Game: Fallout: New Vegas
Year (s): 2010
Company: dev. Obsidian Entertainment
pub. Bethesda Softworks
Engine: Gamebryo
Type: RPG Shooter
What I Paid: about $20 (2 DLCs included)
Game Time: 40+ hours
Obligatory Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-x-1fm2cq8&feature=relmfu
Preface
This review is intended for those who have played Fallout 3, as it is comparitive. If you have not played Fallout 3, play that instead. Otherwise, read on.
Obsidian Entertainment
Black Isle developed Fallout and Fallout 2. They were working on their own Fallout 3 (no relation to the 2008 title, but similarities to New Vegas) when Interplay closed down their division. Some of the Black Isle people started Obsidian Entertainment, who developed New Vegas. Others founded Troika Games, which went out of business (a few members of the Troika team then joined Obsidian). I played Fallout 2 for maybe three hours, but a ton of the things from those three hours were referenced in New Vegas: the super mutant army, broc flowers, golden geckos, the town of Arroyo... it didn't mean much to me, but for people that grew up on the original games, these connections might be a lot of fun.
Plot
Personal: Guy shoots you and leaves you for dead. You don't know who he is, or why he shot you.
Environment : Nearly ever faction in the game wants to eliminate the others to control Hoover Dam.
The end.
Actually, there is a little more to it, but not much. It's not an engaging plot, and I didn't give a damn about who won the dam in the end. Most everyone was a jerk. Most quests were, "go there, get this/kill that, come back."
After completing the main quest-line (which ends the game unless you have a pre-battle save), a montage explains how your actions throughout the game affected allies, towns, and various factions. A good effort, but most everyone pissed me off- so I didn't much care for what happened to them afterwards.
Factions
New Vegas replaced the karma system with a faction fame system. You're not a blanket good or evil, you're liked or hated by varying factions to varying degrees, based on your actions. Fame in groups often incurs infamy in other groups.
Furthermore, if you murder/steak from someone silently, in their sleep, with no one to witness, their entire faction will know, and react accordingly. Instantly.
Exploring... and Deathclaws
Unlike Fallout 3, you can't explore the whole map at any level. New Vegas added mountains to restrain you, and the occassional invisible wall. Also, deathclaws are at specific areas, so you can't explore there.
Deathclaws are stupid in this game. They attack in packs, and there are various kinds. On level 25, with power armor, I got killed in 1-3 hits (after killing 0-1 deathclaws). I had to resort to cheap tactics like firing at them from a spot they couldn't get to. The other enemies were a piece of cake, so this unbalanced level of stupid hard was... stupid.
Voice Acting
This game didn't skimp on hiring known voices: Wayne Newton is a radio personality, and Worf the Klingon voices a super mutant. That being said, most of the voice acting is flat, spoken by characters that have no character.
Gamebryo PLUS
New Vegas includes all of the hair-pulling glitchiness of Gamebryo you might be used to, with the ADDITION of half-ass programming! Here's an example of one quest that was executed poorly. I needed to get evidence from two safes, but my lockpicking was too low (note: no quests in Fallout 3 required a particular skill level to complete). After a few level-ups, I got the evidence. Then I had to turn it in- but to who? No one ever told me, it wasn't in my notes, and there was no map marker to show the way. I had to go online to find out what to do, for this and other quests. Way to go, Obsidian!
Skills and Perks
There are fewer skill books, no bobbleheads, and no perks that increase skill(s). You only get a perk every other level, and your perk choices are not as abundant or powerful. One perk I can take makes me fire 20 percent faster, but 20 percent less accurate for all guns. That's just great.
Big Guns, as a skill, was replaced by Survival (more HP from food/drinks). The weapons themselves were split between guns and energy weapons.
New Mechanics
Obsidian added new mechanic that revolve around creating your own goods on different types of work stations. Repair allows you to break down guns and bullets, and to fashion new bullets (turns out you can only make say, ten shotgun shells, by breaking down ten shotgun shells). Survival allows you to make healing potions, poison, antivenom and other goodies from various plant and animal parts (the parts are too hard to gather for this to be of great use). Medicine allows you to fashion your own chems (if you can find a chemistry set). Lastly, science allows you to recycle spent energy ammunition and to convert one type of energy ammo to another. Thus, a neat idea spread over several skills, one of which is useful.
