Serious Sam First Encounter Secrets

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Prospero Barela

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Aug 3, 2024, 3:08:52 PM8/3/24

to compwelvepark

I would say go for "Serious Sam Classics: Revolution," on Steam it's currently going for $2 and includes both Serious Sam The First Encounter + The Second Encounter which are arguably still the best games in the series.

Since they are the classic games and not the HD remakes it wont look as pretty; however, the HD remakes made some changes to the physics and enemy behavior that I feel make it an inferior experience compared to the classics. In fact some secrets had to be completely changed (for the worse IMO) in the HD versions since Croteam was not able to faithfully recreate them in the HD engine.

I've been playing Serious Sam since shortly after the original TFE was released, and I absolutely loved it, and I bought TSE the first chance I got. I played the hell out of the classic versions, and they still have a special place in my heart. So I've been playing Serious Sam for around 20 years now.

That being said, I would go with the HD remakes. They just look so much better, yes there were some changes to physics, and some secrets had to be redesigned, but I think the smoother gameplay and better graphics makes up for it. And if you've never played the originals, you won't notice any differences. I know, I'm not being a purist, but I honestly think for a first time player, go with the HD versions, because if you like them, you'll probably end up getting the classic versions. And the classic versions still hold up; there's certainly nothing inferior about them, but I prefer playing the HD versions.

Although looking at it, if you get the SERIOUS SAM HD GOLD COLLECTION on Steam you get both the HD versions of TFE and TSE, and the classic versions as well. For $7.65, which is an absolute steal, considering just the classic versions are $1.99. That's a ton of content. And anyway, you can refund it within the 2 hour time frame, so you should be able to tell if you like the game within that timeframe.

Honestly, if I was looking at it for the first, time, I'd just get as much Sam as I can, especially at that price point. And I really hope you enjoy it, some people like myself absolutely love the mindless cathartic mayhem and sometimes cheesy, sometimes hilarious humour of the games. Some people just think it boils down to "Hold S and Left Mouse for hours". I disagree, there's an amazing amount of prioritization that goes into every single fight, there are so many different types of enemies, large environments where they can spawn from any direction, and plenty of guns. Sometimes it almost seems like a beautiful orchestra. Other times it's a complete clusterfuck, but I always have fun with it.

I actually just finished Siberian Mayhem last night, and damn that was fun. Way, way too short, but it was fun. And maybe it's just because I love winter levels, but it seemed much more enjoyable than Sam 4... which I'm trying to play through again. I got about half-way last time and then lost interest, but Siberian Mayhem restarted my love of Sam.

The developers have given their blessing to a cracker to release a pirated version of the game to let the players get a taste before buying. For legal reasons, of course, I cannot provide the link, but it should not be too difficult to find it yourself.

You can't really go wrong with Classics Revolution or the Fusion versions from what I've heard. Personally I prefer the prettier visuals that Fusion offers despite it's bugs and changes (although nothing game-breaking). You'll get Fusion for free if you purchase either of the two HD versions or Serious Sam 3 IIRC. I play through these games almost annually with friends and it's a total blast. And you get workshop support, too.

I guess I should add, don't play Serious Sam 3 or 4 for your first Sam game. Sam 3 took me a long time to really enjoy, it had development problems, and it shows. It was supposed to be a completely different game, that fell through, and turned into a Sam game later on. To put it lightly, it has COD syndrome for the first half, I only ended up finishing it after modifying weapon behavior so that it didn't feel so drastically different from the original games.

Serious Sam 4 is better, it kept some of the aspects of Sam 3, but it's more arena focused and feels closer to TFE and TSE, but has some performance issues. The updates seem to have fixed most of them, but some people still have problems. The engine isn't that well optimized, but it's still fun. And with some enhancements, as I experienced with Siberian Mayhem, it runs extremely smoothly, even with hundreds of enemies on the battlefield.

