Serious Sam 3 BFE

After the triumph of playing Serious Sam 2 I was looking forward to Serious Sam 3, although I may have been a little too amped up by 2. To be clear, this is not a bad game by any means, but it does fall a bit short of the mark set by the previous title.

It's a good looking and well built game, the aliens are well designed, and the weapons are nicely built and executed. The problem I had is that it comes too close to being another Call of Duty clone during the first 3 levels when grabbing the interest of the player is so important; if I had no Serious Sam history, I don't know if I would have bothered playing through them.

Surely a double barrelled shotgun is the best choice for suicide bombers.

When the game hits its stride, it does it very, very well; at that point the game has a great flow to it and the weapons meld into your form flawlessly. Once you have a few guns at your disposal the baddies start swarming and suddenly your back in that Serious Sam world where ammo flows and aliens die in heaps and piles, all the fun and frustration are there at your fingertips. I should also note that if your new to Serious Sam, frustration comes with the territory, be prepared to repeat swarm fights until you get it right, this game gives you everything you need to win, but that doesn't mean they make it easy.

I'm going to give this one 7/10  it's a good game but, at full price, it's not a cheap title, and it does lose marks for those first 3 levels. I think it boils down to this: If you're going to put a word like "serious" in your title, you can't expect people to take you serious, irony is the goal here, otherwise you should call yourself "Dude Who Shoots Aliens in Desert Settings with Bigger, and Bigger Guns!" which, to be fair, also sounds like an amazing game I would pick up in a heartbeat.

Serious Sam 2

After the last 2 days I'm glad to get back into the FPS realm, a realm that Serious Sam 2 opened the door to, then blew it off the hinges and set the rubble on fire. Serious Sam 2 is some serious fun. It took the best of it's progenitor and gave the extra needed for a real win.

The Serious Sam is what Doom hoped to become and the vision Borderlands was spawned from. This game is nothing but out and out, full on, shooting everything that moves; there is no reality present to detract from it's vision, bigger and badder guns against bigger and badder targets, wave after wave of bad guys to mow down.

Man with rocket launcher vs cruise missile equipped Robo-sharks, just as nature intended.

The ammo is almost limitless, you just need to get through each wave with what you have in order to get replenished, same as health and armor: survive and you'll get more. In a different context the bad guys could be terrifying, but they balance perfectly with the game mood; a mood set by pop culture references and 4rth Wall shattering fun (although if you've never seen The Warriors, "Kleers, Come Out to Play" may not make much sense).

The graphics are dated, the game was released in 2005, as are some of the mechanics, but it is enough fun to keep from getting dropped through the genre cracks. I don't know when, or if, I'll play it again, but the single play I got out of it gave me over 20 hours of enjoyment and, even though I was unable to defeat the final boss (Fuck you Mental Institute), I'm giving this full 10/10 rating.

Serious Sam - The Random Encounter

I wasn't expecting much from Serious Sam - The Random Encounter but I gave it a try anyway. Another entry from the indie licenses, this NES era style turn based action game looks and feels like it could have actually been made in the late 80's; while that is exactly what they were going for, I don't think it was worth the effort.

The beauty of Serious Sam is the balls out action, nonstop shooting, punctuated by the quiet moments (at least when you're being shot at you expect to die at any moment). This game tries to take the humor and meld it with a quiet strategy which actually doesn't work badly, it just doesn't belong in the Serious Sam franchise.

Maybe if the pixels were blockier...

You walk through a world map with random encounters, starting an encounter gives you the combat menus which are used to program your responses with, and every 5 seconds you get the option to change your attack, There are lots of items and guns, but the soul of the game has been torn out and left gasping for air in someone's IDE during some long forgotten compile. Serious Sam is about serious firepower and serious action, this game is about serious menu selections.

4/10 for this member of the franchise, the game is well made and is decently priced, it's just not what I'm looking for in a game experience.

Serious Sam Double D XXL

After watching the trailer for Serious Sam Double D XXL (make sure you turn on the sound for that one) I was hoping for a lot of fun from this game, however I was left somewhat wanting. This isn't necessarily a bad game, I think it would be great on a console, but the PC port is not great.

Leading up to the release of the newest Serious Sam title a few indie licenses were handed out, this was one of the entries. You can tell a lot of effort was put into this game and, again, on a different platform it may come across better, but controlling the action with a keyboard and mouse really didn't pan out well.

Although it's not without its charms...

I'm also not a fan of the  platforming aspect, it's been a number of years since I've played a 2D sidescroller, and even more since I enjoyed one. The guns and firepower are great and the enemies are well crafted and balanced, in accordance to Serious Sam canon, but Sam just didn't respond well enough to make things a lot of fun.

5/10 for this one as I'm really on the fence, it looks great, and the gun stacker system is almost worth the price of admission alone, but the 2D action and controls leave me wanting. If you enjoy sidescrollers I think you can do worse than this one, otherwise just scroll on past this title.

