Serious Sam II Review

Very often, we need a game that brings us back to what things once were. Serious Sam was a slap in the face of increasingly realistic and serious overtones in computer games. Bringing back fun in the real sense of the word, Serious Sam pit you against a flood of monsters designed to induce shock and bouts of retarded laughter altogether. Tied in with some stereotyped wit, the game pulled off the authentic feel of being a rip-off from something B-grade. And in spite of the fact that the game did not boast classy graphics or production values that would make Peter Jackson blush, the game and its dumb-down expansion was a clear success that spawned its own influences in titles such as Will Rock.

It’s a good thing that Croteam did not decide to experiment. Sticking to the formula that proved itself immensely successful, Serious Sam II comes back to do a recount on the population of the monster world. The classic if-anything-moves-shoot-else-shoot-to-make-sure-it-does-not-move is perfect for this title. To fill in something worth noting as a plot, a few puzzles are tied in. However, similar to the original this is only a spacer between more moments of macro-action. No game does the one man army job better.

Sam has probably bettered itself by a grade point or two and it shows in the evolution of the story. It’s actually slightly dense this time around with talk of Mental returning and a lot of people holding your way from the ultimate prize (as always) Even with this cliché, the real thing is only a few lines of text that divide layers of ecstasy inducing action. And it’s better that way. Sam has hardly been considered profound and a change in character would only be inconsistent, if not retarded. And come on, do you think that Pumpkin headed chainsaw wielders can be justified?

One of the previous game’s favourite annoyances was the information system. Rather than providing information, it paved the way for our telemarketing experts with questions oddly similar to “Sir, Gold Credit Card? Insurance Plan? Elastic Underwear?” This time around, the spam is visibly lesser and the humour is there to be seen. It’s mostly a witty one liner or a pointer to another baddie but it’s done very well. Again, the system is hardly useful due to obvious level design. It’s not a negative one but rather a non-essential one. All you really need to do is see where the monsters come from. If you spot this, and have an IQ anywhere near a table, you’d figure things out.

This time too, Sam has enough weapons to host his own private army. But choices rarely matter. This is even more restrictive than the first game where you could use the sniper once in a while for kicks. This time around I’d be surprised to find a use for any gun other than a rocket launcher and a shotgun. There’s never a problem of ammo and you can pretty much keep the left click button pinned down for the entire game. Later in the game, and rarely, you would find these epic moments in huge landscapes where the more devastating armory in your arsenal makes a big impact. For these instances, you can thank Croteam for its ingenuity. Otherwise, it’s a non stop frenzy of baddies of different dimension and orientation. And the diversity is quite breath taking. From the first game, Croteam has been VERY inventive with the monsters around you. This time around, things are even better with the very worst (and funniest) aiming to do unmentionable things to you posthumously. If you feel comparative, the baddies almost look like a Ghost Rider parody with intricate designs and motions. They are not completely realistic and that is a GOOD thing, since you hardly see one taking a metaphysical walk. It’s mostly a hundred or a thousand of them, foaming at their mouths with enough adrenaline to make Rocky IV seem clean. There’s no detailed physics, unit AI or teamwork used. It’s just a hundred, or a thousand or more aimed loosely at your direction. And that’s exactly the way you want it. It’s so bad that you’d wish they kept no clipping on for the monsters as they cramp their own style half of the time. Some of the most hilarious monsters this time around include the Orc football team and the freshly rendered rhino. At this pace, you forget the sad death animations, or the recoil of your gun. It’s a frenzy that induces an unholy heartbeat and pushes you into rapid strafing and running while shooting at the nearest mob. And satisfying is the only word that justifies this. This and this alone saves Serious Sam II from the technical analysis that every other game has to go through. However, even if your poly count per model is low, the artistic rendering of each creature is superbly done. And this is a major plus as the personality of each of these monsters is very well represented. This adds a greater dimension of humour and unreality in the game. By the time you face the bosses (not very long), the poly count upgrades itself lending to a good graphical look, if not cutting edge.

Physics require some more discussion. It becomes clear that Croteam is actually mocking the world of “cutting edge physics” with this half-assed engine that makes you laugh inconsistently. If this is ragdoll physics, it’s probably ragdoll physics on dope. The interactions with the world are meaningless and it’s funny to see people buckling without any essence of structure. Whether this was intentional or a bad screw-up is irrelevant. I loved this part of the game as much as anything else. Things get even funnier when Sam get’s his ride. The vehicles are borderline retarded and add another dimension of redneck humor to the game. However, too many vehicles do the same thing and the fun fades marginally here.

This does not mean that the game has a bad engine. The true power of the game is in its ability to churn out a thousand different models without any noticeable lag. And this makes the game fluid and often seamless. To follow the simple rule of putting as many monsters as you can fit in together, the engine makes hardly any down gradation in models over a great distance or short. The game is very scalable and runs competently on many machines. I’m yet to play this on a killer rig, but I don’t think it matters. The environment however was very pleasant. From the first time I set eyes on the pseudo Oriental set up in some of the Serious Sam II levels, the artwork and rendering struck me to be really good. There’s a great thematic feel to each of the environments and it renders and textures itself very well. This in combination with wide open spaces and enough monsters to fill up, makes the world quite antithetical with an odd sense of chaos in calm.

Coming to music, cliché takes over. The music is pretty obvious and is a minor disappointment. I was expecting a whacky overtone to the entire game, complementing the “I don’t give a rats ass” approach that the game subjects you to. However, the game audio is terribly common and fails to elicit any satisfaction. I expected some Moose styled audio and a lot of retarded weapon feedback. I guess I expected too much.

If you buy this game, play it in Co-Op. The game scales up in difficulty and you will get your butt kicked. But it’s a lot of fun. It’s eerily similar to the final levels of the game, only throughout the game this time around.

The Finale

Serious Sam 2 is successfully luring people into spending more cash. However, the game is entertaining and should be played if you ever liked the older titles. The action is endless and intense for most of it. It’s definitely not a normal FPS shooter and nor should you expect it to be. To truly enjoy this game, don’t be too critical of the graphics and sound. Take in the humour and keep firing and reloading. That’s when you will find the game interesting. Call it the perfect game for the trigger happy or a mouse damaging instrument. Either way, it’s a clear success.