When I first played the original Serious Sam I was very impressed with several factors of the game, first it had incredibly beautiful settings for an FPS game, very colorful and bright, and was a blast to play.  Second there were plentiful targets for you to hone your targeting skills on and a huge arsenal at your disposal. Third, the game was quite extensive in the number of levels and the manner in which all the levels connected to each other. And last, that a game that was all of that, played great without being demanding on your system requirements.

When I heard that a second Serious Sam was in the making, I wondered how they were going to improve on something that was already so good. Well, CROTEAM did it, they made SS,TSE bigger, badder, and much more fun! So what do you get? How about more firepower? OK, you get some awesome new weapons, a chainsaw (great for making hamburger out of anything that gets too close), a flame-thrower (can you say "Crispy Critters?"), and last but not least, a 16 mm sniper rifle (the ultimate way to reach out and touch someone). Of course all the regular weapons are still included (Knife, .45 pistol, Pump shotgun, Double barreled coach gun, Thompson submachine gun, Minigun, Rocket launcher, Grenade launcher, Laser gun, and Cannon). Now that you have an extended arsenal, how about some serious power ups? Again, you got it! Invulnerability, Invisibility, Serious Damage, and Serious Speed. Get amped up on some of these and there is almost nothing that can stop you! More guns, more power, now how about more of Mental's minions to blow away? Yes Sir! You get 7 new enemies to add to the list. And to top it all off, CROTEAM has expanded it's Multiplayer modes with some really cool stuff. But right now lets look at the game.

When we left Sam at the end of the first game, he had been transported back in time to ancient Egypt, battled Mental's minions, found Mental's spaceship and hijacked it and was headed for Mental's home. This is where The Second Encounter picks up the story. Unfortunately, Sam doesn't get very far. Through a little mishap, Sam loses control of the ship and crashes into the mountains of South America, and must now face an even greater force of Mental's friends. Where the first game was set entirely in ancient Egypt, this game takes you through the Mayan ruins of South America before transporting you to Ancient Babylon, and then onto....well you play the game and find out where and when the last setting is.

This game plays exactly like the first one, same controls, consoles, even Netricsa and her sly sense of humor remain the same. While the game does support a joystick, I find the simple keyboard and mouse controls to be very adequate. This game is also very easy on your system resources, almost any computer with a Pentium or AMD processor above 400mhz, 128 mg RAM, and a 3d video card with Open GL should play this just fine. SS,TSE also feature some new graphics, they added lots of new vegetation that fills in some of the empty spaces in the first game. The levels are also much larger in size with lots of open areas outside and more booby traps inside the buildings. It would seem that Gameplay is about 50% more than the original. Combine that with the new weapons, enemies, and power ups and SS,TSE really comes to life, Gameplay is soooo intense at times, and very addictive. I must warn you though that like the first game, SS,TSE is full of animated violence with blood and body parts everywhere and is Rated Mature, not for the younger players!

This game was designed with FUN in mind, it is not as realistic as some of the new W.W.II FPS games that are coming out right now, but they don't have the shear intense fun factor that SS,TSE has. I had a blast with this game, and will continue to play and replay it for quite some time.

Installation: Easy

Gameplay: 9
New weapons, enemies, and power ups, combined with larger levels, more vegetation, and more booby traps, make for a game that will give the fan of FPS games an intense gaming experience. Well above average. The serious game engine is used to the fullest extent in the game and it does run smooth and sweet.

Controls are simple to use and master with almost no set up required. The game is very easy to control using the keyboard (forward, back, use, and side step) and the mouse (direction, look, fire and select weapon)

Graphics: 8.9
Pretty much the same great graphics used in the first game but with lots of added vegetation that tends to fill in the empty spots in the outdoors sequences. Interior views are full of details and the ancient ruins settings give the game a look that is so different from the other shooter games out there, very nice.

Sound: 8.9
Audio ear candy. That about wraps it up. Everything you here in the game is first class, from the weapons to the background music (which by the way will tell you when you are about to get into a no holds barred firefight, as the music will get louder and more tense, then quiet down as all the enemies are eliminated). And of course Sam will throw in one of his wise cracks every now and then when the situation is right (when he first gets the chainsaw "Look Ma, I'm a lumberjack!").

Difficulty: 9
This game can be as easy or as challenging as you want it to be. Going the easy route? Select to play as a "Tourist," want a huge challenge? Play it in "Serious" mode. Either way there are plenty of situations to keep you busy from defeating hordes of Mental's minions, to figuring out how to get around a particular booby trap or finding the right pieces required to open a door.

Concept: 9
I LOVE the concept behind this game, it's all tongue in cheek. While all the other shooters out there are trying so hard to be as realistic as possible, the Serious Sam series of games is trying to make them as FUN as possible! I mean think about it, a wise cracking, muscle bound guy running around ancient Babylon in a T-shirt, blue jeans, and red Converse tennis shoes carrying a Minigun and blowing away monsters from another world........just thinking about it brings a grin to my face. There's absolutely nothing realistic about it, hhhmmmm, maybe that's why it's so much fun to play!

Multiplayer: 9
OK, there's a lot of multiplayer options that come with this game, LAN network, Gamespy, or off-line split screen (up to four players on a single computer). You also get some really cool mods for multiplayer, like Seriously Warped Deathmatch, Scorematch, Cooperative, Fragmatch, Thief, Rugby, Teamplay, Capture the Flag, and more, and it all come bundled with the game! Oh and the split screen play even extends to on-line play...yes, now more than one person can play on-line from the same computer...how cool is that!

Overall: 9
Needless to say, I loved this game. As a reviewer, I go through a lot of games, most of which are rated based on technical merit, in other words, is it the fastest, the best graphics, the clearest sounds, ect. While this game ranks high on all the technical merits, it rates even higher with me because of it's fun factor. If there were an ENJOYMENT rating, this one would probably get a 10, but don't take my word for it, go out and get it and test it for yourself, oh yeah, the very best part of the game is the price, should retail for about $20...AWESOME!
  Ovaldog gives Serious Sam, The Second Encounter, two thumbs up, way up, arms extended above my head.