Serious Sam: The First Encounter

 PC
User Score
8.4

Generally favorable reviews- based on 425 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 339 out of 425
  2. Mixed: 74 out of 425
  3. Negative: 12 out of 425
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  1. nastyjes
    Aug 2, 2023
    8
    Yeah, it's all fun and games untill somebody loses an eye. . . . .
  2. BARAO555
    Jun 17, 2023
    8
    the game of my child hood i have tears in my eyes after playing it again those days and it is still playable...
  3. armadonpower
    Jun 9, 2023
    10
    The original Serious Sam is wild, non-stop action-packed adventure with hordes of enemies and fun weapons. A cult classic gem.
  4. SeriousSam1Fan
    May 31, 2023
    10
    This game is very good in terms of a first-person shooter, Sam's arsenal is huge. The number of cards to pass inspires as well as the number of enemies (the most infuriating of which is the Кleer Skeleton). The phrases of The Main Character are simply gorgeous. Definitely 10/10.
  5. farrrullll
    Jan 27, 2023
    8
    Serious Sam The First Encounter Serious Sam The First Encounter Serious Sam The First Encounter
  6. LT_Gruber
    Jan 13, 2023
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The true definition of a classic video game.

    Serious Sam: The First Encounter is a classic and a game that had a big impact on my gaming history. When I first installed it, I was overwhelmed by the excellent action right at the start and the fine combat mechanics. You just shoot stuff and hope to make it to the next level, but this game nailed the FPS category by a long shot. Sure, the FPS genre already had its masterpieces named Doom, Quake and Wolfenstein, but Serious Sam was a fresh, new, fully 3D First Person experience that I did not experience yet in my life.

    In Serious Sam: The First Encounter, the earth is under attack by Mental and his alien horde and earth is overrun, lost completely in disarray. In a desperate attempt to turn the tide, you are teleported back in time to ancient Egypt to, hopefully, change the course of history in favor of humanity. You travel to different parts of Egypt, including Karnak, Luxor, the suburbs of ancient Cairo and the Valley of the Kings.

    On your journey, hordes and hordes of Mentals monsters attack you from all directions and you blast your way to the Great Pyramid, where you defeat Ugh-Zan IV, Mentals most powerful general. After that, you leave a phone message for Mental, telling him that you are coming for his ass and then fly away in your spaceship, which is put down by stupid Serious Sam fans flying in a rocket crate cart and crash into you, starting the Second Encounter.

    I loved the many different weapons you collect and use in the game. The double-barreled shotgun, the minigun, the laser, they all feel great to use and the satisfying gurgle of enemies when you pump them full of bullets, or explode them into a thousand pieces, is amazing.

    Serious Sam: The First Encounter plays and controls fluently. It is faced paced, responsive and very smooth. Changing weapons is easy, there are a fair amount of health and ammo pickups and the overall balance in the game is perfect. Yes, the game is incredibly hard on Serious difficulty, but even then, you got a fair chance. If you die, it is on you.

    The graphics are amazing for its time. You got big, detailed levels that all runs flawlessly on the Serious Engine. Animations are nice and they somehow managed to increase the draw distance to a level in which it seems that your rockets fly for all eternity, well outside the boundaries of a level.

    The music is epic, just epic. The Croatian Band Undercode made almost all of the metal soundtracks that play in boss battles, and they sound amazing. The Egyptian themed ambient music in the other levels is iconic and to this day, I remember every track.

    The boss fights are really cool. When I first played them as a kid, I did not have the balls to wake up the big Arachnoid Adult that was sleeping over the Ankh, I was really nervous for Ugh-Zan IV who was chasing me towards the Great Pyramid and the horde of frogs in the Oasis level came as a total surprise to me. Croteam knows how to impress their players.

    The multiplayer in Serious Sam is excellent, it is on par with Quake, plays fast paced and is well balanced. Weapons are scattered nicely throughout the map and for the platforming experts, the strongest of weapons can be reached on high platforms or forgotten rooms on the map. To my surprise, it is still active today.

    In the end, I can only praise Serious Sam. It is a masterpiece of a game, a true classic and one that I can boot up anytime.

