This weekends Steam madness deal is the brilliant indie shooter Serious Sam. You can get the original Serious Sam First and Second Encounters, plus the re-released HD versions for just £7.47p (approx $12). Or you can purchase the Fist and Second encounters separately. The originals are only included with the Gold version though. If you don’t want the originals which are about 10 years old you can buy the double pack that includes just the HD versions for £5.49p (approx $8). I would highly recommend getting the Gold version though. The original and HD versions are almost the same apart from the graphics, but the originals are much more fun if you are into playing online as the favourite trick employed by die hard Serious Sam fanatics of rocket bouncing isn’t possible in the new versions. Rocket bouncing allows you get to otherwise impossible to get to places like the top of buildings etc. I personally would recommend getting the Gold version as the originals have a charm of their own. Despite being nearly 10 years old, the graphics are surprisingly crisp. I remember when it was first released I though the graphics were amazing. You really felt like you were in ancient Egypt (which is where the First Encounter is based.
The game opens outside Hatshepsut’s temple. Gone are the car parks, the long lines of tourists and the small shanty town that has grown up outside the historic site. Instead all you see is a desert I front of the temple. When I visited Hatshepsut’s temple several years ago, I recognised it from the game, down to the long ramp that leads up to the temple and the massive columns and statues. What a fantastic site it was. The game really does look fantastic and it plays brilliantly too. F you like in yer face action without having to worry about re-spawning at the beginning of a level you’ll love Serious Sam. It’s entertaining, exciting and manic all at the same time. The variety of weapons is excellent and the wacky monsters you have to decimate with your trusty weapons is extensive. You’ll need the best weapons to survive the hoards of monsters that come running at you from all angles.
This is a fantastic bargain. Get it while it’s on deal. I doubt you’ll regret it. The long Awaited Serious Sam 3 is almost done and is expected to be released over the summer. I’ve posted a few screen captures just to whet your appetites. All I need to see now is for Serious Sam 2 to be released as a HD version. Though Serious Sam 2 was never as good as it’s earlier games (First and Second Encounters). You can get Serious Sam 2 from Direct 2 Drive if you are interested
The Game:
The King of Indie Games has reclaimed his crown with Serious Sam HD: Gold Edition. The definitive collection of Serious Sam’s trademark arcade-style shooter game play is packed to the brim with non-stop action and includes revamped high-definition versions of Serious Sam HD: First and Second Encounters as well as classic versions of both games!
Developed by Croteam and powered by the Serious Engine 3, Serious Sam HD combines spectacularly enhanced visuals, including more polygons, higher resolution textures and more special effects for the gold standard in arcade-style FPS gaming. Serious Sam HD: First and Second Encounter feature epic campaign co-op modes and over a dozen high-octane multiplayer modes like deathmatch, capture the flag and the new survival matches for up to 16 players.
Serious Sam HD: Gold Edition also includes the original Serious Sam: First and Second Encounter titles from 2001/2002 with four-player split screen, LAN support and the Serious Editor for custom maps creation!
Free Update - Serious Sam HD Fusion Pack:
The Serious Sam HD Fusion DLC Pack combines all the campaign and multiplayer levels from Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter into Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter for the ultimate in classic first-person shooter mayhem. For the first time ever, enjoy new modes like Beast Hunt and My Burden using the classic maps from Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter.
Key Features:
Single Player:
• Various Environments and Secrets – Unleash mayhem on 4 different spectacular worlds: Ancient Egypt, South America, Ancient Mesopotamia and Medieval Europe. Discover hundreds of secrets scattered across the blood-soaked battlefields across both Encounters.
• Unique Enemies and Bosses – Fight with nightmarish warriors in Mental’s army, including iconic baddies like the Beheaded Kamikaze, Syrian Werebull, Kleer Skeleton and Cucurbito the Pumpkin. Go head to head against massive bosses including Mordekai the Summoner and legendary Ugh-Zan III.
• Special Weapons and Power-Ups – Wreak havoc with a huge arsenal of weapons like the Minigun, Rocket Launcher, Cannon, Flamethrower, Sniper and Chainsaw. Use Power-Ups to increase your fighting and agility skills to gain advantage again Mental and multiplayer opponents.
Multiplayer:
• Survival Mode – Try to stay alive as long as you can against continued enemies’ attacks in specially designed survival maps!
• Co-Op Modes – Plunge into chaos with up to 16 players in Cooperative Campaign, Survival Co-op and Coin-Op Co-op!
• Versus Modes – Fight against your friends in versus modes including Deathmatch, Beast Hunt, Last Man Standing and My Burden!
• Team Modes – Compete against other teams in team matches including Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag and Last Team Standing!
Extra Features included with the Steam Version:
• Steam Achievements – Earn over 100 amazingly attractive achievements to boost your social standing and become more attractive.
• Steam Leaderboards – See your score recorded in both single player and cooperative leaderboards.
• Steam Cloud – Store your profile online on the Steam Cloud servers, including your bindings, last played level and campaign progress.
Serious Sam Classic Version Features:
• 4-Player Split Screen – Fully supported in all game modes, in both LAN play and online!
• LAN Support – Play multiplayer in your local network!
• Scorematch Mode – Play versus mode for scores!
• Multiple Gravity – Experience several gravities in one room or fight with enemies which are ambushing you from the ceiling, while you jump up to confront them!
• Serious Tools – Includes tools used to create the game, Serious Editor and Serious Modeler, so gamers can create their own levels!
• Runs on both old and new PCs – Can be played on most current and older PC video cards (DirectX 7 or OpenGL compliant 3D accelerator), processors (minimum AMD K6-3 400MHz, Pentium II or Celeron-A 300MHz) and systems (Windows 95 OSR2, 98, 98SE, ME, NT with SP4, 2000, XP, Vista, 7)!
System Requirements:
o OS: Windows XP with SP1 or newer
o Processor: Intel P4 3+ Ghz or AMD Athlon64 3500+
o Memory: 1 GB for XP or 2 GB for Vista
o Graphics: nVidia GeForce 7600, ATI Radeon X1600 (Shader Model 3.0 required)
o DirectX®: DirectX 9.0c August 2009 Edition or newer
o Hard Drive: 4.5 GB
o Sound: Direct X 9.0c compatible sound card
The original Game:
Serious Sam 3: (not yet released):
Serious Sam 3: BFE is a glorious throwback to the golden age of first-person shooters where men were men, cover was for amateurs and pulling the trigger made things go boom. Serving as a prequel to the original indie sensation, Serious Sam: The First Encounter, Serious Sam 3 takes place during the Earth’s final struggle against Mental’s invading legions of beasts and mercenaries. Set against the collapsing temples of an ancient civilization and the crumbling cities of 22nd century Egypt, Serious Sam 3 is an exhilarating fusion of classic twitch shooters and modern gameplay features.
