Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter

Game: Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter
Developer: Croteam
Release Date: 1/13/10
Multiplayer: Online Co-op, 2
Distribution Method: XBLA (Download)
Price: 1,200 MSP ($15.00 USD)

First, I must apologize for not updating my reviews as consistently as I should. I realize that you are all terribly disappointed in me and I likely no longer have any loyal readers. But, for those of you who have trudged through the days of nothingness, hoping against the goddess that I would update once again, I bring you: A review of Serious Sam HD: The First Enconter.

I must be frank with my readers that still remain; I have never played Serious Sam before. Heard of its near-infinite greatness, sure, but seen it for myself? No. With these expectations of grandeur, I began playing.

Turns out, Serious Sam is really effin' hard! It's also preposterously fun. The latter observation came first however, and this is what sucks you into the game. Within a few levels, however, it becomes clear that Croteam is comprised of experts in giving you just barely enough ammo to get by.

Serious Sam is a game of huge proportions, with some levels including massive open areas that feel like they must be able to contain entire levels from other games. Bosses are massive, filling these gargantuan areas and making them suddenly seem not so large.

While the game's bosses are irritating to be sure, they are often not as difficult as the rest of the level they are in. Enemies are often hidden around corners, spawned in odd areas, or spawn as you become trapped in a secret.

Each level is riddled with secrets, with most of them blessing you with hidden ammo, armor, or health. Sadly, most of these secrets turn into deadly traps that cripple you for the rest of the level. This makes secrets something to avoid rather than hunt for.

Gameplay is often a mix between tearing through week foes while running from bomb-laden suicide troops and desperately trying to gun stronger enemies down from afar. While this sounds incredibly entertaining - and very well can be - it often becomes trying and irritating. Croteam spawns hundreds of enemies at you, often all at once, and gives you barely enough ammo to kill them.

Given this difficulty, I ended up restarting the game and lowering the difficulty twice, giving myself infinite ammo the second time. While this didn't make the game the insanity-fuled run-and-gun game I was hoping for, it made the game playable.

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Bottom Line:
A pretty arcade game with very solid core gameplay, but numerous issues that lead to a difficult and often irritating experience.