GOD Games - Gathering of Developers - brings us "Serious Sam" (SS), a 3D first person shooter, on the most literal sense of the expression: there are guns; there are baddies; you fire, they fire, one of you will bite the dust. Just point and bang! Higher brain functions aren't needed.

Months before the new Doom, GOD anticipates the move, and comes up with this game, clearly set to answer to the previewable increase on the demand for "back to the absolute basic" titles.

SS looks pretty, sounds bassy and crashy, and requires no more than aim, run, jump, fire and strafe skills. The brain's neocortex will rest :).

Sam is someone on Levis jeans and (red) All Stars shoes. He goes back in time to save planet Earth from cruel aliens, wearing no more than that, plus a white t-shirt with the game's logo!

This game is so phallic, that most guns are as big as the main character, reducing him to a mere supporting role. Cool!, if you're in for that neocortex holiday.

SS is a good laugh! There is a regular in-your-face humor, that goes well with Sam's complete lack of subtlety. There is no sniper weapon, no silencer, and no path for strategy. All the guns, except for the knife (which you'll never use, anyway), bang louder than anything else on the surroundings, transforming the endurance fights in true explosion concertos...

Endurance fights? To be honest, SS knows no other meeting, than the endurance meeting. Adversaries may come in packs of hundreds! You end up killing thousands of creatures per level! There are plenty of occasions where everything is set to get you showering the full load of all your weapons, against nasties that range from the oh-they-look-life-buffalos, to they they-are-mechs! In the between, there are scorpions, green-vomiting beasts, ... , and the original screaming kamikazes!

The screaming kamikazes are one of the earlier monsters. They are human torpedos, aimed at Sam. They walk with their heads on their hands... and as they approach their target, they scream, so the louder the scream gets, the nearer they are. The first time Sam hears a kamikaze, he comments "AHHHH yourself too!", and you laugh... but later in the game, when you are plagued with dozens of them, it will become obvious that they are quite dangerous.

On the other hand, the scorpions - which have other name, that I can't be bothered to check right now - startup being as one of the most terrible entities, but will soon become "easy" with experience.

When Sam picks up the rocket launcher and kills a reptilian, he finally says "this is getting serious!", but that will only be the beginning.

Bottom line is: SS is seriously repetitive and seriously hard. I very much doubt that is someone alive :) who can complete the game in the hardest difficulty setting. For example it seems to me, that there isn't enough ammo to wash the Marsh-Hopper invasion, by the end of the episode "Tomb of Ramses III" (only the 4th challenge). Btw, the Marsh Hoopers are small organism that attack in huge bands.

Chances are that most gamers will appreciate SS, but will become gradually bored with its challenges. Technically, the game is "perfect" for its objectives: great looking graphics, very appropriate audio, fast and accurate control device responses, it scales correctly to the available hardware (superb on high end PCs, not bad on lower end machines), but might suffer from small design issues.

Most levels feel like tunnels: you only have one way where to advance. I think SS is strongly lacking on alternative routes. Do you remember the original Doom, or the original Quake? If yes, you'll know that level design was interesting enough to frequently allow multi entry points to zones, allowing you to adapt your path, according to your personal style or punctual ammo. SS didn't copy that lesson.

But, again, this is seriously fun, kind of addictive, causes great impression for the first hours, is technically strong, and where it misses, it might just be an option to *enforce* the brainless gameplay.

Here is the game's source code :):

while (!game_completed(&game)){
baddies_come (&game);
bullets_fired (&game);
baddies_drop (&game);
you_win=game->status;
}

Enjoy! Recommended for a LONG summer night (or turn off the lights).