There are more weapon types than in Fallout 3, several of which have unique variants. There are also weapon mods. Mods can only be used on a specific weapon, and never on unique weapons. Only a few weapons have mods, mods are few in number, and they're hard to find. E3 2010 interviews made a big deal about how you could modify your weapons to do neat things, but this turned out to be a very small, very limited aspect of the game. I went the whole game without mods, as there were none for my weapons of choice.
Hardcore mode is an optional, turn-off-at-will setting. From Wikipedia, "Gameplay difficulty is increased in several ways ... the healing of crippled limbs requires a "doctor's bag", a chem called hydra or a visit to a doctor; ammunition has weight; and the player character must eat, drink and sleep to avoid starvation, dehydration and exhaustion, respectively." Hardcore mode: making a dull game dull AND hard!
Expansions / DLC
Three expansions are currently available. Each raises the level cap by five levels. I have two DLCs; I haven't played them.
Final Thoughts
Fallout 3 was awesome. This was pretty crappy. If it's on sale this weekend at Quakecon for ten bucks, well, it's got a lot of content. You know, if you need something to do but want to enjoy it very much. I stopped playing this game halfway through to play other games, and only came back to it in order to write a review before Quakecon started.
There is a legal scuffle between Interplay and Bethesda right now about Fallout multiplayer rights, but the next Fallout game (depending on who wins the suit) might be an MMORPG.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Heretic Review
Game: Heretic
Year (s): 1994 (Heretic), 1996 (Shadows of the Serpent Riders)
Company: dev. Raven Software
pub. id Software
Engine: Doom Engine (id Tech 1)
Type: First-Person Shooter
Game Time: 12-15 hours recently on default difficulty
Obligatory Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lyBtYChbhI
Plot
You should realize that these old games aren't plot driven. Nonetheless. The Serpent Riders came to your world and brainwashed everyone except for your race, the elves. Your race was then labeled as heretics, hunted and scattered. You, an elven wizard, set out to defeat the Serpent Rider D'Sparil and his undead army to free your world from his evil grip.
Is it like Doom?
Same engine as Doom, and a few of the same sound effects. Most of the weapons have different models but are functionally the same as the chainsaw, pistol, chaingun, rocket launcher, and plasma rifle. One enemy is nearly identical to the Pinky Demons, but the rest are more original. You still flip switches, look for keys, and operate a special switch (or step in to a portal) to end levels.
The main separation between Heretic and Doom is the inventory. You can carry a variety of single-use items to use at will. These include torches (light source), wings (flight), health vials, half-ass grenades, tomes that power up your weapons (or at least, makes them function in a different way), and other offensive/miscellaneous items.
As this runs on the Doom engine, I highly recommend zDoom. The inventory system is too cumbersome to use without key re-binding, and I'm too out of practice from the old, contorted control setup to accomplish anything.
Expansions / DLC
Shadows of the Serpent Riders added two additional episodes to the original three. Akin to The Ultimate Doom's They Flesh Consumed, these episodes feature more challenging maps. While the original was easy on default, these had some tough spots.
Final Thoughts
Pretty much any game from the first and second generation of shooters is going to have parts where you'll get frustrated looking for the damn switch/key, and use a cheat to move on without it. Heretic is no exception. While new monsters and an inventory are nice additions to the genre, this is, largely, more Doom. I bought this recently because I'd played it as a kid and it was cheap. If you won't have any nostalgia going in, I don't think you'll get much out of this one.
Year (s): 1994 (Heretic), 1996 (Shadows of the Serpent Riders)
Company: dev. Raven Software
pub. id Software
Engine: Doom Engine (id Tech 1)
Type: First-Person Shooter
Game Time: 12-15 hours recently on default difficulty
Obligatory Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lyBtYChbhI
Plot
You should realize that these old games aren't plot driven. Nonetheless. The Serpent Riders came to your world and brainwashed everyone except for your race, the elves. Your race was then labeled as heretics, hunted and scattered. You, an elven wizard, set out to defeat the Serpent Rider D'Sparil and his undead army to free your world from his evil grip.
