PC Action – shooter franchise that has been running for more than 30 years, with a number of sequels and spin-offs – off over the years. Serious Sam 4 is the fourth installment of the long-running PC action shooter series and the third in a series of four games of this series. ^{Sources: 6, 10}

To take the plot even further back in time, Serious Sam 4 is playing against an evil alien overlord called Mental, who is determined to rule the universe by all means. In the fourth game, Sam and Serious Stone fend off an alien invasion by teaming up with an unfortunate collection of strange commandos. ^{Sources: 7, 8}

If you are looking for a military shooter like Battlefield, this game is very old school Sam, but it feels like a very different kind of game from its predecessors. While doom has reinvented itself for the modern era, Serious Sam seems to be moving forward and backward. Layers of invisibility cloaks, clandestine combat and the use of special weapons and armor feel positively archaic in the 2020s. ^{Sources: 3, 5}

Everything you’ve never seen feels like a dog that’s in danger of falling over every time it chases a squirrel. Everything you’ve seen in Serious Sam 3 and 4, except the dog falling over his squirrels, seems a bit too familiar. The sad truth is that I played Sam 4 and it is as fun to play as its predecessors, but I am not allowed to compete with him. ^{Sources: 1, 4, 9}

In the coming months I hope that Crusaders and the fan base will engage in a dialogue to help bring Serious Sam 4 to life. Hopefully it will work so well on Steam that they can afford a big boost when the game finally hits the consoles next year. I don’t expect to play as much as I want or even as well as I don’t, but hopefully I will be. With the major advantage that the reputable Sam franchise has benefited from the marketing hype surrounding the new machines, not to mention the huge success of the first two games on PS4 and Xbox One, they are likely to spend the next few months in stadia. ^{Sources: 2, 4, 6}

Serious Sam 4 is what you would expect from a game created with an updated version of the Serious Engine. The vehicles are a shame as they are usable, although it is not as detailed as in shooters like Doom Eternal. It’s the only time it’s slightly out of shape, but it’s still not as good as the first game. ^{Sources: 0, 1, 2}

Maybe that’s all you want to know, but I feel that Sam is always tuned in and committed to Serious Sam 4, as there are many ways to add to that, like running backwards, running forwards and even running backwards. While recent doom games have emphasized personal confrontation, most of the fights in Sam 4 can be seen as one – on – a fight with a lot of ring-rumbling, though not as much as in previous games. This is a very fast and twitchy game, with the precise timing and control required for maximum play. ^{Sources: 5, 6, 9}

Juggling enemy threats while making yourself vulnerable to the next is a big part of Serious Sam’s magic, and this challenge is also present in this game. Serious Sam 4 forces you to keep several things in mind, change tactics during the game and keep yourself busy. ^{Sources: 1}

Serious Sam 4 succeeds on all these fronts, and increases it by rethinking the basics, putting on a new lacquer and providing you with some grueling battles. It delivers on every promise it has made, from double rocket launchers – with a broad grin – to more advanced weapons, and it succeeds on all fronts. ^{Sources: 0, 10}

I may not be the most die-hard Serious Sam fan, but I’ve played the Serious Sam games almost from the start. The alien hordes threatening Earth are brought along nicely, and the alien horde itself is brought along nicely. ^{Sources: 4, 5}

Like so many young PC gamers who grew up in the early 2000s, Serious Sam was a game about coping with a load of extreme prejudice against Scythian witch harpies. The game requires context in a way that requires a certain degree of molecular biology in chimpanzees. ^{Sources: 8, 9}

Serious Sam is rather dreary, and this is made worse by the technically clumsy presentation of the game due to the repetition of the core game. Serious Sam Fusion, which includes a hidden stadia release as well as a new version of the original game. There is no mention of this in the official release notes, but it is worth mentioning it here if you haven’t done so yet. ^{Sources: 2, 6, 8}

After all, Duke Nukem Forever has proved that the classic FPS franchise refuses to move forward, and Serious Sam 4 feels frustratingly trapped in the past by offering a below-average and grossly outdated product under the guise of nostalgia. I first admitted that Sam 3 had problems with the pace in 2011, but with Sam # 4 they get worse. Publication was expected last summer, but has already been delayed by more than a year. This is confusing and as frustrating for a game that has been in development for so long as the game itself, if not worse. 

Cited Sources

• https://gamerescape.com/2020/09/25/review-serious-sam-4/ ⁰
• https://www.polygon.com/2020/9/28/21473692/serious-sam-4-pc-stadia-impressions ¹
• https://waytoomany.games/2020/09/24/review-serious-sam-4/ ²
• https://www.ign.com/articles/serious-sam-4-review ³
• https://www.gamingnexus.com/Article/6184/Serious-Sam-4/ ⁴
• https://www.thesixthaxis.com/2020/09/24/serious-sam-4-review/ ⁵
• https://medium.com/@Xander51/serious-sams-baffling-stadia-exclusivity-adf70d56cb16 ⁶
• https://gamecritics.com/daniel-weissenberger/serious-sam-4-review/ ⁷
• https://www.flickeringmyth.com/2020/09/video-game-review-serious-sam-4/ ⁸
• https://www.escapistmagazine.com/v2/serious-sam-4-zero-punctuation/ ⁹
• https://www.pcgamesn.com/serious-sam-4/review ¹⁰