Review

Developed by:Croteam Published by:Devolver Digital Genre(s):
  • FPS
  • Platform:
  • Microsoft
  • PC
  • Sony
  • Cost:$39.99 ESRB Rating:MATURE Players:1-4 (2-16 Online) Release date:November 22, 2011 Reviewed on:PC
    8

    Serious Sam 3: BFE

    This year has been big for the FPS genre. On one end of the spectrum you have Duke Nukem finally being released after years of being in game limbo. Unfortunately, it couldn’t get out of the past long enough to see its fans grow up. On the other end, you have the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 which resulted to the biggest launch of any form of media anywhere. Love it or hate it, MW3 stands as one of the best FPS out nowadays. Falling directly in the middle of these two titles is Croteam’s very own, Serious Sam 3: BFE. How does it stack up to the competition? Well, let’s just say that being the middle child has its perks!

    For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Serious series, let me give you a brief explanation. The Serious Sam titles were designed like most classic shooters (think Doom, Duke Nukem, Quake, etc.) where a lone hero is tasked with saving the world from a countless number of bad guys by any means necessary. There is no recharging health/shields, no cover to hide behind (you’d be lucky if you found a doorway to hide in), enemies that spawn out of nowhere, larger than life bosses, and enough bullets to fill the Grand Canyon. Gamers were condition to jumping and/or strafing (circling an enemy while continuously firing at them) large groups of enemies in hopes of making it to that next health pack/body armor. Check points? What are those? The start of the next level was the only saving “point” available. When it came to this type of gameplay, Serious Sam was a king. His titles had the most on screen enemies, the largest bosses, and the most insane weapons you could think of. The Serious series also had the biggest co-op experiences (16 players at a time), along with the normal competitive modes. You can see why this series easily stood out amongst other titles in this genre!

    Serious Sam 3: BFE also stands out in today’s crowded FPS market. BFE is a prequel to the other titles in the series. It begins three years after our planet was attacked by Mental, an evil alien bent on destroying earth. Apparently, humanity has been on the losing end of this war because we are almost completely wiped out. At some point during the war, the humans discovered an ancient machine from another alien race that allows time travel. The humans are hoping to send their best (Sam) back to the past to stop Mental before he ravages the earth. The only issue they face now is figuring out how to turn the thing on; intergalactic manual not included. Of course, Mental isn’t going to just play tiddlywinks while you search for the answer. He made sure to send every alien monstrosity in his army after Sam. This leads to some of the most action filled first person shooting gamers have seen in a long time!

    Just like older titles in the series, this game loves to pile on the difficulty. So many enemies are thrown at you that it’s sometimes hard to distinguish where their forces end and where they begin. Because of this, I’ve learned to become weary of large open spaces while journeying as Sam. As soon as you step into one of these areas the enemies will start to swarm like killer bees. You’ll know their coming once the level’s soundtrack changes from a calm melody to straight hard rock. Early on it isn’t too bad as you are normally fighting one or two types of enemies at a time. After…oh I don’t know, the SECOND level, things really ramp up with  multiple types of enemies all attacking at once. You’ll constantly be moving and changing weapons as you deal with Mental’s forces. For instance, the shotgun would be a great choice for The Kleer Skeleton’s. After you dodge their charging attack, a quick blast from a close range weapon completely shatters their bones. The headless Kamikaze, however, should be taken down from a distance with a longer ranged weapon since they explode after coming in contact with you or just before they die. While the difficulty level was high, I had a blast (no pun intended) taking down legions of enemies at a time. Nothing screams “Rambo” quite like mowing down foes with a high powered chain gun. This is why BFE stands out in the crowd. For the first time in years, a game that didn’t require full use of my body was able to get my blood pumping!

    With that being said, there is a down side to having such hectic action. The problem is that BFE will constantly test your resolve when it comes to completing the game. Dealing with waves and waves of enemies can be tiring to say the least. I was literally exhausted after spending a few hours in-game.. The fact that a lot of fights are hard fought and that a lot of the boss characters become normal spawned enemies after being beaten (although with less life) tends to turn the experience into a rather laborious one. You will feel great when you finally put down your last Gnaar. Unfortunately, that feeling won’t keep you from crashing if you don’t give this game a rest from time to time.