Is it like Doom?
Same engine as Doom, and a few of the same sound effects. Most of the weapons have different models but are functionally the same as the chainsaw, pistol, chaingun, rocket launcher, and plasma rifle. One enemy is nearly identical to the Pinky Demons, but the rest are more original. You still flip switches, look for keys, and operate a special switch (or step in to a portal) to end levels.
The main separation between Heretic and Doom is the inventory. You can carry a variety of single-use items to use at will. These include torches (light source), wings (flight), health vials, half-ass grenades, tomes that power up your weapons (or at least, makes them function in a different way), and other offensive/miscellaneous items.
As this runs on the Doom engine, I highly recommend zDoom. The inventory system is too cumbersome to use without key re-binding, and I'm too out of practice from the old, contorted control setup to accomplish anything.
Expansions / DLC
Shadows of the Serpent Riders added two additional episodes to the original three. Akin to The Ultimate Doom's They Flesh Consumed, these episodes feature more challenging maps. While the original was easy on default, these had some tough spots.
Final Thoughts
Pretty much any game from the first and second generation of shooters is going to have parts where you'll get frustrated looking for the damn switch/key, and use a cheat to move on without it. Heretic is no exception. While new monsters and an inventory are nice additions to the genre, this is, largely, more Doom. I bought this recently because I'd played it as a kid and it was cheap. If you won't have any nostalgia going in, I don't think you'll get much out of this one.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Jokulhaups Deck
this deck might be tweaked after i play it more, but this is the general idea.
Jokulhaups Deck
60 Card Format
Black, Red
SPELLS- 40
4 Jokulhaups
3 Obliterate
2 Devastation
3 No Mercy
4 Sewer Nemesis
3 Guiltfeeder
2 Mortivore
4 Black Market
3 Darksteel Ingot
2 Mana Seism
4 Dark Ritual
3 Seething Song
4 Rite of Flame
LANDS- 24
4 Sulfurous Springs
2 Blackcleave Cliffs
2 Peat Bog
2 Sandstone Needle
4 Darksteel Citadel
5 Mountains
5 Swamps
Ideally you cast Black Market, then Jokulhaups (or similar), then use the mana from Black Market to cast Guiltfeeder (or similar). Failing that, there are enough mana sources to do alright anyway.
It's a fun deck because you get to blow everything up. It's WAY better than the dozen half-ass Jokulhaups decks I found with google.
Jokulhaups Deck
60 Card Format
Black, Red
SPELLS- 40
4 Jokulhaups
3 Obliterate
2 Devastation
3 No Mercy
4 Sewer Nemesis
3 Guiltfeeder
2 Mortivore
4 Black Market
3 Darksteel Ingot
2 Mana Seism
4 Dark Ritual
3 Seething Song
4 Rite of Flame
LANDS- 24
4 Sulfurous Springs
2 Blackcleave Cliffs
2 Peat Bog
2 Sandstone Needle
4 Darksteel Citadel
5 Mountains
5 Swamps
Ideally you cast Black Market, then Jokulhaups (or similar), then use the mana from Black Market to cast Guiltfeeder (or similar). Failing that, there are enough mana sources to do alright anyway.
It's a fun deck because you get to blow everything up. It's WAY better than the dozen half-ass Jokulhaups decks I found with google.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Singularity Review
Game: Singularity
Year (s): 2010
Company: dev. Raven Software
pub. Activision
Engine: Unreal Engine 3
Type: First-Person Shooter
Game Time: 10 hours, first time, default difficulty
Plot
In the 1950's, the USSR discovered a new element on the island of Katorga 12. The island was then used as a research and development base until an accident killed the inhabitants. The base was shut down and abandoned.
In 2010, unusual radioactive readings are coming from the island, and a few choppers of US black ops are sent to investigate. An anomaly sends you back in time, where you save someone from dying in a fire. An anomaly then returns you to an altered present, where the USSR has conquered the world. You must use your military skills and a nifty Time Manipulation Device (TMD) to restore history to its rihgtful course.