Hell, in the last level I just checked my mission stats to see my time in the level, and I noticed I had already killed over 1,000 enemies. Then I got into a huge battle, where I launched a tactical missile strike, sprinted around the field with a laser gun in my left hand and a literal cannon in my right, swapping out for rocket launchers, grenade launcher, an electric crossbow, AK's, everything under the sun. I used up so much ammunition in that fight, that lasted maybe two minutes (okay, it might've been three or four minutes). Then I checked my stats, and I had killed over 600 enemies. When Sam is good, it's really good.

And Serious Sam 2 is actually a really good game, it just became a bit too cartoony for my liking. It's not bad, but I preferred the semi-serious production of TFE and TSE. The gameplay is still there, but it's just... not quite one I would recommend for a first timer. It took me a fair amount of time before I started enjoying it, it's just a little too goofy.

Serious Sam HD versions hands down. The classics are classic but the HD versions are an example of a remaster done right. Improved everything without changing any sounds, music, voices, or hurting gameplay. Cleaner HUD, better graphics and more options.

I'll agree with that order, but I'm not sure I would take 3 over 4. I've enjoyed my time with Sam 4 more than Sam 3 (especially after playing Siberian Mayhem), maybe my expectations were too high for 3. It just takes too long before it stops feeling like the military shooter that was originally planned. Well, and it's obvious they made the Scrapjack and Khnum because they were pitching to id to work on Doom 4. I don't think the game had much of a cohesive direction for most of it, and then they just ended up turning all the ideas into Serious Sam.

But I definitely agree that First Encounter and Second Encounter should be at the top. TFE to get used to the game, and TSE to just snuggle down in a warm blanket of Serious Sam becoming a better game. It's still my favorite of the series, they took TFE, ramped it up with new enemies, new weapons, and most importantly new locations. It wasn't just closed in arenas in Egypt for the entire game, there were vast fields, snow covered hills, it was everything that a sequel should be.

Anyway, @BigMetalhead: If you do decide to pick up the Sam games, and I hope you do, I want you to be ready to constantly have the sound of the headless kamikaze in your head after you play it. It just echoes in your ears, it's the sound of complete terror. The games have great sound design, the sound of the Kleer and the Werebulls is very intimidating, the same with the Biomechanoids. But those kamikaze's are terrifying.

Respectfully disagree, an enemy taking cover in a Serious Sam game is an affront to the intrinsic design of the game. Yes you can destroy their cover in some areas, particularly out in the open, but I can recall at least one spot indoors where I just stood in a doorway and let them jump at me and blasted them with the double barrel.

Joking aside, the boss can be really frustrating if you do not know what you are doing. On my first attempt, I tried to rush to the pyramid's entrance and make my stand there, not realizing that it was pointless and that I could actually shoot down most of its projectiles. It is only when I figured out that I was allowed to backtrack and grab supplies that I missed during my mad dash that the battle did become actually enjoyable.

I do hesitate calling Ugh-Zan III the best boss fight in a first-person shooter, however, as outside of the health regeneration gimmick, it is essentially the Cyberdemon fight from the original Doom all over again. It is still visually impressive, given the size of the boss as well as the arena, do not get me wrong, but from a gameplay perspective, it is fairly straightforward.

I can see that. Really it's just the first three levels or so that drag. I usually just load straight to like level four when I replay 3. I didn't have a strong enough PC when 3 came out so I got it later. But I enjoy it. Nowhere near as good as originals though. The originals have the perfect blend of serious and funny. 3 was too serious at some places but I get why, it was meant to be present time, modern, military like. So I give it a pass. But the weapons kick ass and I love the beefed up monster and weapon designs in 3.

I agree too, fuck the Space Monkeys. Most annoying enemy in the whole franchise. I hate them more than Kleers and that's saying something. Can you believe I actually made hard saves after each Space Monkey section so I just load that save during a replay to skip fighting them and get back to the good gameplay. I also have saves to skip the cave and tunnel sections.