sam himself, as well as the nonsensical designs of the environments and characters. Many enemy designs in particular, such as headless suicide-bombers (who, against all laws of logic, scream loudly while running towards Sam), depart noticeably from reality or even common fantasy. Some of the humor also comes from the secrets in the levels, such as "secret gay wedding" or "secret crocodile". Many of the jokes break the fourth wall
. For example, Sam occasionally taunts other action heroes, claiming to be the best one, or stumbles upon a movie set showing a scene from an earlier game in the series being recorded. There is also incidental humor to be found in the level designs themselves, with rooms featuring strange physics and warped gravity without explanation, or enemies which spawn
immediately behind or in front of Sam without warning.
The First Encounter was the first game in the series; it had been in the making since 1996 and had a video showing its early game play in 2000. The First Encounter was originally developed by Croteam as a demonstrator for their engine and this is the reason why some countries saw its initial release priced at less than half the value of other games in the genre.
The game takes place after the events of the upcoming game Serious Sam 3: BFE
and the introduction reveals what happened before the actual story took place. In ancient times, Earth
was involved in a massive conflict between Mental, an evil extraterrestrial being who wants to rule the universe, and the Sirians, a sentient alien race that left many of its artifacts to be discovered by humanity. In the 22nd century, Mental and his army of grotesquely, twisted monsters return to Earth hell-bent on eliminating humanity, as a last resort for the usage of the "Time-Lock" is decided. This mysterious Sirian artifact contains the power to transport a single person back through a chosen point of time. Because of his bravery in fighting these monsters, Sam "Serious" Stone (who was chosen to use the "Time Lock") can hopefully defeat Mental and alter the course of history. As the game opens, Sam appears in Egypt
. He travels from one Egyptian monument to the next, fighting against the monsters Mental sent after him along the way. During Sam's journey, Sam is able to find and activate a hidden Sirian communicator in the shape of an obelisk located in Luxor
, which summons a Sirian starship
to Earth from deep space. Sam rushes to the Great Pyramids of Giza in order to rendezvous with the starship, only to be cornered by Mental's general, Ugh Zan III. After defeating this giant, Sam then teleports himself onto the starship. While Sam is aboard the "SSS Centerprise", he leaves a phone message to Mental telling him that "he has a special delivery package for him" and sets a course to Sirius, the Sirian homeworld.
in the Mayan
age, with the starship now heavily damaged upon impact. However, not all hope is lost, since the Sirians left a "back-up starship" on Earth, which was a fail-safe in case if anything ever happens to the "SSS Centerprise". However, since this "back-up starship" is located in a different time and age than where and when Sam is currently in, he will have to uncover the locations of the other Sirian Time-Locks that will help him reach his destination. With this new objective, Sam storms through Mesoamerica
, then travels to Mesopotamia
and finally to Medieval Europe where the "back-up starship" is located. On his journey, Sam battles two of Mental's Time-Lock guardians: a powerful spirit named Kukulkan the Wind God and a biomechanical creature called the Exotech Larva. Finally, in front of the Cathedral of Sacred Blood, Sam confronts the last obstacle to overcome on his path to the Holy Grail
, Mordekai the Summoner. After a glorious battle with Mordekai and his spawning minions, The Summoner is finally silenced forever. In the Cathedral, Sam lifts the Holy Grail in the palms of his hands, followed by his confession of his sins in a booth...to Mental, during which he reassures Mental that "he's coming to get him." During the end credits, Sam activates the "back-up starship" and makes a long journey into space toward his next adventure...
The story then continues on to Serious Sam II
.
Other than the more varied locations, The Second Encounter features some additional weapons—a chainsaw
, a flamethrower
, a sniper rifle
, and the powerful Serious Bomb—and a number of new monsters that Sam has to face. This game has also seen the release of a level-pack titled Dark Island, featuring fan-made levels for single and multiplayer mode.
The Second Encounter soundtrack featured three instrumental
songs from the Croatian heavy-metal band Undercode.
The remake of the first episode Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter was released on 24 November 2009 for Windows PC through Steam, and on January 13, 2010 for Xbox 360.
