Half Life set a template for many FPS games to come. It's a seamless experience from start to finish, with very few interruptions. The plot and premise are interesting and are unraveled through the gameplay. The visuals, while dated, still convey a very convincing atmosphere. The soundtrack is excellent, though used very sparingly. The shooting feels good, and the humanoid enemies are a decent challenge. There are a lot of good ideas here.

However, I found the experience very frustrating throughout. The first-person controls feel very slippery, like walking on ice. This wouldn't be such a problem if it weren't for the numerous platforming sections throughout the game. I ended up dying more from failed jumps than from enemy encounters. It can also be difficult to tell where to go or what to do next, as the game does a poor job of communicating this to the player.

This would have been a near perfect game with a few tweaks. I still recognize the pivotal role this game played in advancing the genre, but I cannot ignore its shortcomings. Fortunately, its two expansions and sequel improve upon the original in many ways.

Great space exploration game. There's almost no hand-holding, leaving it up to the player to unravel the plot on their own in any way they see fit. The gameplay loop is similar to roguelike games. One difference is that you do not learn new skills, but instead gain knowledge about the game world. This means that you can essentially beat the game in a single cycle if you know what you're doing.

Don't let the stylized visuals fool you, because this game can be genuinely unsettling at times. There's an ever-present sense of isolation and anxiety, especially when you're performing time-sensitive tasks. It's complemented by an unparalleled sense of discovery and freedom, creating a very unique mix.

One complaint is that this game sometimes takes "being in the right place at the right time" very literally. I actually got stuck on a couple of puzzles because they weren't properly communicated to the player. If it weren't for that, this would have been a 5/5 game.

Games like this don't come out very often. It feels like it was made by people who love the medium of video games. I'd highly recommend it to anyone.

Gameplay-wise, this is the same Serious Sam you've come to expect. It's the art direction and the tone that sets this game apart from the other entries in the series. It's as if everyone at Croteam had a goal to make the most ridiculous game they could, and they succeeded. That doesn't mean the game is bad - far from it. It's a lot of fun in co-op, and the crazy art direction and tone really suits the game. It's the odd one out in the series, but I'd recommend checking it out. I'd recommend enabling combo weapons and sprinting, since they are disabled by default for some reason.

The setting, soundtrack and weapon designs are the highlights of the game. The remaster itself is also of good quality. I never had any performance or stability issues.
Outdated level design and clunky platforming hold this game back. It's one of those key hunting games, but the amount of backtracking is insane. If you run out of bombs, you run the risk of soft-locking your progress, as they're needed to blow up certain walls (which can be hard to spot at times). You do get pretty powerful at the end, but it only lasts for a couple of levels.
I'd only recommend this game to those who want to relive the nostalgia of the original release. As for everyone else; there are better games to play, even from that era.