    Definitely recommend it.    … Expand
  7. Vilera
    Jun 7, 2022
    10
    Игра пройдена почти 10 раз, если вам скучно, можно попробывать режим КРУТОЙ или МАСТЕР.
  8. StarkAgentos
    May 25, 2022
    2
    Геймдизайн хреновый, игра представляет из себя тупую бессмысленную стрелялку. Она очень сильно устарела.
  9. KuroZerro
    May 9, 2022
    10
    best old school shooter i dont know what to say more they want me to write more
  10. Kotofon
    Apr 21, 2022
    8
    Сюжет рассказывает про то, как человечеству открылись технологии цивилизации Сириус. Это привело к быстрому прогрессу, однако при исследовании космического пространства, они наткнулись на расу инопланетных захватчиков. Чтобы изменить ход истории, ученые с помощью “Ключа к Вечности”, отправляют протагониста в Древний Египет, где его целью является убийство Ментала - лидера пришельцевСюжет рассказывает про то, как человечеству открылись технологии цивилизации Сириус. Это привело к быстрому прогрессу, однако при исследовании космического пространства, они наткнулись на расу инопланетных захватчиков. Чтобы изменить ход истории, ученые с помощью “Ключа к Вечности”, отправляют протагониста в Древний Египет, где его целью является убийство Ментала - лидера пришельцев
  11. DanielKrejg
    Jan 19, 2022
    9
    All I can say is...
    AAAAAAAAAAAAAA yourself

    One of the few games that reminds me childhood.
  12. ProfAmateur
    Dec 28, 2021
    9
    That game was huge at this point of time. Loved it, can't count the playthroughs.
  13. BogdanZelinschi
    Dec 12, 2021
    9
    Прекрасная, нет, потрясающая игра от малоизвесной( на то время) хорватской студии, которая оказался лютой годнотой. Огромные открытые уровни, кучи врагов(разных по своему типу, надо заметить), куча крутых пушек и веселье. Сюжет простенький, но местами удивляет. Приятный геймплей, очень. Ставлю 9 только из-за того чтобы поставить 10-ку второму пришествию, квинтесенции всех идей, лучшей наПрекрасная, нет, потрясающая игра от малоизвесной( на то время) хорватской студии, которая оказался лютой годнотой. Огромные открытые уровни, кучи врагов(разных по своему типу, надо заметить), куча крутых пушек и веселье. Сюжет простенький, но местами удивляет. Приятный геймплей, очень. Ставлю 9 только из-за того чтобы поставить 10-ку второму пришествию, квинтесенции всех идей, лучшей на мой взгляд части из серии. И музыка в этой игре прекрасная, просто блажь для ушей… Expand
  14. arostislavna
    Nov 29, 2021
    9
    great game!!!!great game!!!!great game!!!!great game!!!!great game!!!!great game!!!!
  15. SeyeerGame
    May 28, 2021
    10
    Крутая игра, но концовка конечно такоооооооое деремище, словно назад в будущее два посмотрел ваще пиздец
  16. Gorbunov2004
    Mar 25, 2021
    8
    Лучшая игра моего детства прошел снова с большим удовольствием!!!
  17. Alp3rr0
    Feb 27, 2021
    9
    I really like this game this game is perfect but sometimes so many enemie comes and its hard to fight thats why I rated 9 out of 10 THIS GAME IS **** PERFECT
  18. Qarren
    Feb 19, 2021
    4
    Mass murder is funny isn't it?
    Now that that's out of the way let's talk about a unique franchise called Serious Sam.
    Serious Sam which has had a lasting legacy, not on the gaming industry but on the fans. Serious Sam which, despite being relatively archaic in culture and design, has survived to this day. Serious Sam which is a franchise I've now ran out of grandiose statements to make    Mass murder is funny isn't it?
    Now that that's out of the way let's talk about a unique franchise called Serious Sam.
    Serious Sam which has had a lasting legacy, not on the gaming industry but on the fans.
    Serious Sam which, despite being relatively archaic in culture and design, has survived to this day. Serious Sam which is a franchise I've now ran out of grandiose statements to make about.
    Serious Sam.
    And I play this game and I wonder why. Why has this strange cult classic had the staying power that better games failed at? I'm not saying this to reproach the game or fans. I genuinely believe it's an interesting case study. Let's discuss why:
    I played this game a lot when I was younger and had fewer games to play, and it was great. I played it again just now and I did not enjoy myself nearly as much.
    Narratively, it's good. It isn't intended to be a philosophical space opera. It doesn't take itself seriously at all. So narratively, all we're asking for here is slight context for the gameplay. It does just that and adds a few punchlines in for good measure. Nothing hysterical, but a few good lines that truly reflect the early 2000s absurdist comedy culture in the games industry. In so many ways this game parodies its predecessors, DOOM and Duke Nukem. But it doesn't stay long. Some scrawling text at the beginning and cheap one-liner at the end. We're losing a war against an alien empire and Sam travels back in time to stop it. I have no idea what our goal is in travelling back in time. But hey, Sammy is an improv kinda guy.
    Art-wise, the game once again reflects the time and inspirations. I love ancient Egyptian aesthetics in games, but not much is really done here with it. It's basic geometry tailored to create a functional battle arena rather than look interesting or accurate. It works and it's not ugly. The resolution and menus don't scale well to modern systems, but that's why they released the HD versions.