Serious Sam

Serious Sam is Serious Fun! How do you argue with the formula [Guns - (bad guys/ammo)] x Humour? No matter how you spin that bottle it always lands on good times. There are actually 2 titles in the original run of the game, The First Encounter and The Second Encounter, but they're little more than episodes 1 and 2 of the same game, and, as such, I consider them one. I also found I had the HD editions of both games in my library but Serious Sam Classics: Revolutions takes both titles, in HD, and adds a little extra in one game, so that's the one I played the most of.

Sam is all about saving the world, and he's Serious about it; that's all you need to know about him and his universe. Guns are plentiful and ammo piles on top of more ammo; I couldn't find a shortage of health packs or armour either. Dive in and mow down some of the more unique baddies ever created and have a good time. Seriously though, if I ever encountered ANY of things in real life my soul would have a stroke, rocket launcher or not.

AW YEAH!

The original release was in 2001, so game is dated. I'm not used to looking for triggers to open doors anymore, and searching for health and armour has not been "cool" for a long time, but I actually miss that aspect in gaming; health regeneration is a neat concept, but rarely used properly. I would also say that this game stands up much better than many games I've played from that same time, even without the HD update. Oh yeah, there is multiplayer as well, which might be fun, but I don't think anybody gives a crap about that.

I'm going 9/10, I enjoyed every moment played and if you only buy Revolutions the price is decent (and to be blunt Revolutions is the only one you need to buy). My only reservation is the replay value, having played through I don't think I'll ever bother again. Let me just leave you with the words of Sam "Serious" Stone: "Give a man a bullet and he'll ask for a gun; give a man a gun, and he'll give bullets away for free!"

Bookworm Deluxe

Bookworm Deluxe seems like a waste of energy to me. At its heart the game is an updated version of scrabble, and there-in lies the rub.

I don't want to match tiles to create words. I know lots already and I'll learn more from reading; playing a game to do it is pointless for me.

Everything you need to know about this one.

My wife has played a lot of this game and has enjoyed it; I have played a little and did not. 3/10, there is an educational value and it's a nice looking game, but nothing of real interest for me.

Big Money Deluxe

Big Money Deluxe is yet another entry in the PopCap library. Not much to be said about this one.

It's essentially Tetris reversed, then crossed with Bejeweled; click matching sets of coloured orbs in groups of 3 or more to clear them out; fill a meter to get money bags; a set number of bags clears the level allowing you to move on. Rinse, repeat.

There it is in all it's capitalistic glory.

6/10, I did enjoy the little I played and it is very cheap, but there isn't a lot to offer.

Snapshot

Yet another platformer in my library, I don't know why I keep getting these, I think they're mostly Humble Bundle purchases. For what it's worth, Snapshot is a neat little game, just not a style I want to play

Basic gameplay is about moving through a side scrolling environment, you take pictures of objects which can be reconstituted in other spots to help you move through (usually over).

Make of this what you will

It's a nice looking game, it controls well, and it is a neat concept, but it's not what I'm looking for. This gets a grand total of 3/10 for the above reasons, I'm sure it'll work for someone, but not me.

Shatter

What does one say about Shatter? It's essentially an updated version of Breakout, but thats not really a bad thing.

Here's the game: bounce a ball back and forth and break blocks, breaking blocks gives you shards that fill a meter that gives you special attacks to clear out more blocks.

Enough movement and shiny lights for the most ADHD person alive!

It's a good looking game, the physics work excellently, and the game manages to be challenging without being frustrating, all in all a good mix.

I', going 6/10, the game is very playable and even entertaining, but it does get old fast.

Toki Tori

Toki Tori is a bright cheery paltfomer and I, for the life of me, cannot understand why it's in my library. I installed it, it started, I tried it, I hated it, nothing more to be said. Give this one a 1/10, it might appeal to someone, but I don't want to know who.

Battle Group 2

Battle Group 2 is thhe mating of Battleship and Missile Command. I enjoyed this game, not in spite of it's quirks, but because of them; there is something to be said for dialogue written in one language then translated to another with BabelFish.

You play a flotilla of boats that are cruising through hostile waters, shooting down planes, missiles, and sinking suicide boats to make it through safely. There are a couple boss battles, but they aren't much tougher than the level preceding them.

Looks pretty cool,don't it?

Destroying enemies gives you oil which is used to upgrade your boats or buy better ones. There are satellite weapons too, also bought with oil, but they pretty much win the game for you. The campaign is short, but it does have a bit of challenge and it's really well detailed.

My favorite part is the dialog, ranging from the pedantic, "No one can beat our Gunner!", to the bizarre "This jungle is full of enemies!" (as you sail across open water). Ship upgrades are maybe a little too easy to come by, as you can repeatedly play through previous levels to get more oil, but it is nice to be able to play through a game without too much sweating.

The price is right,5.99, for such a good looking and well crafted game, however the campaign is short, probably 2-3 hours max, if you take time for all the upgrades. I'm going 7/10, I really enjoyed what there is, but there isn't a whole big bunch there.

