This review contains spoilers
Nice upgrade from the original game with some extra content.
Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter was the first ever remake that I bought and was excited for, before it became a standard for a quick cash grab. At the time, I was hyped and amazed by how good the old gem of a game looked all of a sudden.
In the core, it is still the exact same game. The earth is under attack by Mental and his alien horde and earth is overrun, lost completely in disarray. In a desperate attempt to turn the tide, you are teleported back in time to ancient Egypt to, hopefully, change the course of history in favor of humanity. You travel to different parts of Egypt, including Karnak, Luxor, the suburbs of ancient Cairo and the Valley of the Kings.
On your journey, hordes and hordes of Mentals monsters attack you from all directions and you blast your way to the Great Pyramid, where you defeat Ugh-Zan IV, Mentals most powerful general. After that, you leave a phone message for Mental, telling him that you are coming for his ass and then fly away in your spaceship, which is put down by stupid Serious Sam fans flying in a rocket crate cart and crash into you, starting the Second Encounter.
The graphics are nice and polished. Enemy models, the weapons and the environments are more detailed and look very good. You can new gib every enemy, including the Bio Mechanoids. The gore is the biggest improvement here. More body parts, more blood, more carnage. I almost sound like a maniac praising this kind of stuff. I really liked the new look of the Biomechanoids, they look a lot more aggressive and dangerous.
I have to say that I did not necessarily liked the new models for Ugh-Zan IV and the Alduran Reptiloids. They looked a little cartoony and goofy in comparison to their original counterparts. Also, the mechanic in which the Scythian Witch Harpies caried Kamikazes to the field, is no more due to issues with the improved Serious Engine. A little disappointing but not the end of the world.
The sound and music are unchanged, besides some weapon firing sounds are enemy grunts.
Games like Diablo II: Resurrected and many more this day, offer only an upgrade on the graphics and nothing more. Serious Sam HD: The first encounter however offers a little more, something that I can respect. You now got a survival mode, in which you can earn medals, the longer you survive, you got different multiplayer modes like Beast Hunt and My Burden. Although this modes never gained much popularity, it is a nice variation for those who liked it. They did include new multiplayer Deathmatch maps however, which is always nice.
A special note must be made for the split-screen functionality that the game still has. Back in the day, it was nothing special, but today, split screen is dying so more copies of a game can be sold (right EA?) so every game that still has it, earns my respect.
In conclusion, Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter is a nice upgrade in terms of visuals, offers some new multiplayer features and made the game feel fresh. However, looking back, it was not entirely necessary and with the knowledge of today, with remakes being a business model, I am glad that I experienced this remake in a fun and positive way. I believe this is mainly because I have mad respect for Croteam and its developers and so far, they did not disappoint in their sequels and games.
For this personal reason, I would surely recommend it.
Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter was the first ever remake that I bought and was excited for, before it became a standard for a quick cash grab. At the time, I was hyped and amazed by how good the old gem of a game looked all of a sudden.
In the core, it is still the exact same game. The earth is under attack by Mental and his alien horde and earth is overrun, lost completely in disarray. In a desperate attempt to turn the tide, you are teleported back in time to ancient Egypt to, hopefully, change the course of history in favor of humanity. You travel to different parts of Egypt, including Karnak, Luxor, the suburbs of ancient Cairo and the Valley of the Kings.
On your journey, hordes and hordes of Mentals monsters attack you from all directions and you blast your way to the Great Pyramid, where you defeat Ugh-Zan IV, Mentals most powerful general. After that, you leave a phone message for Mental, telling him that you are coming for his ass and then fly away in your spaceship, which is put down by stupid Serious Sam fans flying in a rocket crate cart and crash into you, starting the Second Encounter.
The graphics are nice and polished. Enemy models, the weapons and the environments are more detailed and look very good. You can new gib every enemy, including the Bio Mechanoids. The gore is the biggest improvement here. More body parts, more blood, more carnage. I almost sound like a maniac praising this kind of stuff. I really liked the new look of the Biomechanoids, they look a lot more aggressive and dangerous.
I have to say that I did not necessarily liked the new models for Ugh-Zan IV and the Alduran Reptiloids. They looked a little cartoony and goofy in comparison to their original counterparts. Also, the mechanic in which the Scythian Witch Harpies caried Kamikazes to the field, is no more due to issues with the improved Serious Engine. A little disappointing but not the end of the world.
The sound and music are unchanged, besides some weapon firing sounds are enemy grunts.
Games like Diablo II: Resurrected and many more this day, offer only an upgrade on the graphics and nothing more. Serious Sam HD: The first encounter however offers a little more, something that I can respect. You now got a survival mode, in which you can earn medals, the longer you survive, you got different multiplayer modes like Beast Hunt and My Burden. Although this modes never gained much popularity, it is a nice variation for those who liked it. They did include new multiplayer Deathmatch maps however, which is always nice.
A special note must be made for the split-screen functionality that the game still has. Back in the day, it was nothing special, but today, split screen is dying so more copies of a game can be sold (right EA?) so every game that still has it, earns my respect.
In conclusion, Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter is a nice upgrade in terms of visuals, offers some new multiplayer features and made the game feel fresh. However, looking back, it was not entirely necessary and with the knowledge of today, with remakes being a business model, I am glad that I experienced this remake in a fun and positive way. I believe this is mainly because I have mad respect for Croteam and its developers and so far, they did not disappoint in their sequels and games.
For this personal reason, I would surely recommend it.