This review contains spoilers
Nice upgrade from the original game with some extra content.
After playing Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter I was really curious how they would remaster all the new weapons and enemies in The Second Encounter so I could not wait to try it out.
In the core, it is yet again, still the exact same game. You start in Sierra Chiapas, in ancient Mayan territory after your spaceship was hit by a crate train and plummeted to the ground. Your ship is wrecked and not usable anymore. Luckily, you learn about a back-up ship, located in another world. You need to hop between two portals to reach this ancient world and fight your way through the Mayan lands and towns, Ancient Persia and eventually, ancient Poland. On your journey you are again hindered by even more hordes of Mentals soldiers and three big fat bosses that guard the portals. In the end, you fight the sorcerer Mordekai, who guards the Holy Grail itself. After you whoop his ass, you sarcastically confess your sins in the Grand Cathedral about what you are going to do to Mental when you find him and then fly away in the back-up ship.
The graphics are nice and polished and the same as the first remake. Enemy models, the weapons and the environments are more detailed and look very good. You can new gib every enemy, including the Bio Mechanoids and Sirian Werebulls. The gore is, again, the biggest improvement here. More body parts, more blood, more carnage.
I have to say that I did not necessarily like the new models for the Alduran Reptiloids, like mentioned in my review on Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter. 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. In the Second Encounter, this feature was not implemented that frequently anyway.
The sound and music are unchanged, besides some weapon firing sounds are enemy grunts. Just like the first HD remake.
Games like Grand Theft Auto 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 these modes never gained much popularity, it is a nice variation for those who liked it. They did include new multiplayer Deathmatch modes 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 Second 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.
After playing Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter I was really curious how they would remaster all the new weapons and enemies in The Second Encounter so I could not wait to try it out.
In the core, it is yet again, still the exact same game. You start in Sierra Chiapas, in ancient Mayan territory after your spaceship was hit by a crate train and plummeted to the ground. Your ship is wrecked and not usable anymore. Luckily, you learn about a back-up ship, located in another world. You need to hop between two portals to reach this ancient world and fight your way through the Mayan lands and towns, Ancient Persia and eventually, ancient Poland. On your journey you are again hindered by even more hordes of Mentals soldiers and three big fat bosses that guard the portals. In the end, you fight the sorcerer Mordekai, who guards the Holy Grail itself. After you whoop his ass, you sarcastically confess your sins in the Grand Cathedral about what you are going to do to Mental when you find him and then fly away in the back-up ship.
The graphics are nice and polished and the same as the first remake. Enemy models, the weapons and the environments are more detailed and look very good. You can new gib every enemy, including the Bio Mechanoids and Sirian Werebulls. The gore is, again, the biggest improvement here. More body parts, more blood, more carnage.
I have to say that I did not necessarily like the new models for the Alduran Reptiloids, like mentioned in my review on Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter. 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. In the Second Encounter, this feature was not implemented that frequently anyway.
The sound and music are unchanged, besides some weapon firing sounds are enemy grunts. Just like the first HD remake.
Games like Grand Theft Auto 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 these modes never gained much popularity, it is a nice variation for those who liked it. They did include new multiplayer Deathmatch modes 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 Second 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.