Back story is filled in by recovered notes, audio recordings, and ghosts.
The TMD
A short jog into the game, you'll find this item. It continues to grow more powerful as you progress. It can age enemies to death in combat, or shove them away. It can be used as a gravity gun. It can age scripted objects to decay, or do the opposite to rubble.
For the most part, the TMD is only particularly useful against bosses or in simple puzzles between firefights.
Other Time Stuff
You move back and forth between the 1950's and the present a few times in the course of the story. The sniper rifle, while scoped, has the ability to stop all enemies for a brief period. One sniper rifle alternative allows you to steer rounds in slow motion.
Combat and Upgrades
There are a variety of weapons, but you can only carry two at a time. Weapons can be upgraded. You can also upgrade general things (like carrying more medkits) and TMD abilities. There is a finite number of upgrades, so a second play could let you explore some different powerups.
Combat is easy. I blazed through this on default, even against the bosses.
Final Thoughts
Near the end, you can choose to be good or bad. A second play would allow you to make the other choice here, and see a different ending. I think it would have been very intuitive for the developers to incorporate several points where you can make a choice, and then you can see how it plays out when you're whisked back to the present. It's a game about time! But, they didn't.
Singularity isn't bad; I had fun playing it. That being said, it was short, easy, and some of the ideas could have easily been expanded upon for a more interactive, complex experience.
If you need something to do for a weekend and there's a good sale on Singularity, maybe give it a go. If you miss out on this one, you won't be missing out on much.
Year (s): 2010
Company: dev. Raven Software
pub. Activision
Engine: Unreal Engine 3
Type: First-Person Shooter
Game Time: 10 hours, first time, default difficulty
Plot
In the 1950's, the USSR discovered a new element on the island of Katorga 12. The island was then used as a research and development base until an accident killed the inhabitants. The base was shut down and abandoned.
In 2010, unusual radioactive readings are coming from the island, and a few choppers of US black ops are sent to investigate. An anomaly sends you back in time, where you save someone from dying in a fire. An anomaly then returns you to an altered present, where the USSR has conquered the world. You must use your military skills and a nifty Time Manipulation Device (TMD) to restore history to its rihgtful course.
Back story is filled in by recovered notes, audio recordings, and ghosts.
The TMD
A short jog into the game, you'll find this item. It continues to grow more powerful as you progress. It can age enemies to death in combat, or shove them away. It can be used as a gravity gun. It can age scripted objects to decay, or do the opposite to rubble.
For the most part, the TMD is only particularly useful against bosses or in simple puzzles between firefights.
Other Time Stuff
You move back and forth between the 1950's and the present a few times in the course of the story. The sniper rifle, while scoped, has the ability to stop all enemies for a brief period. One sniper rifle alternative allows you to steer rounds in slow motion.
Combat and Upgrades
There are a variety of weapons, but you can only carry two at a time. Weapons can be upgraded. You can also upgrade general things (like carrying more medkits) and TMD abilities. There is a finite number of upgrades, so a second play could let you explore some different powerups.
Combat is easy. I blazed through this on default, even against the bosses.
Final Thoughts
Near the end, you can choose to be good or bad. A second play would allow you to make the other choice here, and see a different ending. I think it would have been very intuitive for the developers to incorporate several points where you can make a choice, and then you can see how it plays out when you're whisked back to the present. It's a game about time! But, they didn't.
Singularity isn't bad; I had fun playing it. That being said, it was short, easy, and some of the ideas could have easily been expanded upon for a more interactive, complex experience.
If you need something to do for a weekend and there's a good sale on Singularity, maybe give it a go. If you miss out on this one, you won't be missing out on much.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Red Faction Review
Game: Red Faction
Year (s): 2001
Company: dev. Volition Inc.
pub. THQ
Engine: Geo-Mod Engine
Type: First-Person Shooter
Game Time: SIX HOURS, first time, on default*
Plot
The Protagonist, looking for a change of scenery, signs up to be a Martian miner. After getting there, he discovers slave-like working conditions, more armed guards than miners, and a plague that is killing miners left and right. The miners, led my the Red Faction rebel group, begin revolting against the evil mining corporation for the liberation of Mars.