Leviathan Warships

I was looking forward to playing Leviathan Warships so much I bought a Humble Bundle for the simple fact this game was in it.

Seriously, how cool does that game look?

Got it, installed it, found it it was multiplayer only

FAIL!!!!

0/10, no matter how good a game looks, I do not need a game that hinges on finding another person to play it with me; if I wanted to depend on other people I'd have a social life!

Chuzzle Deluxe

What the Hell is with PopCap games calling everything Deluxe? It's not that they make bad games by any means, but I don't know what makes them 'Deluxe'! Chuzzle Deluxe is a prime example of the overuse of this term.

This isn't a bad game, but if this is deluxe I can't imagine what the regular version is. Bejeweled, expect, instead of sliding individual items, you slid rows and columns, rows and columns of semi-anthropomorphic furry little balls to match 3 or more; get enough and you move to the next level.

Although it is rather cathartic watching them explode.

That's the whole game. 4/10, not a bad game and the price is right, but there are far better options in casual gaming.

Burn Zombie Burn

Burn Zombie Burn must be a prototype for All Zombies Must Die that someone decided to monetize, but I actually have no problem with that.

The title sums up the game nicely, you wander around levels mowing down wave after wave of zombies, using weapons you find scattered around, up to, and including a Gatling gun; how often do you get the chance to use a Gatling gun on waves of zombies? If you answer anything other than "All the time!" then it's not enough

Not pictured here: Giant zombies shooting flames out of their asses.

I had a lot of fun with this game, which is not hard to believe as it's the perfect embodiment of a good night out. I don't think there is enough to keep a person happy long term, but sometimes fun enough is enough.

I'm going 7/10 with this one, lots of fun and good looking, but I had trouble getting it out of it's small windowed display and I think the price might be too high for what you get out of it.

The Book of Legends

The Book of Legends is esssentially an old school RPG. Laid out on roughly PS1 graphics it seems like a decent enough game but I don't know if I have the patience to play it

Although it's not without its charms...

You have a quest to banish a demon and wander through the world finding companions and fighting through random monster encounters. If you played an RPG in the 90's, that's what your getting here.

I'm going 5/10 on this one, the game is well laid out, has a decent control system, and is nice looking, but the cut scenes are long and not very interesting. and, it's all said and done, I don't know if this style of gaming holds up today. I know it doesn't for me.

Venice Deluxe

Venice Deluxe is a different game than I'm used to, a kind of casual action puzzler I guess. Not a badly made game, but I don't think it's my cup of tea.

They could have set this pretty much anyplace, so there's no real hook for the Venice aspect; your onscreen avatar is a gondola and you ride a rising wave of water, but just about anything could have been substituted there. Let's chalk this one up to faux snobbery.

Truly, an example of old Italian something or other

You shoot objects from your gondola into moving targets, trying to spin the objects to cascade into other targets. As you progress things get harder and your very limited on tries, missing an object drops it in the water and is lost. Only point to this game is building points, not exactly a good gaming model for this age.

This is gettign a 4/10, not a bad game in any aspect, but I need a bit more out of my games.

SpaceChem

I've played SpaceChem in the past but thought I'd give it another try, I find I'm a little torn on this one.

The game is sort of a puzzler, you propel atoms along paths to build molecules using "action" tiles. There is more to it than that, but that's enough to get the idea of what's going on.

I really have nothing to add here.

The game is intelligently made with very well thought out puzzles, and, while not without enjoyment, and certainly offering challenge, I think the challenge outweighs the fun in this one.

I'm going 4/10, it's not easy enough to be a casual game and it's priced fairly high for it's style. Just not feeling any love here.

Talismania Deluxe

Talismania Deluxe is yet another Popcap casual game, but different, and in a good way. Although there is little new implemented in the design, the layout and general feel are quite pleasing.

The game play is connecting lines on a geometric screen to form a path between 2 or more objects, trying to catch powerups and bonuses in between to boost your score. Finishing screens give you points to build assorted items, all associated with Greek mythology.

Connecting lines has never been so full of connectivity.

The Greek mythology references, including mini games oriented around the gods, are nothing special, but I do appreciate the references. I don't think I learned much I didn't already know, but it is interesting to be reminded of these things.

I'm going 7/10 on this one, not a complex game, and some of the puzzles get frustrating, but it is very cheap and drives enough to burn a few hours away on.

World of Goo

I've played World of Goo in the past, but it's always a fight to get it up and running. To be blunt, I don't think the game offers enough to make it worth the fight.

World of Goo is actually neat little game, you get a bunch of goo blobs and need to build structures out of them to complete goals; imagine trying to build a ladder out of Jello blocks to replace a light bulb and you have the game.

A viscous, organic, and jiggly tower of Babel

The game works well, once you get it started, and the puzzles offer challenge, but I keep coming back to the difficulty starting it up.

I'm going 4/10 on this one, the game is decently made and is fun, once you get it running. If I was pirating this game I'd work and tweak for as long as it took, but I'm not, I paid for this game, it should work when I start it up.