Serious Sam
It's not often you hear of video game developers based out in Croatia, in fact, there exists only two: Dreamatrix, who are reviewed poorly and Croteam, creators of the popular Doom clone Serious Sam. Successful FPS games in the 90's did more than just try to copy what Doom had created, most of them either interweaving terrific stories or some genuinely new gameplay. Serious Sam took what games like Doom had started and simply turned it up to 11. I suppose if it was copying anything though, I'd say it's much closer to Duke Nukem 3D. "Serious" Sam Stone feels a lot like Duke's character and his entire purpose of 'kicking ass' has really been amplified in this 2001 release.
Serious Sam follows Sam Stone as he single-handedly fights an alien invasion across time and back to the Serian homeworld. Croteam had spent over 5 years developing Serious Sam and although it may not have seen the praise of other AAA titles, their hard work certainly showed. Unlike most FPS games at the time which are almost always indoors, which allowed for reduced draw-distance and fewer enemies on screen at a time, Serious Sam pushed for the opposite. Their game engine allowed for levels which spanned huge football-field sized areas with tremendous draw distances and wave after wave of enemies that rush at you from afar.
The real appeal of Serious Sam would be these huge open levels where you take on hoards of alien monsters who run at you kamikaze style, some firing weapons and some just looking to get close enough to tear you apart. The large distances mean you could often strafe out of the way of gunfire, shoot-em-up style and you delivered your own lead punishment. You always carried tons of weapons, loaded to the brim with ammo, which you needed because you were often running your barrel red-hot from constant firing.
Serious Sam really was a unique title, all of it's own. Going on 15 years old, it hardly shows it's age on PC and, though it didn't need it, has seen an HD re-release recently. If you want something that's a blast to play and really is nothing but mindless gunfire, it's easily attainable online for dirt cheap. I think I got a new digital copy recently via HumbleBundle.com. Nothing quite like having a headless guy run at you with bombs in his hands as you tour ancient Egypt.
It's not often you hear of video game developers based out in Croatia, in fact, there exists only two: Dreamatrix, who are reviewed poorly and Croteam, creators of the popular Doom clone Serious Sam. Successful FPS games in the 90's did more than just try to copy what Doom had created, most of them either interweaving terrific stories or some genuinely new gameplay. Serious Sam took what games like Doom had started and simply turned it up to 11. I suppose if it was copying anything though, I'd say it's much closer to Duke Nukem 3D. "Serious" Sam Stone feels a lot like Duke's character and his entire purpose of 'kicking ass' has really been amplified in this 2001 release.Serious Sam follows Sam Stone as he single-handedly fights an alien invasion across time and back to the Serian homeworld. Croteam had spent over 5 years developing Serious Sam and although it may not have seen the praise of other AAA titles, their hard work certainly showed. Unlike most FPS games at the time which are almost always indoors, which allowed for reduced draw-distance and fewer enemies on screen at a time, Serious Sam pushed for the opposite. Their game engine allowed for levels which spanned huge football-field sized areas with tremendous draw distances and wave after wave of enemies that rush at you from afar.
The real appeal of Serious Sam would be these huge open levels where you take on hoards of alien monsters who run at you kamikaze style, some firing weapons and some just looking to get close enough to tear you apart. The large distances mean you could often strafe out of the way of gunfire, shoot-em-up style and you delivered your own lead punishment. You always carried tons of weapons, loaded to the brim with ammo, which you needed because you were often running your barrel red-hot from constant firing.
Serious Sam really was a unique title, all of it's own. Going on 15 years old, it hardly shows it's age on PC and, though it didn't need it, has seen an HD re-release recently. If you want something that's a blast to play and really is nothing but mindless gunfire, it's easily attainable online for dirt cheap. I think I got a new digital copy recently via HumbleBundle.com. Nothing quite like having a headless guy run at you with bombs in his hands as you tour ancient Egypt.
No comments:
Post a Comment