The remake of the second episode Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter was released on April 28, 2010 for Windows PC and on September 22, 2010 for Xbox Live. On January 14, 2011. The Fusion DLC
for the game which merges both The First Encounter and The Second Encounter was released on February 23, 2011, this DLC is free for those who own both encounters on the PC.
and more like he does today. The Xbox version includes all of the levels from both of the PC games. As a result, weapons from The Second Encounter were added to the levels that were part of The First Encounter on PC. The levels were made smaller by removing the areas outside of the playing area. Unlike the PC version, you can't exit too far out of the playing area. This is due to the smaller amount of memory available in the Xbox. The gameplay was given a more arcade touch. A life system was implemented into the Singleplayer game making use of the score. Every 100,000 points grants the player a new life, which allows respawning at the place of death rather than at a save point. Combo points were added for killing multiple enemies at the same time, which allows the player to increase his/her score at a fast pace. Further changes to the game include the addition of treasure and the tweaking of save points. Save points are designated by a red phone booth. Autoaiming was also added to the Xbox version to compensate for the degree of control usually offered by a keyboard and mouse setup.
. The game features Egypt
and Rome
as settings, new graphical style, and many enemies and weapons returning from The First Encounter and The Second Encounter. The game introduces many new, exclusive enemies and weapons. The story resolves around Sam going back in time again as a group of people studying ancient civilizations in the Earth's past encounters new forces of Mental's hybrid army. Sam has to return to Egypt first, and then proceed to Rome, battling hordes of enemies on his way. The game's bosses (each one encountered at the end of two settings) are two similar-looking lychantroph-like commanders: Sirian Sphinx (Egypt) and Wolfiator (Rome). With the defeat of the latter, Sam Stone, again victorious, finally returns to his time.
and the Nintendo GameCube
. The weapons in Next Encounter are all remakes of those from the PC games (e.g. the revolvers are renamed to pistols), also support for vehicles and brand-new levels with previously visited history periods have been added; in addition, different types of ammunition were available for certain weapons. In line with the PC releases, Next Encounter retailed at a budget price of US$19.99. While this game was not developed by Croteam, but by Climax under stylistical and technological terms, it is still identical to the other games in the series. Climax also developed Serious Sam: Advance. It starts off with Sam Stone stepping into a time machine which teleports him into Ancient Rome
where large groups of Mental's forces are waiting. Sam has to confront not only the armies of his enemy, but also the Mini Sam, an evil being created by Mental. The story takes Sam through three different settings of Earth's past: Ancient Rome, Ancient China and long lost Atlantis
where Sam, as usual, has to wipe out the hybrid army of his nemesis and save the timeline from corruption. On his way through Rome and China, Sam defeats other two Mental's timelock guardians: the gigantic beast Diablotaur and the monstrous Subterranean Emperor Hydra. The game culminates on board of a Sirian mothership, where Sam has to battle the Sirian Dark Lord, a soul of a great Sirian warrior infused with a giant robotic body.
The fan community is creating a port of Serious Sam: Next Encounter for PC, called Serious Sam HD: Next Encounter.
, Unreal
or Source engines. The "Serious Engine" can render through both Direct3D
or OpenGL
and, while it does not support pixel or vertex shaders, it is optimised for Direct3D
7's hardware transformation, clipping and lighting. The "Serious Engine" is available for licensing from Croteam.
A more powerful iteration of the "Serious Engine" was developed for use in Serious Sam II and is known as "Serious Engine II". It supports for many features of modern GPUs such as pixel and vertex shaders, HDR, bloom and parallax mapping.
Serious Engine 3 was used in Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter and Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter, and is to be used in Serious Sam 3 as well. It includes detailed shading, and enemies are completely remodeled to look more realistic. This engine is also being developed to harness the full capacity of HDR and High Definition mapping.
Serious Sam is voiced by John J Dick.
as of October 1, 2007. It was the recipient of several major awards from the media, including Game of the Year.
Serious Sam (series)
-Games:* Serious Sam * Serious Sam II * Serious Sam 3: BFE...
. It is a first-person shooter
First-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
(with third-person shooter
Third-person shooter
Third-person shooter is a genre of 3D action games in which the player character is visible on-screen, and the gameplay consists primarily of shooting.-Definition:...
options) created by the Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
n development house Croteam
Croteam
Croteam is a video game developer established in Zagreb, Croatia in 1993, initially as a "garage games" company. They only had six employees and four contractors for the development of Serious Sam in 2001.-Company history:...
