After reading reviews from
Gamespot & IGN that gave rather average
ratings (6.9/10), complaining of cartoon-like
design and repetitive gameplay, my expectations
for Serious Sam II weren't high. However, I
didn't have the option of comparing it to the
first two parts of Serious Sam, as I only ever
played the original demo years ago. This may
have been a good thing.
As it turned out, the further
I progressed in the game the more I realised
this is a well underrated game. In particular,
it was the level design that truly impressed
me. Compared with other FPS' that have you plodding
through the same themes for hours; eg. Doom3
and it's indoor base, Croteam throwing in a
brand new world and theme almost every second
level was very welcome.
Some players might complain
that it's all too inconsistent (those some players
probably complain that the gameplay is too repetitive),
but it was all well tied into the story as to
how they could present so many different themes
and cultures.
Some of the memorable themes
for me were the swamps of Deadwood, giant tree
village of Woodstock, the Giant Junkyard, the
entire Kleer chapter - very similar to Doom3's
Hell levels, and the many little villages in
different planets. Fantastic level design all
the way through the game, all very colourful
and bright. This may be the first game I've
ever played where I didn't have to turn the
lights out to see properly! My only nitpick
in design was the lack of vertical design -
it's all very flat and open.
Gameplay was all very enjoyable.
I will say that those reviewers that complained
about it being too easy on normal are very much
wrong. The in-game menu describes normal as
being for the "Experienced FPS Player"
and that's exactly what I am. I found the gameplay
to be pretty spot on. There were some parts
that were a little tight on health, but ammo
was always plentiful. I played through most
of the game with the DBL-SG and Minigun, always
with more rockets (and later cannonballs) left
than what I should have. My only criticism is
the final level, which went on far too long.
By the time I managed to make it to the final
arena, I felt it was already enough of a build
up to bring on the final boss. I was wrong,
it's time to battle around 20 giant spiders.
By this time I was sick of it and ready to put
god mode on just so I could finally get to the
boss. The final level was also probably the
worst looking level in the game, so it was a
poor way to end the game.
One more strength Serious Sam
II has is the humour, albeit sometimes too cheesy.
Still, this beats NOLF/NOLFII as the funniest
FPS made. And it actually had a story with two
cutscenes after every single level. Good job
for a game supposed to be about pure hardcore
action. In fact, Serious Sam II probably has
more cutscenes than Halo and Half-Life! Admittedly
the story was rather straight-foward compared
to something like NOLF.
Overall Serious Sam II is very
good game, particularly if you don't take gaming
too seriously (Halo & RTS gamers may not
like this). Croteam are very tight-lipped on
Serious Sam III, but I'm definitely going to
be on the lookout. The Serious Engine III is
said to be at least as good as Unreal Engine
3.
