Serious Sam: Next Encounter

"This game is SERIOUS. Well, except for the aliens, and the weapons, and Sam's funny one-liners. Hehe."

Let me start off by saying I completely stumbled across this one by accident. Seriously. I went to EBGames to get three pre-owned games, the third being free with a deal they offered this weekend. I couldn't find the third game, so I had to choose randomly. I saw this game, saw the price, $12.99, saw the words "First Person Shooter", and decided to give it a try. I went home, put it in, and was amazed after starting to play. Here's my review.

Graphics
The graphics in Serious Sam aren't that great. They're not horrible, but there's a lot of room for improvement. The monsters look good enough, and there's a lot of them. Some of the animations are a little clunky, but it doesn't take away from the experience. Normally, the graphics would get a 7, but there's one factor that boosts it up. Frame Rate. The frame rate is so good in this game, it boosts it up to an 8.
8/10

Audio
The sound in this game is okay. The guns sound pretty realistic, considering they themselves aren't. The one thing that annoys me is the screaming headless kamakazes that run towards you. Sam's voice is cool, but the rest of the voice overs are bad. Sam's one liners are awesome, though. "Jumping puzzles? I LOVE Jumping puzzles!" The music is good, as it gets louder and more intense when there are more enemies.
8/10

Gameplay
Ah, the most important part. The gameplay is SO addictive. I couldn't stop playing it. Basically, you shoot anything and everything that moves. Little green balls of crap, big machines, kamakazes, bulls, flying little green balls of crap, baby bulls, bigger machines, big giant green freaks, toast-like creatures, just to name a few. There are TONS of enemies. They all come at you in armies. You fight off hordes of monsters from all angles with tons of guns, from pistols to Uzis to shotguns to flamethrowers. Oh, did I mention the Jeep, Sub, and other vehicles? There are also tons of levels, which I have yet to experience, as I just got the game yesterday. This game is so addictive, once you stop, the fun TRULY don't stop.
10/10

Story
What story?

Oh well, it's a mindless shooter with a crappy story. Who cares.
7/10

Controls
The controls are slightly better than average. Dual analogue controls. The default is inverted, but you can change that. R is shoot, L is jump. I know, that's new. Jumping isn't very good, but it can be helpful at times. B is alternate fire, or reloading, or sniping, or something. A is action. Y and X change your weapons. Z is your inventory/information.
8/10

Multiplayer
You can do co-op, which is EXACTLY the same as the single player. What's not to love about that? If that were all the multiplayer, I'd still give it a 10. I have yet to play the other types, but I will eventually. There's deathmatch as well as two other innovative ways to play with friends. Co-op is the real deal, though.
10/10

Replay Value
If you like shooters, this game will last a very long time. Replaying the tons of missions alone or with friends never gets old in this game, it really doesn't.
10/10

Presentation
This game is 20 bucks, less if you get it pre-owned. BUDGET-PRICED. The loading screens are nice, they show Sam with a weapon. The first one I saw was him pointing the double barrel shotgun at me. What a way to start a game! Presentation is excellent.
9/10

The Scoring

Graphics-8/10
Audio-8/10
Gameplay-10/10
Story-7/10
Controls-8/10
Multiplayer-10/10
Replay Value-10/10
Presentation-9/10

OVERALL
70/80=8.75/10

8.75 rounds to 9/10

Serious Sam: Next Encounter gets a 9/10. Seriously.

Buy or Rent?
BUY. NOW. This game is so addicting and has so much replay value, and has such a great multiplayer, get it. 20 bucks. That's it. Buy it.

Final Word
This game is underrated. Not enough people have heard of it, it deserves a lot more credit than it is given. It is a really great game, and very cheap. So excuse me, I think I'll go play it now.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/29/04