. Originally released for the PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
market only, Serious Sams rising popularity resulted in the porting of the series to a number of different platforms, including the Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
, GameCube, PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
and Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade is a type of video game download distribution available primarily in a section of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360, that focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent game developers...
, among others.
The series follows the adventures of protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
Sam "Serious" Stone and his fight against the forces of the notorious extraterrestrial
Extraterrestrial life in popular culture
In popular cultures, "extraterrestrials" are life forms — especially intelligent life forms— that are of extraterrestrial origin .-Historical ideas:-Pre-modern:...
overlord Mental who seeks to destroy humanity.
Gameplay
The series' gameplay could be seen as a throwback to earlier first-person shooters. Released during a time where shooters were becoming increasingly realistic and more concerned with "authenticity", Serious Sam offered up traditional, Doom-style shooting.However, the more modern technology of the time allowed for a new take on that classic formula. Closed-in corridors are mostly replaced with wide-open environments, and there are many hidden areas and treasures to find, often in obscure and counter-intuitive locations. In addition the small groups of enemies are replaced by dozens attacking at any given time, and the enemies can often be many times the size of the player.
Combat makes up most of the games, with Sam's only help being NETRICSA (NEuro-TRonically Implanted Combat Situation Analyser), an advanced computer AI
Ai
AI, A.I., Ai, or ai may refer to:- Computers :* Artificial intelligence, a branch of computer science* Ad impression, in online advertising* .ai, the ISO Internet 2-letter country code for Anguilla...
surgically implanted into his skull. NETRICSA serves as an in-game strategy guide, cataloging encountered enemies and weapons, and at the same time providing bits about the background story and hints on how to progress. Ammunition and weapons are plentiful, and guns, for the most part, do not need to be reload
Reload
Reload may refer to:* Repeated handloading of firearm cartridges, adding powder and primer to an empty metallic shell casing to create ammunition* Reloading scam...
ed. Enemy designs are whimsical and often take inspiration from mythology and fantasy, and include anything from flying harpies, to giant bipedal cybernetic monsters, to headless suicide-bombers.
Serious Sam features cooperative gameplay
Cooperative gameplay
Cooperative gameplay is a feature in video games that allows players to work together as teammates. It is distinct from other multiplayer modes, such as competitive multiplayer modes like player versus player or deathmatch...
, something that was not common among first-person shooters of the time. Besides network/online play, Serious Sam also allows for split screen action supporting up to 4 players, a rare feature for PC games (though very common in console games).
The Serious Sam series may be well known for its humor, which manifests itself in both explicit jokes from Sam himself, as well as the nonsensical designs of the environments and characters. Many enemy designs in particular, such as headless suicide-bombers (who, against all laws of logic, scream loudly while running towards Sam), depart noticeably from reality or even common fantasy. Some of the humor also comes from the secrets in the levels, such as "secret gay wedding" or "secret crocodile". Many of the jokes break the fourth wall
Fourth wall
The fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play...
. For example, Sam occasionally taunts other action heroes, claiming to be the best one, or stumbles upon a movie set showing a scene from an earlier game in the series being recorded. There is also incidental humor to be found in the level designs themselves, with rooms featuring strange physics and warped gravity without explanation, or enemies which spawn
Spawning (computer gaming)
In video games, spawning is the live creation of a character or item. Respawning is the recreation of an entity after its death or destruction....
immediately behind or in front of Sam without warning.
Episodes
Serious Sam consists of three episodes: Serious Sam: The First Encounter, Serious Sam: The Second Encounter, and the fan-made level-pack Dark Island. A release, entitled Serious Sam: Gold Edition featured all the contents of The First Encounter, The Second Encounter and Dark Island. The games are on separate CDs (in the UK version) and are identical to their individual releases, except that the Sam character model for The First Encounter was modified to match the one used in The Second Encounter.Serious Sam: The First Encounter
The game takes place after the events of the upcoming game Serious Sam 3: BFE
Serious Sam 3: BFE
Serious Sam 3: BFE is a first-person shooter video game developed by Croteam and published by Devolver Digital. It is the latest game in the Serious Sam series and a prequel to Serious Sam: The First Encounter. The game's story takes place in the 22nd century, during Mental's invasion of Earth, as...