It's a 2nd-Generation Shooter...
... and includes the things one would expect. We've got polygonal graphics, pre-animated death sequences, the occasional glitch, and the occasional crash. In these regards, it lived up to my expectations.
Sneaking Around
This game has a few sequences where you have only a silenced pistol (no melee) and have to sneak around. I hate sneaking around. That being said, this game offers an obvious tool in these segments: you can drag a dead body to someplace less visible. It's so simple, but I haven't played other games that had that feature.
Geo-Mod Engine
This engine is pretty standard for the time, certainly nothing amazing. Something interesting, though, is the amount to which you can destroy your environment. If you have enough explosives, you can avoid a door by blowing up the walls around it. It's not a useful tool (it's never necessary in the course of the game) but it was innovative.
*Bosses and Cheating
Combat was easy for the first half, and moderately difficult in the last half. However, I cheated against both the mid- and end- game bosses. The first was preceded by a ton of enemies, then no medkits, then a boss. The last boss was preceded by even MORE enemies, and no medkits. If games are going to be stupid like that, I have no qualms about cheating.
Final Thoughts
While Red Faction had a couple of innovative ideas, gameplay was largely mediocre, the plot half-assed, and the single-player campaign horrendously short. I would not recommend paying money for this one.
This game started a franchise that now has four titles, Red Faction: Armageddon came out in June 2011. The SyFy cable network released a full-length film, Red Faction: Origins, to coincide with the release of Armageddon. Events in the film take place between the third and fourth games.
Year (s): 2001
Company: dev. Volition Inc.
pub. THQ
Engine: Geo-Mod Engine
Type: First-Person Shooter
Game Time: SIX HOURS, first time, on default*
Plot
The Protagonist, looking for a change of scenery, signs up to be a Martian miner. After getting there, he discovers slave-like working conditions, more armed guards than miners, and a plague that is killing miners left and right. The miners, led my the Red Faction rebel group, begin revolting against the evil mining corporation for the liberation of Mars.
It's a 2nd-Generation Shooter...
... and includes the things one would expect. We've got polygonal graphics, pre-animated death sequences, the occasional glitch, and the occasional crash. In these regards, it lived up to my expectations.
Sneaking Around
This game has a few sequences where you have only a silenced pistol (no melee) and have to sneak around. I hate sneaking around. That being said, this game offers an obvious tool in these segments: you can drag a dead body to someplace less visible. It's so simple, but I haven't played other games that had that feature.
Geo-Mod Engine
This engine is pretty standard for the time, certainly nothing amazing. Something interesting, though, is the amount to which you can destroy your environment. If you have enough explosives, you can avoid a door by blowing up the walls around it. It's not a useful tool (it's never necessary in the course of the game) but it was innovative.
*Bosses and Cheating
Combat was easy for the first half, and moderately difficult in the last half. However, I cheated against both the mid- and end- game bosses. The first was preceded by a ton of enemies, then no medkits, then a boss. The last boss was preceded by even MORE enemies, and no medkits. If games are going to be stupid like that, I have no qualms about cheating.
Final Thoughts
While Red Faction had a couple of innovative ideas, gameplay was largely mediocre, the plot half-assed, and the single-player campaign horrendously short. I would not recommend paying money for this one.
This game started a franchise that now has four titles, Red Faction: Armageddon came out in June 2011. The SyFy cable network released a full-length film, Red Faction: Origins, to coincide with the release of Armageddon. Events in the film take place between the third and fourth games.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Catacomb 3D Review
Game: Catacombs 3D
Year (s): 1991
Company: dev. id software
pub. Softdisk
Engine: Wolfenstein 3D Engine (an earlier-than-Wolfenstein version)
Type: First-Person Shooter
Reminiscing
After Space Invaders, this was one of my earliest computer games. Our version was titled Curse of the Catacombs, but it's the same game. This isn't only the first shooter I ever played, it was one of the first shooters, period.
