Serious Sam 4 Review

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Serious Sam 4

Developer: Croteam
Publisher: Devolver Digital
Website: http://www.croteam.com/
Genre: First Person Shooter, Action
Platform: PC
Age Rating: PEGI 18
Release Date: 24.09.2020
Price: £30.99

A code was provided for review purposes.

Let’s get serious

Serious Sam is a series that has been around for a long time. Overshadowed by the likes of Doom, Duke Nukem¸ and Goldeneye, the first-person action shooter series never truly felt like a revolutionary game series.

That isn’t to say it’s not a fun game full of explosions, guns, shooting screaming headless running bombs and killing aliens, it just never was quite as polished as it’s competitors.

Serious Sam 4 is the first title in the series since 2011 and is easily the best title of the four games. Among shooters like Call of Duty and Halo, Serious Sam 4 sets itself apart by taking the old school route like Doom Eternal and create a massive first-person shooter that takes on hundreds of enemies.

Balls of Steel

Serious Sam 4  is what Duke Nukem Forever should have been. It’s a raucous, rip-roaring, bullet infested, alien invading, shoot everything and leave, good time. It’s stupid fun, and to me, that is the best fun a “sub-par” shooter can be. You don’t have to be the cleanest, most impressive, amazing first-person shooter to make an impact and I think Devolver Digital have a wonderful thing going for them.

Serious Sam 4 is a prequel to Serious Sam 3 (not quite sure why a sequel is a prequel, but look at Borderlands with their Pre-Sequel…who cares right?). The story is your typical world invasion by the Mental’s cronies and it’s up to the Earth Defense Force led by Sam “Serious” Stone and his troop of stereotypical tough guy commandos. The story is played out quite well for a shooter of this calibre, but it’s nothing new in the First Person Shooter alien invasion trope.

Seriously Smooth

Devolver Digital has become one of my favourite publishers because of their often wacky presentations for events such as E3 or any other video game event. They have truly stepped up their game too. One would not look at a series like Serious Sam and think 4k resolution or really smooth performance but this particular instalment is one of the smoothest rides I’ve ever experienced. If Doom was created by an indie developer, you would have Serious Sam 4. The controls and movements are butter smooth and I actually died a few times just staring in awe at how beautiful the in-game graphics were during a major boss fight.

That’s not to say that this game is perfect by any degree. The cutscene graphics leave a little to be desired, but let’s face it, you’re not playing this game for the cutscenes. You’re playing this game to use an overpowered shotgun to take down hordes of bad guys with heavy metal in the background. If you have played DOOM Eternal, or even the 2016 DOOM, you will love this game. The music is not near as iconic and heavy as DOOM, however, it is still well done metal for this type of game.

A Serious Arsenal

Serious Sam 4 is replete with weapons of different types as well as upgrades that will aid you in your campaign, however, the super shotgun is the only gun you’ll need. I’ve never played an FPS where the shotgun has the reach this gun has. It’s quite ridiculous, in a good way. The other weapons are fun to use, however, Sam’s Serious Super Shotgun is the only weapon you need. Other weapons include rocket launchers, laserguns, sniper rifles and a minigun. All the typical arsenal you’d see in any FPS.

There are also a few gadgets at your disposal as well such as rage serum which enhances your movements and speed, as well as a holodecoy, a black hole (yes a literal black hole that swallows your enemies…) and an extra life defibrillator that revives you upon death. There’s a slew of other gadgets and gizmos that you just have to try out for yourself!

Serious Fun

Having been playing First Person Shooters for the majority of my gaming career since the early days of Goldeneye 007 for the N64, I have to say for what it’s worth, this is one of the most fun shooter’s I have experienced in a long time. The one-liners rival that of Duke Nukem and can mostly be pretty hilarious and the actual gameplay and mechanics run like a charm on PC. It’s very satisfying mowing down hundreds of thousands of bad guys as well as moving quickly and nailing trick shots as well. The cast of characters are quite enjoyable and the voice acting is very well done. Croteam and Dread locks, as well as Devolver Digital, have quite a great title on their hands with this one! I highly recommend this wacky, ridiculous, stupid fun shooter to anyone who enjoys First Person Shooters!

Rapid Reviews Rating