and the introduction reveals what happened before the actual story took place. In ancient times, Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
was involved in a massive conflict between Mental, an evil extraterrestrial being who wants to rule the universe, and the Sirians, a sentient alien race that left many of its artifacts to be discovered by humanity. In the 22nd century, Mental and his army of grotesquely, twisted monsters return to Earth hell-bent on eliminating humanity, as a last resort for the usage of the "Time-Lock" is decided. This mysterious Sirian artifact contains the power to transport a single person back through a chosen point of time. Because of his bravery in fighting these monsters, Sam "Serious" Stone (who was chosen to use the "Time Lock") can hopefully defeat Mental and alter the course of history. As the game opens, Sam appears in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. He travels from one Egyptian monument to the next, fighting against the monsters Mental sent after him along the way. During Sam's journey, Sam is able to find and activate a hidden Sirian communicator in the shape of an obelisk located in Luxor
Luxor
Luxor is a city in Upper Egypt and the capital of Luxor Governorate. The population numbers 487,896 , with an area of approximately . As the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of Thebes, Luxor has frequently been characterized as the "world's greatest open air museum", as the ruins of the temple...
, which summons a Sirian starship
Starship
A starship or interstellar spacecraft is a theoretical spacecraft designed for traveling between the stars, as opposed to a vehicle designed for orbital spaceflight or interplanetary travel....
to Earth from deep space. Sam rushes to the Great Pyramids of Giza in order to rendezvous with the starship, only to be cornered by Mental's general, Ugh Zan III. After defeating this giant, Sam then teleports himself onto the starship. While Sam is aboard the "SSS Centerprise", he leaves a phone message to Mental telling him that "he has a special delivery package for him" and sets a course to Sirius, the Sirian homeworld.
Serious Sam: The Second Encounter
The Second Encounter starts where the previous game left off, with Sam travelling to Sirius on the "SSS Centerprise". Unfortunately the starship is accidentally hit by the "Croteam crate-bus" and plummets down to Earth's surface. As the starship falls, Sam reads the coordinates and frets about crash-landing into Egypt again, but instead he crashes into Central AmericaCentral America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
in the Mayan
Maya civilization
The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...
age, with the starship now heavily damaged upon impact. However, not all hope is lost, since the Sirians left a "back-up starship" on Earth, which was a fail-safe in case if anything ever happens to the "SSS Centerprise". However, since this "back-up starship" is located in a different time and age than where and when Sam is currently in, he will have to uncover the locations of the other Sirian Time-Locks that will help him reach his destination. With this new objective, Sam storms through Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a region and culture area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and...
, then travels to Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
and finally to Medieval Europe where the "back-up starship" is located. On his journey, Sam battles two of Mental's Time-Lock guardians: a powerful spirit named Kukulkan the Wind God and a biomechanical creature called the Exotech Larva. Finally, in front of the Cathedral of Sacred Blood, Sam confronts the last obstacle to overcome on his path to the Holy Grail
Holy Grail
The Holy Grail is a sacred object figuring in literature and certain Christian traditions, most often identified with the dish, plate, or cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper and said to possess miraculous powers...
, Mordekai the Summoner. After a glorious battle with Mordekai and his spawning minions, The Summoner is finally silenced forever. In the Cathedral, Sam lifts the Holy Grail in the palms of his hands, followed by his confession of his sins in a booth...to Mental, during which he reassures Mental that "he's coming to get him." During the end credits, Sam activates the "back-up starship" and makes a long journey into space toward his next adventure...
The story then continues on to Serious Sam II
Serious Sam II
Serious Sam II is a science fiction first-person shooter video game released for the PC and Xbox and the sequel to the 2001 computer game Serious Sam, making it the second game in the Serious Sam series. It was designed and developed by Croteam and was released on October 11, 2005...
.
Other than the more varied locations, The Second Encounter features some additional weapons—a chainsaw
Chainsaw
A chainsaw is a portable mechanical saw, powered by electricity, compressed air, hydraulic power, or most commonly a two-stroke engine...
, a flamethrower
Flamethrower
A flamethrower is a mechanical device designed to project a long controllable stream of fire.Some flamethrowers project a stream of ignited flammable liquid; some project a long gas flame. Most military flamethrowers use liquids, but commercial flamethrowers tend to use high-pressure propane and...
