Serious Sam 2 Demo

This is not much of a preview, more like an overview of the demo, which is available for download here. Serious Sam 2 is the third standalone game in the series and the first one to be released on a brand new “Serious 2” engine. The demo is a 235 MB download and features a small game level along with about 10 different weapons (all 15 if you cheat) and 1 of 9 vehicles. Also a few different types of enemies are shown but not too many.

It must be understood that since Serious Sam 2 is still a work in progress, this demo does not necessarily represent the finished game. Having said that, the demo left a bittersweet aftertaste. Although most individual aspects of it did a good job of living up to my expectations, when put together they seem to lack that wonderful spark of magic that made the previous iterations so enjoyable. Let me make it clear, however, that the demo is not “bad”.

The first game became a favorite because it had certain characteristics that were able to win hearts and minds. It had very colorful environments, a great amount of funny enemies, neat and original guns, a no-brainer gameplay and “samisms” (occasional wise-cracks from the protagonist).

This demo is also quite colorful, and although it could be said that it is hard to spot overly colorful enemies against overly colorful backgrounds, I was able to find them quite alright. The enemies are plenty but they are not quite as funny and that is because they appear to lack personality. Four types are just flying robots who fail to impress and the rest also lack that special something. The guns deliver for the most part but I personally expected something really novel and cool from CroTeam this time so again I was not overly impressed. The gameplay is still simple and hasn’t changed one bit from the previous games of the series. No “samisms” were spotted at this time.

The engine does all the things that one has come to expect of a modern 3D game. After an hour of playing and replaying the demo I didn’t see anything that would stand out as unacceptable but, on the other hand, I can’t say that I was blown away. I find the engine to be quite capable of doing what it is designed to do but no more than that.

One thing that irritated me was the presence of the jumping puzzle. The same kind that has made every known “never again” list. I can find no reason or excuse to place a jumping puzzle in a game that is supposed to be good. Also 1280x1024 resolution was absent from a list (my pet peeve).

What really struck me about the demo is the lack of innovation. If I didn’t know better, I might have confused it for one of the previous installments. The only difference is the introduction of vehicles, but even that is not that big of a deal in my view.

Generally, however, I enjoyed playing. After a day of hard work, spending some time in a colorful world, reaping carnage among dumb monsters is always good for stress relief. It is simple fun but it is fun nevertheless. When the full game comes out I expect it to be enjoyable enough to buy. Also keeping in mind the price of Serious Sam games, it will clearly be a steal.

"Worship me or I will torture you forever!" - God