Serious Sam 2 (Xbox/PC) Screens

[RainOfTerror]

The series famous for relentless intensity is returning bigger, better looking and more frantic than ever before. Sam Stone is back to rescue the universe one bullet at a time against overwhelming hordes of time traveling enemies in Serious Sam 2. Built from the ground up with a completely new engine, Serious Sam 2 will be a shot of adrenaline to the hearts of first-person shooter fans across the world. This is serious!

Check out 22 new Serious Sam 2 screens (http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=26364) over at WorthPlaying.

[DevDict]

Funky! The game looks even wackier and more cartoony than before. SS Second Encounter was a lot of fun. I wonder how this will turn out.

[kizke]

In my view, the Serious Sam games are just as important as every other genre-bending and innovative FPS like Halo or Half-Life. Sam keeps us in touch with gaming's roots and gives you a hell of a buzz. :D I can't wait.

[Bone]

I agree, Serious Sam did more to remind us of original Doom than Doom 3 (still a good game in its own right) ever did.

[MasterEvilAce]

Long live serious sam!!

[Rommel]

Annnnd Bloom. Alright, just checking.

[bapenguin]

Annnnd Bloom. Alright, just checking.

That's awesome. Almost sig worthy.

This game looks fun.

[DeadPixel]

This game is total crap, E3 presentation literally made me laugh.

[Bone]

Made you laugh? So did the original SS, I laughed all the way through to the end. Did you play the originals?

[ElectricMonk]

A major factor behind the success of serious sam 1 was it's low-budget origins. It was cheap and made by guys in croatia so you were rooting for the little guy when you bought it. And the game had some good moments in it.

Without that same internet buzz I just can't see them having another ss-type of success. Of course this game could be awesome but we'll have to wait and see.

[DeadPixel]

Made you laugh? So did the original SS, I laughed all the way through to the end. Did you play the originals?
Yes I played the original SS and loved it, this one was horrible.

[Bone]

OK, so how is it worse than the original in tone or gameplay? I'd like to hear more. The original + second encounter were a riot.

[DevDict]

Hell yeah, Bone. For me, SS/SS:SE were two out of a few games where dying wasn't frustrating: it was a part of the game.
"Let's see if I can clear up this area only using my pistols... nope. Shotgun?... Nope. Chainsaw?... Mwahahaaaa!"

So, Pixel, tell us what's wrong with the sequel?

[Bone]

I'm with you DevDict. Did you ever play it co-op? Dying and re-spawning ad nauseum was actually fun. No strategy other than to make it through the next wave of hilarious monsters.

The sound design was genius, I loved the bull's charge and the skeletons that sounded like horses. And I could listen to those screaming (but headless) bomber guys and laugh on cue anytime.

[MasterEvilAce]

A major factor behind the success of serious sam 1 was it's low-budget origins. It was cheap and made by guys in croatia so you were rooting for the little guy when you bought it. And the game had some good moments in it.

Without that same internet buzz I just can't see them having another ss-type of success. Of course this game could be awesome but we'll have to wait and see.

Pfft.. Croteam represents all the little guys, in my opinion. Who would have expected something to come out of CROATIA? :p

But I mean... Serious Sam2, being so pleasing to the eyes.. big environments with TONS of enemies... It's the same, but so much different, you know? I think the SS2 Engine really is competing with FarCry, BF2, HL2, Doom3, what have you.. in terms of beauty. But it's a separate game itself.. It's competing, but yet it's not, you know? You can compare the games and they all look beautiful (Except Doom3)... And Croteam being a basically "UNKNOWN" developer until they made Serious Sam... it's quite a win for the little guys, you know?

As far as price goes.. I'm pretty sure it'll be cheaper than the games mentioned above, when they first came out. Serious Sam 2 is what games SHOULD be.

[DeadPixel]

So, Pixel, tell us what's wrong with the sequel?
I liked the first one maily for the number of enemies coming at you at any given time. I loved finding myself in the middle of a courtyard with hundreds of things trying to kill me from every direction. The coop was decent as well. The game was simple enough that I could just jump in and play 30 minutes, no puzzles, no long cut scenes, pure arcade fun. In some ways it reminded me of the Doom 1/2 days.

So there I was running to the Serious Sam 2 booth at E3, tripping over lines of geeks waiting to see some closed previews of another game. I finally get my hands on the new SS2 demo machine and start cracking my knucles for a blasting session. What's this? The controls feel different this time? I feel like I'm moving a hovercraft isntead of a kick ass super dude. I run into an empty town and 3 (exactly the same looking) enemies spawn right infront of me, which I blow away in seconds, expecting 100 more right behind me... I turn around and see nothing. Hmm, maybe this is a newb level, ok, lets proceed further. After walking for a few mintues I accidently activated another scripted trigger to spawn more enemies, I shoot them as well, they die with a silly animation, all lined up next to each other like a bunch of VGA sprites from 1994. At this point I realized, this is not Serious Sam, this is some rushed immitation. Don't even get me started on the complete static environment where nothing is destructible from my endless shooting, the boring replicated textures that are slapped together in a rush. I realize this is a simple *fun* arcarde game, but where is the fun this time?

Maybe I'm wrong about all this and you guys will love it, but I walked away disappointed. This game went from Doom 2 to TekWar, if you know what I mean. Take it or leave it.

[RainOfTerror]

strange, i just saw the game a few days ago, almost everything in the environment was destructible, and i was fighting at least 25-30 guys all at once. At some other part I was fighting 5 MASSIVE spider like creatures, and they are not even bosses.

I'm not sure what game you played, unless they added a lot of content since E3.

There was even a mention that Croteam's aim was to have aprox. 200 enemies on screens at once.

That enough for you Pixel ? :)

[DevDict]

Maybe that's just a very early version, DeadPixel?
From what you just described it sounds rather sad.

[Bone]

Thanks Pixel for your thoughts, and Rain for an updated opinion... I hope SS2 is closer to the latter description!

Speaking of the whole underdog, Croatian thing... I love the Croatian's Engrish, like the Oil Dispenser can that says "FLAMABLE". Heh. All part of the charm.

[DeadPixel]

Yeah it could be an early version, although it didn't say so on the demo machines. I didn't talk to the devs or anything. I guess I'll take another look at it when it comes out.

[Oblivion]

just now, does someone's opinion changed about something? incredible!

[MasterEvilAce]

Thanks Pixel for your thoughts, and Rain for an updated opinion... I hope SS2 is closer to the latter description!

Speaking of the whole underdog, Croatian thing... I love the Croatian's Engrish, like the Oil Dispenser can that says "FLAMABLE". Heh. All part of the charm.

Engrish is English/Spanish... You're looking for Englitian

Yeah it could be an early version, although it didn't say so on the demo machines. I didn't talk to the devs or anything. I guess I'll take another look at it when it comes out.
Shit at E3 is almost always outdated. For some reason it takes a long time to prepare a demo for those shows.. Like, the Doom3 Alpha (shown at E3) was months old, I believe..

[Liquidize105]

Ahaha, nice description Pixel, anyone would be disappointed that.

[Bone]

Engrish is English/Spanish... You're looking for Englitian

Engrish is English/Japanese, but it stands for any bad/funny translation to English around the world.

[MasterEvilAce]

Ohh my bad :P