, a sniper rifle
Sniper rifle
In military and law enforcement terminology, a sniper rifle is a precision-rifle used to ensure more accurate placement of bullets at longer ranges than other small arms. A typical sniper rifle is built for optimal levels of accuracy, fitted with a telescopic sight and chambered for a military...
, and the powerful Serious Bomb—and a number of new monsters that Sam has to face. This game has also seen the release of a level-pack titled Dark Island, featuring fan-made levels for single and multiplayer mode.
The Second Encounter soundtrack featured three instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
songs from the Croatian heavy-metal band Undercode.
Dark Island
Dark Island is a fan-made level-pack for Serious Sam that was released officially as part of Serious Sam: Gold Edition.Remake
The game was remade using Serious Engine 3. It features updated visuals, models, and lush environments in high definition. Along with improved textures and character models, the remake features 16-player online co-op (4-player in the XBLA version), deathmatch, dedicated servers, and achievements. A new game mode, titled "Co-op Tournament" was introduced in this remake.The remake of the first episode Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter was released on 24 November 2009 for Windows PC through Steam, and on January 13, 2010 for Xbox 360.
The remake of the second episode Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter was released on April 28, 2010 for Windows PC and on September 22, 2010 for Xbox Live. On January 14, 2011. The Fusion DLC
Downloadable content
Downloadable content is official additional content for a video game distributed through the Internet. Downloadable content can be of several types, ranging from a single in-game outfit to an entirely new, extensive storyline, similarly to an expansion pack. As such, DLC may add new game modes,...
for the game which merges both The First Encounter and The Second Encounter was released on February 23, 2011, this DLC is free for those who own both encounters on the PC.
Serious Sam (Xbox)
The Xbox edition of Serious Sam had notable differences including the model of Sam being changed from the model of The First Encounter to form a more cartoon style Sam, removing the shades to make him look less like Duke NukemDuke Nukem (character)
Duke Nukem is a fictional character and action hero who has been the protagonist in over a dozen video games.The character first appeared in the 1991 video game Duke Nukem developed by Apogee Software...
and more like he does today. The Xbox version includes all of the levels from both of the PC games. As a result, weapons from The Second Encounter were added to the levels that were part of The First Encounter on PC. The levels were made smaller by removing the areas outside of the playing area. Unlike the PC version, you can't exit too far out of the playing area. This is due to the smaller amount of memory available in the Xbox. The gameplay was given a more arcade touch. A life system was implemented into the Singleplayer game making use of the score. Every 100,000 points grants the player a new life, which allows respawning at the place of death rather than at a save point. Combo points were added for killing multiple enemies at the same time, which allows the player to increase his/her score at a fast pace. Further changes to the game include the addition of treasure and the tweaking of save points. Save points are designated by a red phone booth. Autoaiming was also added to the Xbox version to compensate for the degree of control usually offered by a keyboard and mouse setup.
Serious Sam Advance
Serious Sam Advance is a spin-off for the Game Boy AdvanceGame Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
. The game features Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
as settings, new graphical style, and many enemies and weapons returning from The First Encounter and The Second Encounter. The game introduces many new, exclusive enemies and weapons. The story resolves around Sam going back in time again as a group of people studying ancient civilizations in the Earth's past encounters new forces of Mental's hybrid army. Sam has to return to Egypt first, and then proceed to Rome, battling hordes of enemies on his way. The game's bosses (each one encountered at the end of two settings) are two similar-looking lychantroph-like commanders: Sirian Sphinx (Egypt) and Wolfiator (Rome). With the defeat of the latter, Sam Stone, again victorious, finally returns to his time.
Serious Sam: Next Encounter
Serious Sam: Next Encounter is a console exclusive version of Serious Sam that was released for the PlayStation 2PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
and the Nintendo GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
. The weapons in Next Encounter are all remakes of those from the PC games (e.g. the revolvers are renamed to pistols), also support for vehicles and brand-new levels with previously visited history periods have been added; in addition, different types of ammunition were available for certain weapons. In line with the PC releases, Next Encounter retailed at a budget price of US$19.99. While this game was not developed by Croteam, but by Climax under stylistical and technological terms, it is still identical to the other games in the series. Climax also developed Serious Sam: Advance. It starts off with Sam Stone stepping into a time machine which teleports him into Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
where large groups of Mental's forces are waiting. Sam has to confront not only the armies of his enemy, but also the Mini Sam, an evil being created by Mental. The story takes Sam through three different settings of Earth's past: Ancient Rome, Ancient China and long lost Atlantis
Atlantis
Atlantis is a legendary island first mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, written about 360 BC....
