Serious Sam is one of the arguable godfathers of modern fragging titles, following in the footsteps of classics such as Quake and Duke Nukem, eschewing the more gritty journeys into theoretical ‘realism’ for bizarre over-the-top hyper-violent fragging of bizarre monsters and enemies that are all hellbent on destroying Sam.
Who, as you might have guessed, is the titular character.
Developed by Croteam since its inception, Serious Sam is a first-person shooter that brings a wide arsenal to blast intergalactic enemies into little bits while delivering classic one-liners that nail down precisely how much of an 80s action-star Serious Sam actually is.
Steam is giving the spotlight to the entire franchise of Serious Sam as Croteam spins up the newest iteration with Serious Sam 4 which is bringing massive improvements to the franchise as a whole, ranging from upgrading your weapons to a new legion system.
The Legion System has many fans of Serious Sam particularly excited for this upcoming title, as it allows ‘thousands’ of enemies on screen at once, all eager to end Serious Sam’s beautiful life of curb-stomping grotesque monstrosities across a wide variety of levels. It might be better portrayed in action:
While Croteam states that they are ‘dialing it up to eleven’, the videos absolutely back that up. With massive enemies confronting Sam Stone at every turn during his galactic adventures (which can be shared with three other friends in a cooperative campaign) and coming in the hundreds, Sam will use his entire arsenal to save humanity from the horde of Mental legions in a fast-paced title.
To some, there can be comparisons with Doom in regards to the fast-paced combat and destruction, although there is no notice of Denuvo anti-cheat (or anti-tamper) on the Steam page, meaning you’ll likely be able to play this well into the future and with as many mods and tweaks as you would like.
In terms of pre-order bonuses, Croteam is offering one in-game item for purchasing before the title comes out, a Tommy Gun which Sam Stone can use to mow down the indomitable hordes of enemies that present themselves for fine target practice.
Serious Sam 4 already has its Steam page live for preorders, and hasn’t announced when (or if) it will be coming to consoles, but it will be playable on both Windows and Linux systems, which is good news for those that continue to shun Microsoft for past practices.
If you find yourself enjoying the murder of thousands of enemies at once with a wild variety of weaponry, Serious Sam 4 is absolutely something that you should keep your fingers on the pulse of. If the Legion System works as well as Croteam states, it could be revolutionary for games in the future; presuming that you’re good enough to handle it.
