"OH! A Mindless First Person Shooter! I love Mindless First Person Shooters!!"

Serious Sam: Next Encounter is the first installment of the shoot-first, ask-questions-in-the-not-so-soon future series to make it to the Nintendo Gamecube. And, in many ways, it retains it's feel.

Graphics - 6/10
Yeah, it isn't pretty. Many of the characters have stiff and clunky animation, and the scenery, while by no means bad, isn't anything that will win any awards. There is one thing that I like though - The enemies. They are all totally zany and original looking. And they die and explode in bloody chunks, which does look kinda cool.

Story - 7/10
It's not all that original, or even all that well told. Mental's son? (I don't really know who it is) is told not to play with the teleported while Mental leaves, and then goes and sends monsters through time. You, playing as "Serious" Sam Stone, are sent through Ancient Rome, Feudal China, and then the lost city of Atlantis, to kill each and everyone of the evil little buggers. The cut-scenes, while rare and very spaced out, are very funny.

Gameplay/Controls - 9/10
The old shooter mechanics are up and running in Next Encounter. R is shoot, L is jump, B is Reload/Change Ammo Type/Scope/Secondary, depending on the weapon, and A is action. The X and Y buttons are used to change to next/previous weapon, and holding either one of them down brings up a weapon wheel to allow for easy access to any of the guns. The aiming and moving is a 2 stick job, meaning that you will need to move with the basic control stick, and the turning of the C-Stick is used to aim. The gameplay itself is typical run and gun action, with over 12 guns, ranging from Dual Pistols to Twin Uzis to a Rocket Launcher, to a multi canister Gas Launcher. Every gun, pistols excluded, has at least one secondary type of ammo.

Multiplayer, Fun and Funny Factor - 10/10
The multiplayer has 4 modes - Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, and Co-operative Mode. With co-op though, you can only play through levels you have already completed through the single player campaign. The cutscenes are really funny, but I wont spoil any of them for you. There are also a multitude of one-liners. And to top it off, the game is just a sheer blast to play. No annoying fetch quests, well, VERY MINOR, to be honest, but the major emphasis is on straight-forward action.

Miscellaneous Facts:
-Game has 4 Levels of Difficulty - Easy, Normal, Hard and Serious.
-Medals are awarded after the completion of each mission.
-Every few Gold Medals earned will unlock 1 of the "Lost Levels."
-Multiplayer is for up to 4 players, but co-op is only 2 players.
-The game has a retain price of $19.99.

So, there really is no reason to not pick up Serious Sam: Next Encounter if you are a die-hard action/shooter fan. I mean, it is only $20!!!

I give Serious Sam: Next Encounter an 8 out of 10.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/15/04