It’s time for a carnage! – review of the game “Serious Sam 4”

From the nostalgeek corner

The Serious Sam series was created by the Croatian company Croteam, and the first part was released in 2001. Its plot was not complicated, and the game itself was mostly about pushing forward and killing everything that moves. Sometimes we were only required to find a hidden button or solve a simple puzzle. The game became famous mainly due to its extraordinary humor. The protagonist often threw jokes, just like his personal computer. The creators placed a lot of hidden passages and objects inside the levels, which also made players smile. The title also came to our country, where a Polish language version was created. Serious Samit quickly became iconic. No wonder that a year later the second part was released, which turned out to be as good, if not better than its original. You can read more about them on our website. For the next nine years, players only got Sam in the deluxe or HD version. It wasn’t until 2011 that Serious Sam 3: BFE was released , which didn’t become as much of a hit as its predecessors. In 2012, the fourth installment of the adventures of Serious Sam was announced, which we could only get to know now.

Hello Europe

The action of Serious Sam 4 takes place shortly before the events presented in the third part and the hero’s trip to Egypt. This time our adventure begins in Italy, and in the next missions we will travel through other European countries, including France and Russia. And during the trip, our task will be, as usual, to kill newcomers from other galaxies. For here Mental wants to take over the Earth and for this purpose sends his countless armies into battle. The chance to save our planet is of course Sam, who will not act alone this time (sorry for a weak joke)! He will be accompanied in his mission by commandos known as the Earth Defense Force. Together, they grab rocket launchers, shotguns, chainsaws, laser cannons, and other miniguns and confront the enemy.

Years fly by, Sam still (not) serious

If you’ve played any of the earlier versions of Serious Sam, you know what to expect from the fourth installment. We are getting a first-person FPS again, and our task is to eliminate enemies that appear from all sides. Along the way, of course, we will find a few puzzles, hidden passages and objects. The creators decided that we would not have an easy life. Up to 10,000 opponents can stand against us at once! This is the real shambles we’ve been expecting! And we will be able to run it alone or with friends. There is a cooperative mode in which we can join the team online and eliminate hordes of aliens together.

And how are the new products presented? We won’t be surprised here either. As usual, we have several new types of weapons at our disposal. Among the enemy units we find hitherto unknown races of aliens. Of course, we will be wandering around previously unvisited locations. Moreover, we will not fight alone. During the missions we will be accompanied by NPCs, i.e. soldiers from the Earth Defense Force. Their job is exactly like ours – shooting anything that moves. We, in turn, will be able to give them a few simple commands, but most of the time we will have no influence on our partners. We don’t have to worry too much about them, because it is impossible for them to die if the scenario did not provide for them. As always, we will also hear a lot of jokes by Sam, but also by his colleagues. We will also be able to slightly improve our hero with points that we spend on the “talent tree”. Thanks to this, in return for killing the enemy, Sam heals himself a little or more often drops an item in the form of ammunition or armor. And that’s basically it. So all the fun of the game will focus on eliminating thousands, if not millions, of enemies. And it will last for about 10 hours. Unless, of course, you get bored earlier.

Fun in a beautiful setting

The Croteam company once again focused not only on shooting, but also on the humorous background of the game. During the next missions, we will hear and see a lot of jokes. It is a pity that most of them fall in cutscenes, which are sometimes too long. Then there will also be a dilemma whether we want to watch them to the end to burst out laughing, or whether we prefer to return to saving the Earth.

A plus for the creators is the musical setting. This one is properly adjusted to what is happening on the screen. It speeds up when hordes of enemies are rushing towards us, slows down when following narrow streets, and can be more gloomy in dark corners, from which the enemy is about to emerge. Known melodies tailored to the place where we are add add extra flavor. For example, in Russia we will hear Kalinka , and in France fragments of Marseillaise .

The biggest advantage of Serious Sam 4however, there is a visual setting. Wandering the streets of Rome or jumping on the roofs of buildings, we will feel as if we are in fact in Italy. In one of the hidden moments, we will even be able to play football. The fields in France are also extremely charming, and we may even get colder when we reach the Arctic Field. So if there are no thousands of enemy units around us, whose sole purpose is to kill us, it is worth stopping for a moment and enjoying the views. Besides, not only the landscapes are wonderful. The aliens themselves should also be appreciated. I don’t know what the developers took to create such twisted creatures straight from Cthulhu myths and psychedelic horror movies, but the effect is very good. Of course, the well-known opponents were also refreshed. If only your graphics card allows it,

Fans satisfied

Serious Sam 4 does not bring anything new to the gaming world, or even to the series itself. The malicious ones might think that this is a monotonous production in which you just have to go ahead and shoot. And to make it less interesting, the creators added more enemies, so that there would be even more beats. And it really is. Simple controls, easy puzzles and a shambles. Only a few weapon models were thrown in and a plot setting was made, which is also not particularly revealing. True Sam fans, however, will appreciate the latest Croteam product. The protagonist is still funny, and to make things more fun, he now has buddies with a similar sense of humor. We also never lack opponents. In addition, we have ear-friendly music and beautiful graphics. Nothing but sit back and save the Earth. After all, it is an extremely serious task!