Serious Sam II

Posted 12/18/2005 at 2:51pm | by

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It’s no secret that we love to blow stuff up, yet despite our penchant for destruction, the sequel to Serious Sam isn’t as fun as the original. Instead of taking what worked in the first game and improving on it, Croteam has seemingly settled for a “more of the same” approach, which is ultimately more tedious than titillating.

Unlike the first game, there is a story in the sequel, but just like the “plot” in an adult movie, it’s totally unimportant and only serves to fill time between action sequences, giving your hands time to rest before the next battle.

The gist of Serious Sam II’s story is that you have to visit five worlds to collect five pieces of a medallion in order to fight your arch nemesis, a guy named Mental. Along the way you’ll have to destroy thousands of Mental’s minions, of course.

Just as in the first game, the action is nonstop, with hordes of monsters rushing you at every turn and prolonged, ammo- and energy-draining shootouts against an endless barrage of enemies. Though these types of mega-shootouts were a blast in the original game, this time around they feel really tiresome, with the mayhem seeming more like work than fun. Because the battles are so draining, SSII is a game best enjoyed in spurts rather than marathon sessions.
The enemies and weapons are also less intriguing than in the first game, giving the whole experience a rehashed feel.

The much-loved charging bulls and screaming bomb guys are back, but the rest of the enemies are rather unremarkable. A lot of the baddies don’t seem to belong in their environments—for example, the zombie stockbrokers stick out like sore thumbs in the Mayan village. It just all seems so random!

The weapons offer a lot of variety, but there are simply too many, which makes cycling through the choices in the middle of a firefight totally frustrating. There are a few new weapons and some vehicles that are a lot of fun, but you rarely get to use either in the game. Ammo for the best weapons is usually incredibly sparse, and stints in the vehicles—including a giant hamster ball of death that Sam rolls around inside of—are disappointingly short and woefully infrequent.
The coolest feature of SSII is the eight-player co-op mode that takes the place of a standard tacked-on deathmatch. Although we didn’t get a chance to test it, co-op seems like the perfect fit for this game’s continuous action.

While Serious Sam II doesn’t suffer from any fatal flaws or crappy code, the franchise’s formula just isn’t as fun the second time around.
—Josh Norem

Month Reviewed: December 2005

+ SHOOTING BAD GUYS: Insane amounts of destruction, great graphics, and good humor.

- SHOOTING HEROIN: Repetitive, and lacks the first game's special something.

Verdict: 6

ESRB Rating: M

www.serioussam2.com