Serious Sam: The Second Encounter HD

[hitbyambulance]

companion thread to this one. never finished the original First Encounter either, for some reason, and i started immediately after finishing The First Encounter HD. i have been playing this over the past three months, and i'm on the final level now - you know you're in for an endurance test when you're placed in the middle of a vast empty plain with unlimited respawning ammo, armor, health and power-ups ... know that the field is not going to remain empty for very long. still haven't gotten past this part yet, but i will be working on it this weekend.

i'd say i prefer the gameplay of SE more, with its varied environments, increased weaponry (and the new additions are my favorites), new monsters, some interesting new physics-type areas, odder secrets and generally a larger budget and longer development time, but i have more nostalgic memories of FE - the Egyptian backdrop and environment is still really nice to look at.

[NickAragua]

That last level in SE was a horrible awful pain to finish. Especially the part after you get out of the first castle, and all you see is this little patch of ruins. The second you get there, you're surrounded by assholes who just keep coming.

So, of course, I just ran to super far away and picked them all off with pistols because they would just run a patrol route instead of coming after you.

No such luck inside the castle though.

Don't get me wrong, I had a blast all the way through.

[hitbyambulance]

That last level in SE was a horrible awful pain to finish. Especially the part after you get out of the first castle, and all you see is this little patch of ruins. The second you get there, you're surrounded by assholes who just keep coming.

yes, that is the part i am on now (the ruins contain the infinitely respawning health, ammo, armor and powerups). i accept i probably will not finish this weekend.

i also realized that i hate the undead Kleers the most. the sound they make en masse (of many galloping hooves, long before they arrive where you are) instills dread in a way that no other monster in the game does. why they gotta be so annoying.

[hitbyambulance]

finished - the aforementioned huge fight took forever, but the final one against Mordekai the Summoner was cake in comparison.

Spoiler:

the 'confessional' with Mental over the phone in the cathedral was pretty funny.

on to Serious Sam 2...

[hitbyambulance]

Legend of the Beast DLC was on sale for 49 cents, so why not...

[hitbyambulance]

Legend of the Beast DLC was on sale for 49 cents, so why not...

playing through this one now. these are apparently the originally planned first three levels for First Encounter, polished up (i guess) and modified for DLC sale, with an added Giant Enemy fight at the end. now it still takes place at some point during FE, but strangely, this add-on is for Second Encounter, so you do get the SE chainsaw as a weapon. (i was hoping the flamethrower and sniper rifle would also show up, but nope.) Sam's voice actor does sound noticeably older, which is jarring if you're playing this at the same time as the first games!

content-wise, it's no great shakes - very much more of the same - but if you're in the need for new original SS gameplay, this works. it does have a few open-area fights, something which was completely lacking in Serious Sam 2. however, the difficulty is pretty uneven. on Hard difficulty and most of it is relatively straightforward, but there was an earlier section about 1/3 of the way through that was brutally difficult and i almost gave up on it.

for the price paid + tax (with funds generated from selling Steam trading cards), it's OK.

[hitbyambulance]

finished the DLC. final fight was yet another 'time hitting all the switches to deliver massive environmental damage' to the big baddie. you'll never get anything more powerful than the rocket launcher in this, not even with finding all the secrets. yaaaawn. total playtime (according to the game stats) was a little over six hours. the end.

[KDH]

.
This is not your father's Serious Sam ..

... Serious Sam's Bogus Detour ... Avail. Summer 2017

Spoiler:

<-- (reveal trailer, youtube, 1:00)

[hitbyambulance]

.
This is not your father's Serious Sam ..

... Serious Sam's Bogus Detour ... Avail. Summer 2017

Spoiler:

<-- (reveal trailer, youtube, 1:00)

funny, i thought i had a thread for this one already. it's from the developers of Hammerwatch, which means i am interested (and i'm glad to see the offbeat indie Serious Sam games from third party developers are still happening)

[KDH]

If you feel there will be continued interest .. please start a thread .. I have no interest in top down shooters these days. I don't mind looking at them for 15 minutes, but I don't buy them anywhere near release