Serious Sam: The First Encounter

The Good
Well, first off, there is LUDICROUS amount of action. You'll know what I'm talking about when you're standing in a field with enemies faster and more powerful than you are coming towards you from all sides. Yeehaw! Secondly, I enjoyed the refreshing Doom-like feel of the game. Even if a situation looks impossible, you will find a way out of it. Finally, the game is full of humor and secrets. Speaking of secrets, they're the best damn secrets in any game. They COMPLETELY step away from the game, and ANYTHING can happen in a secret area. Oh, yeah, and the graphics engine is absolutely gorgeous! Do yourself a favor and walk up to a wall. IT JUST DOESN'T PIXELATE!! NOT ONE BIT!!

The Bad
Parts of the game, especially towards the end, are EXTREMELY difficult. Some areas limit you on health and ammo for a while. Finally, you get annoyed when, for the 45th time in a level, you walk into a wide-open area with some really powerful item in the middle. Before you know it, the world around you is exploding, scratching, and, er, laser-ing. In my opinion, once per level is enough! UGH!

The Bottom Line
A serious FPS with a soaring fun factor!

The Good
Non-stop shoot-em-up action. Lots of creatures to kill with plenty of ways to kill them. The graphics are top-notch for its time, especially considering that it is value software ($20). Coming from an independent development team, this game is absolutely amazing.

The Bad
I can not stand vanishing corpses or blood. It really ticks me off that I can not survey the carnage I just caused. All the levels take place in Egyptian-style locales, which really makes one want some more variety.

The Bottom Line
The most mind-numbing shooter to hit the market since Doom. Don't think... SHOOT! Over-the-top battles and great multiplayer options round off this sweet package.

The Good
The mindless killing is great, but...(continued in next section) and the graphics are fine and definately serve it's purpose. The gameplay is extended for a couple of hours with the multi-player, although it isn't that different from playing the single-player.

The Bad
(continued from the first section)...after a few hours it all becomes VERY dull. You've seen all the enemies and gotten all the guns about half way through the game. Then what you get is just a bunch of rehashed enemies(different colour, different size(only one of them, The Head-less suicide guys, are remotely interesting) and the same lame guns for the rest of the game. Oh, yeah, the weapons are bad. They're all boring and unimaginative except for one: The Cannon. And, in the spirit of the game, I'll repeat myself and say: Unimaginative gameplay, enemies and weapons.

The Bottom Line
This game shows just how easy it is to impress gamers now a days, with a dull, mediocre FPS. It might just be worth your money because of the low price, but that shouldn't justify putting no imagination into it. The only way for this game to live in the memories of gamers, is to keep pumping out sequels every year. And believe me, you don't want that to happen. In short, a quickly-forgotten game, with a low price tag.