    The next issue I had with the chaotic gameplay was how often you had to defend a certain place against enemies. I didn’t have much of an issue with locating an object or completing an objective while fighting enemies. I did have a problem with the instances where your only goal is to survive for a certain amount of time or against a seemingly never ending supply of enemies. It can be extremely frustrating to battle for almost twenty minutes only to die from a random rocket and have to start all over again. To be fair, you can save your game anywhere at anytime, which in turn, gives you a sort of impromptu, check point. Good luck trying to do that while running from enemies with explosives strapped to their hands. While the game can be fun to play, it feels really cheap to use this tactic to create added difficulty. Even when you aren’t guarding one spot, sometimes the sheer amount of enemies you have to kill between check points is crazy. I remember beating a boss and thinking “ok, I’ve made it”, only to be assaulted by another wave of enemies right after. Not fair indeed!

    Seeing as how most of your time is spent shooting at aliens, it’s a good thing that BFE doesn’t suffer from bad visuals. All of the old and new enemies look great in this title. You’d think, with so many highly detailed creatures on screen at once, that the frame rate would drop. That wasn’t the case at all. There were no hiccups in the frame rate; even when one of the largest enemies in FPS history crawls onto the scene BFE runs as smooth as possible. The only thing that hurt the overall visual quality was the fact that most of the game is spent in the desert. This is a shame seeing as how in Serious Sam II you traveled all over the planet. I understand that the story takes place in one country (Egypt) so you are going to see similar environments. That didn’t change the fact that later levels closely resembled early levels in the game. If it wasn’t for all of the onscreen action, going from point A to B in BFE would have been incredibly boring (on the visual side of things). The sound department suffers from a similar issue. All of the sound effects are great; the weapons pack a nice “boom” when fired. The Kamikazes’ scream will bounce off of structures making there encounters more nerve racking. Even Sam’s one liners are a valued addition as they are actually funny; “all you base is belong to us, Mother@%$&”! The only negative stemmed from the small number of songs presented. While it was definitely musically pleasing (in a heavy metal band- video game kinda way), the soundtrack started to get old pretty early on; the same songs were played over and over. A little more variety in the environments and music would have gone a long way with this title!

    So far I’ve covered the single player aspects of BFE. This title also sports a decent amount of multiplayer options. There are the normal competitive match types: Deathmatch, TDM, Capture the Flag, etc. Then there are the cooperative modes like Survival; think Horde mode from Gears…on speed! Gamers can jump into co-op action where up to 16 players can tackle the campaign. Heck, you can even do four player split screen on the same PC. Each match type can be tweaked to your liking too, like determining the percentage of added enemy strength for each player that joins your game. Croteam also included a modifiable version of the game, allowing would-be developers to play around with Sam’s world. This will most likely lead to more game modes and modded weapons. Basically, you’re getting a lot of fun for your buck with BFE!

    As it stands, Serious Sam 3: BFE is a good, sometimes great game. It isn’t for everyone though. The relentlessly repetitive nature of the BFE will probably send newer gamers packing within a couple of hours. Some people will miss the modern staples used by other titles in the genre. Others, like myself, will appreciate this title as an alternative to the more modern shooters. We’ll be able to overlook its faults and just enjoy the crazy action that ensues. I just hope the next Serious Sam game takes place after part two. After all the crap I went through making it to the end, it would be great to finally confront Mental once and for all!

    Gameplay:

    8

    Although it can be a chore, BFE is a blast to play!

    Graphics:

    9

    Everything looks great! There could have been more variety in the environments though.

    Sound:

    8

    Similar to the visuals. After your 50th enemy encounter, you’ll want to turn the music off completely.

    What's New:

    6

    While there isn’t anything here that will revolutionize the genre, Croteam did a good job of making the classic FPS gameplay feel new!

    Replay Value:

    9

    After completing the campaign, a large list of multiplayer options await gamers!

    Final Score:

    8

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