where Sam, as usual, has to wipe out the hybrid army of his nemesis and save the timeline from corruption. On his way through Rome and China, Sam defeats other two Mental's timelock guardians: the gigantic beast Diablotaur and the monstrous Subterranean Emperor Hydra. The game culminates on board of a Sirian mothership, where Sam has to battle the Sirian Dark Lord, a soul of a great Sirian warrior infused with a giant robotic body.
The fan community is creating a port of Serious Sam: Next Encounter for PC, called Serious Sam HD: Next Encounter.
Development
Croteam created their own engine for use in both The First Encounter and The Second Encounter. Named the "Serious Engine", it is designed to cope with extremely large view distances and massive numbers of models, unlike most FPS engines which are developed for a limited draw distance and only a few animating models (i.e. enemies) on screen at a time: it is very efficient, capable of maintaining dozens of moving enemies (often stampedes) even on a modest system challenging the well known id TechId Tech
id Tech is the family of game engines designed and developed by id Software. Prior to the presentation of the id Tech 5-based game Rage, the engines lacked official designation and as such were referred to as the Doom and Quake engines, from the name of the main game series the engines have been...
, Unreal
Unreal Engine
The Unreal Engine is a game engine developed by Epic Games, first illustrated in the 1998 first-person shooter game Unreal. Although primarily developed for first-person shooters, it has been successfully used in a variety of other genres, including stealth, MMORPGs and RPGs...
or Source engines. The "Serious Engine" can render through both Direct3D
Direct3D
Direct3D is part of Microsoft's DirectX application programming interface . Direct3D is available for Microsoft Windows operating systems , and for other platforms through the open source software Wine. It is the base for the graphics API on the Xbox and Xbox 360 console systems...
or OpenGL
OpenGL
OpenGL is a standard specification defining a cross-language, cross-platform API for writing applications that produce 2D and 3D computer graphics. The interface consists of over 250 different function calls which can be used to draw complex three-dimensional scenes from simple primitives. OpenGL...
and, while it does not support pixel or vertex shaders, it is optimised for Direct3D
Direct3D
Direct3D is part of Microsoft's DirectX application programming interface . Direct3D is available for Microsoft Windows operating systems , and for other platforms through the open source software Wine. It is the base for the graphics API on the Xbox and Xbox 360 console systems...
7's hardware transformation, clipping and lighting. The "Serious Engine" is available for licensing from Croteam.
A more powerful iteration of the "Serious Engine" was developed for use in Serious Sam II and is known as "Serious Engine II". It supports for many features of modern GPUs such as pixel and vertex shaders, HDR, bloom and parallax mapping.
Serious Engine 3 was used in Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter and Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter, and is to be used in Serious Sam 3 as well. It includes detailed shading, and enemies are completely remodeled to look more realistic. This engine is also being developed to harness the full capacity of HDR and High Definition mapping.
Serious Sam is voiced by John J Dick.
Reception
The First Encounter was the recipient of various editorial and consumer praise, with an overall 83% review ratio on Game RankingsGame Rankings
GameRankings is a website that collects review scores from both offline and online sources to give an average rating. It indexes over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 games.GameRankings is owned by CBS Interactive...
as of October 1, 2007. It was the recipient of several major awards from the media, including Game of the Year.
- Game of the Year (PC) (2001) – GameSpotGameSpotGameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
- Editor's Choice – IGNIGNIGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
- Outstanding Achievement in Technology (2001) – IGN Action VaultIGNIGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
- Surprise of the Year (2001) – IGN Action VaultIGNIGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
See also
- Serious Sam IISerious Sam IISerious Sam II is a science fiction first-person shooter video game released for the PC and Xbox and the sequel to the 2001 computer game Serious Sam, making it the second game in the Serious Sam series. It was designed and developed by Croteam and was released on October 11, 2005...
- Doom – One of the inspirations for the series
External links
- Croteam website
- Seriously! – Serious Coverage – Forums, Downloads, News, Interviews, etc.