Serious Sam: The First Encounter (Windows)

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Description

When aliens ruled by the evil Mental attack Earth, it is up to Sam "Serious" Stone, one of the toughest guys on Earth, to time-travel back to Ancient Egypt in order to change history by defeating Mental back in the ancient times. The First Encounter tells about the first part of Sam's voyage through Egypt.

Serious Sam: The First Encounter is a high-adrenaline first-person shooter heavily focused on frantic arcade-style single player action. The game goes "back to roots" of the first-person shooter genre; it does not feature intricate story, character interaction or the need for careful tactics which were becoming common in the FPS's of its time, instead concentrating on epic battles where the player, armed with powerful weaponry, takes on tens or even hundreds of enemies at once.

Sam travels through deserts, Egyptian temples, palaces and cities, killing countless enemies and occasionally stopping to solve a more or less easy puzzle. There are many weapons to be found; they are all classic FPP armaments - shotguns, chainguns, rocket launchers etc., up to the most powerful weapon: a cannon which shoots devastating cannonballs. There are also many pick-ups, of course, containing ammo, health and armor.

The enemies come in many varieties - headless suicide bombers, giant bio-mechanical creatures that shoot missiles, scorpions with chainguns, bulls that charge at Sam, etc. There are also a couple of powerful bosses.

Sam has a mini-computer which contains basic info about the levels he's travelling through, weapons he collects and enemies he kills.

Screenshots

Promo Images

Trailer

Alternate Titles

• "Крутой Сэм: Первая Кровь" -- Russian spelling
• "Serious Sam: המפגש הראשון" -- Hebrew spelling
• "Serious Sam: Premier contact" -- French title
• "Serious Sam: Pierwsze Starcie" -- Polish title
• "Serious Sam: O Primeiro Confronto" -- Brazilian title
• "Serious Sam Classic: The First Encounter" -- Steam title
• "Serious Sam: 1st Encounter" -- Informal title
• "Krutoj Sam: Pervaja Krov'" -- Russian title
• "シリアスサム ファーストエンカウンター" -- Japanese spelling

Part of the Following Groups

• 3D Engine: Serious Engine
• Game Feature: In-game Screenshot Capture
• Gameplay feature: Recordable replays
• Serious Sam series
• Setting: Egyptian

User Reviews

It's time to get serious	Katakis | カタキス (39490)
My parents stopped me from playing this game, So I SHOT EM UP HARD-STYLE	Maw (884)
The Sun is God	Ashley Pomeroy (233)
Contains ludicrous amounts of action that will liquify your brain.	Trixter (9125)
Serious Sam is here to stay!	Archagon (113)
You wouldn't hear me talking about this game after 5 years.	BigJKO (71)	unrated
The best FPS you'll play for a long time	El-ad Amir (124)
Solid, Fast-Paced FPS Action	NeoMoose (1263)

Critic Reviews

Gamezilla	May 29, 2001	89 out of 100	89
Absolute Games (AG.ru)	Mar 27, 2001	85 out of 100	85
GameSpy	Mar 26, 2001	84 out of 100	84
Game Over Online	Mar 31, 2001	84 out of 100	84
Gamekult	Mar 26, 2001	8 out of 10	80
GameStar (Germany)	Apr, 2001	80 out of 100	80
PC Action	Mar 21, 2001	77 out of 100	77
Power Unlimited	May, 2001	72 out of 100	72
Génération 4	Apr, 2001	14 out of 20	70
Gry OnLine	Apr 27, 2001	70 out of 100	70

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Trivia

1001 Video Games

Serious Sam appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Demo

Some of the most famous Serious Sam players (who even appear in the game's credits) got the complete game only several months after its release, and constantly played the same demo level while others had the full version.

Development

The first Serious Sam demo was a technology demo for the Serious Engine by Croteam, not a demo for a game in particular. The folks at the Old Man Murray website praised the game so much that eventually the guys at the Gathering of Developers got wind of it and sponsored a complete, full game based around the demo.

Music

The final level music (before the boss) is a strange heavy metal remix of the famous Phantom of the Opera opening theme.

References

Sam's red sneakers may be a reference to Sonic the Hedgehog - the speed power-up that pictures them with wings all but cinches it.

Technology

Serious Sam was the first game to implement ATI's TrueForm graphics technology.

Awards

• Computer Gaming World
  • April 2002 (Issue #213) – Best Enemies of the Year (for the headless soldiers)
• GameSpy
  • 2001 – Best Value Priced Game of the Year
  • 2001 – Best End Boss of the Year

Information also contributed by El-ad Amir, NeoMoose, Ola Sverre Bauge and Tomer Gabel

Related Web Sites

• Serious Sam: The First Encounter (official website)
• Seriously! (A well-populated forum and excellent tutorials regarding writing maps, mods and scripts to Serious Sam.)
• Seriously Warped! (Home of the highly acclaimed Warped Deathmatch MOD for Serious Sam. The team is also creating the multiplayer modes for Serious Sam: The Second Encounter.)