Serious Sam: The First Encounter

It’s hard to believe that Sam has been Serious for twenty-five years now. When I was fifteen, a muscled sunglasses-wearing protagonist screaming AAAHHHHHH Yourself! back at the beheaded suicide bombers impressed me, especially after upping the fun after finding the double barrelled shotgun. Something in the back of my mind might have said “where have we seen this before? I’m all out of gum?” but I happily ignored that little voice. The fact that Serious Sam was supposed to be a souped up tech demo to show off Croteam’s cutting edge 3D engine is also easy to ignore if you get to shoot hundreds of enemies coming at you from every direction in a pretty Egyptian setting. I presume Sam’s sunglasses weren’t just for show as the rendered lens flare makes us gamers believe it is really really hot in Egypt—and that’s not only caused by the overheating minigun that has the capability of instantly depleting your ammo. AAAAAAAHHHHHHH indeed. Say hello to my little two barrelled friend! Just a…