Ultima Influence
The Catacomb games previous to this were 2D, with an overhead view. Though Catacombs 3D came out first, it was arguably influenced by a demo of Ultima Underworld that featured texture mapping. One member of the Ultima team "recalled a comment from Carmack that he could write a faster texture mapper" (Wikipedia).
Hey! Look at all the id guys!
Adrian Carmack, John Carmack, John Romero, and Tom Hall. These guys were in the credits for Doom 3 thirteen years after Catacomb 3D. I'm pretty sure they'll be in the credits for Doom 4 (slated 2013) twenty-two years after this game. I guess it's more fun to make and play games than retire.
Plot
I really don't remember a plot, just that you're a wizard roaming a dungeon/fantasy landscape. You throw fireballs at gorgons, tree-monsters, skeletons, vampire bunnies, and other mean critters.
Combat
I already mentioned throwing fireballs.
This game introduced showing the character's hands in the player's view.
If you throw a fireball at particular walls, they are destroyed and you can find secret areas!
Sequels
Three Catacombs 3D games were released after this. Catacomb Abyss was developed by Gamer's Edge (published by Softdisk).
Catacomb Armageddon and Catacomb Apocalypse were developed by Softdisk and published by Frogman. All sequels use the original engine and, except for Apocalypse, follow the original protagonist.
Final Thoughts
We got rid of our copy of this probably about the same time we threw away the 3.5-inch floppy drives. I thought this would be a fun one to do mostly by reading online, unfortunately, it's so old (and, compared to later games, not a big splash in the water) that aside from a short Wikipedia article, sites that copy/paste that article, and a ton of damn youtube videos, there's nothing to read.
Fortunately, you can relive the game (minus the combat) by watching the Windows 95 Maze screensaver! Always reminded me of Catacomb 3D, anyway.
Year (s): 1991
Company: dev. id software
pub. Softdisk
Engine: Wolfenstein 3D Engine (an earlier-than-Wolfenstein version)
Type: First-Person Shooter
Reminiscing
After Space Invaders, this was one of my earliest computer games. Our version was titled Curse of the Catacombs, but it's the same game. This isn't only the first shooter I ever played, it was one of the first shooters, period.
Ultima Influence
The Catacomb games previous to this were 2D, with an overhead view. Though Catacombs 3D came out first, it was arguably influenced by a demo of Ultima Underworld that featured texture mapping. One member of the Ultima team "recalled a comment from Carmack that he could write a faster texture mapper" (Wikipedia).
Hey! Look at all the id guys!
Adrian Carmack, John Carmack, John Romero, and Tom Hall. These guys were in the credits for Doom 3 thirteen years after Catacomb 3D. I'm pretty sure they'll be in the credits for Doom 4 (slated 2013) twenty-two years after this game. I guess it's more fun to make and play games than retire.
Plot
I really don't remember a plot, just that you're a wizard roaming a dungeon/fantasy landscape. You throw fireballs at gorgons, tree-monsters, skeletons, vampire bunnies, and other mean critters.
Combat
I already mentioned throwing fireballs.
This game introduced showing the character's hands in the player's view.
If you throw a fireball at particular walls, they are destroyed and you can find secret areas!
Sequels
Three Catacombs 3D games were released after this. Catacomb Abyss was developed by Gamer's Edge (published by Softdisk).
Catacomb Armageddon and Catacomb Apocalypse were developed by Softdisk and published by Frogman. All sequels use the original engine and, except for Apocalypse, follow the original protagonist.
Final Thoughts
We got rid of our copy of this probably about the same time we threw away the 3.5-inch floppy drives. I thought this would be a fun one to do mostly by reading online, unfortunately, it's so old (and, compared to later games, not a big splash in the water) that aside from a short Wikipedia article, sites that copy/paste that article, and a ton of damn youtube videos, there's nothing to read.
Fortunately, you can relive the game (minus the combat) by watching the Windows 95 Maze screensaver! Always reminded me of Catacomb 3D, anyway.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Serious Sam: The First Encounter Review
Game: Serious Sam: The First Encounter
Year (s): 2001 (original), 2010 (HD)
Company: dev. Croteam
pub. Gathering of Developers
Engine: Serious Engine. Serious Engine 3 (HD)
Type: First-Person Shooter
What I Paid: Cheap-o!
Game Time: 12-14 hours, first play, on default
Obligatory Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHpiu-VI7wQ
It's Time to Get Serious
I killed cyberdemons with a shotgun. I beat Quake on the nightmare difficulty. After that, games became increasingly interested on elements other than strafing and shooting. Plot, characters, musical scores, realistic physics, advanced graphics... yup, times were a-changin'.
Not for Sam, though. Serious Sam take it back to the basics, and then ramp it up several notches. No problem killing headcrabs? How about dozens at a time? A handful of cyberdemons? A couple hundred fiends? It's time to get serious.
Original versus HD
These are the exact same game, straight down the the sound effects. The only changes are visual, using new textures and a more up-to-date graphics engine.
This is Insane
Facing dozens of enemies at a time is pretty nuts. To add to insanity, headless suicide-bombers scream while they run at you. Without heads. The protagonist has an occasional amusing quip. These games don't take themselves too seriously.
Plot
A bad guy named Mental has a huge alien monster army attacking Earth, and only Sam stands in the way.
Combat
Definitely reminded me of the Doom's Thy Flesh Consumed and some of the harder Quake levels. Only one weapon has to reload. Combat is pretty straight-forward: don't stop moving. It's hard (partly because it's been so long since I've played a new old-school shooter) and in one spot I HAD to use god-mode Other than that, levels were challenging but possible, and beating one felt like an accomplishment.
This game supports up to sixteen players, which would make combat situations much more manageable.
Expansions / DLC
Serious Sam: The Second Encounter also exists in both original and HD versions, and follows Sam as he takes the fight to Mental. Serious Sam 3 is due sometime this summer.
Final Thoughts
If you remember playing first and second generation shooters, the gameplay here is nostalgic. If you've grown up on Halo and afterward, you probably aren't going to appreciate the simple joy of constant strafing.
Year (s): 2001 (original), 2010 (HD)
Company: dev. Croteam
pub. Gathering of Developers
Engine: Serious Engine. Serious Engine 3 (HD)
Type: First-Person Shooter
What I Paid: Cheap-o!
Game Time: 12-14 hours, first play, on default
Obligatory Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHpiu-VI7wQ
It's Time to Get Serious
I killed cyberdemons with a shotgun. I beat Quake on the nightmare difficulty. After that, games became increasingly interested on elements other than strafing and shooting. Plot, characters, musical scores, realistic physics, advanced graphics... yup, times were a-changin'.
Not for Sam, though. Serious Sam take it back to the basics, and then ramp it up several notches. No problem killing headcrabs? How about dozens at a time? A handful of cyberdemons? A couple hundred fiends? It's time to get serious.
Original versus HD
These are the exact same game, straight down the the sound effects. The only changes are visual, using new textures and a more up-to-date graphics engine.
This is Insane
Facing dozens of enemies at a time is pretty nuts. To add to insanity, headless suicide-bombers scream while they run at you. Without heads. The protagonist has an occasional amusing quip. These games don't take themselves too seriously.
Plot
A bad guy named Mental has a huge alien monster army attacking Earth, and only Sam stands in the way.
Combat
Definitely reminded me of the Doom's Thy Flesh Consumed and some of the harder Quake levels. Only one weapon has to reload. Combat is pretty straight-forward: don't stop moving. It's hard (partly because it's been so long since I've played a new old-school shooter) and in one spot I HAD to use god-mode Other than that, levels were challenging but possible, and beating one felt like an accomplishment.
This game supports up to sixteen players, which would make combat situations much more manageable.
Expansions / DLC
Serious Sam: The Second Encounter also exists in both original and HD versions, and follows Sam as he takes the fight to Mental. Serious Sam 3 is due sometime this summer.
Final Thoughts
If you remember playing first and second generation shooters, the gameplay here is nostalgic. If you've grown up on Halo and afterward, you probably aren't going to appreciate the simple joy of constant strafing.
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