    What's important here is gameplay. It's the early 2000s approach of gameplay first. As it should be... EA. Regardless, this is where it loses me and will likely lose many others. This game can be hard. Irksome even. The core loop relies on run-and-gun mindless action, which usually means the devs hoped the simple mechanics and waves of viscera will carry the entire game. Personally, it doesn't.
    Gaming pet peeves of mine include stun-locking, bullet-hell level of dangers in non-bullet-hell games, and difficulty which simply increases enemy count, health and damage. This game presents all of these to varying degrees.
    Stun-locking only happens with a couple of enemies, and only in high enough numbers so I can give it a pass since that's inherent in their gameplay design. The other 2 are as well. There aren't as many stars in the sky as there is crap on the screen at some points. And that's all the difficulty settings really do. I understand that kind of dumb fun works for people and I don't begrudge them. I just can't relate.
    That fact is made worse by the pacing in this game. Levels begin a reasonable length, but eventually increase to marathon levels. That's tiring enough, but all the enemies barring boss-types are introduced in the first 3-4. So nothing new is introduced to the gameplay loop for 70% of the game. Instead, they rely cheaply on the same few encounters. I thought I was playing Groundhog Day the game when I fought my 50th arena of 500 bulls or kleers and nothing else, despite mastering the tactic for that fight 10 levels ago. It's the speech-stutter of level design. You just can't quite spit it out and keep repeating the same 2 syllables over and over again. If this were a child, I'd have given up on him in infancy.
    After all that, most bosses, including the final, are a bigger disappointment than I am. That is Seriously saying Sam-thing too. The hardest fights are just before the final boss or about 3 levels ago. Like I say, game pacing is just whack here.
    Obviously the large enemy number and complexity is integrated into the game design. I don't want to give the impression I thought the devs were dumb. They're most certainly not. The variety in weapons of mass destruction is where things even out. So it is a thought out and crafted experience in the end. In fact, the minigun, laser gun and cannon are just the "I don't feel like doing this right now" guns. I also love that cannon balls have a small bounce if you fire while jumping. I don't know why.
    So how did this underdog franchise win? Well, it most definitely shines more in co-op. Otherwise I don't entirely know, but I'm honestly happy it did. It may not be for me, but I can respect others enjoying this interesting piece of culture.
    There internet. You have my approval to like this. You're welcome. Don't say I never do anything for you.    … Expand
  19. harMlos2781
    Feb 5, 2021
    10
    Отличная игра. В этой игре очень классный геймплей, Это вам не глупый шутер как far cry или call of duty, а это смертельный танец с врагами.
  20. VigilanteOito
    Feb 2, 2021
    9
    Um dos jogos mais dificies que ja joguei.
    Um dos melhores shooters.
    Classico.
  21. ElCucuy
    Dec 5, 2020
    7
    Хороший мясной шутан. Можно считать это ремейком всего того, что выходило в 90х годах в этом жанре, только с более адекватным и щадящим левел-дизайном, когда не надо искать выход с уровня по 2 часа, потому что карточка для открытия двери спрятана в секретке или сливается с текстурами окружающей среды. Так что за то, что это действительно мясной шутан, а не симулятор поиска карточек вХороший мясной шутан. Можно считать это ремейком всего того, что выходило в 90х годах в этом жанре, только с более адекватным и щадящим левел-дизайном, когда не надо искать выход с уровня по 2 часа, потому что карточка для открытия двери спрятана в секретке или сливается с текстурами окружающей среды. Так что за то, что это действительно мясной шутан, а не симулятор поиска карточек в лабиринте, рождённым больным созданием сумасшедшего левел-дизайнера, уже можно ставить 10 из 10 в своей нише.

    Из особенностей: огромные размеры арен, и большое количество врагов. Сделаны они шикарно. Жаль только таких секций не так много как бы хотелось, и чаще всего приходится ходить по коридорам каких-нибудь храмов да скучно постреливать постоянно спавнящуюся мелочь при подборе очередных патронов или аптек.

    Итог - 7.5 из 10. Как мясной шутер отличная игра, но много провисающих моментов, вызывающих скуку.    … Expand
  22. HakanS
    Oct 12, 2020
    10
    İt's a Classic! İf you want classic fps game go download Serious Sam The First Encounter.
  23. sam90211
    Aug 14, 2020
    10
    The best game is better than doom. In this game, you fight against aliens and big aliens.
  24. MrTextar
    Aug 12, 2020
    8
    К БОЮ ГОТОВ

    Легендарная серия классических шутеров Serious Sam будоражит умы игроков невообразимым количеством монстров, с которыми нам предстоит сражаться. Первая часть прошла долгий путь разработки, поиска издателя и признания. Что же получилось у студии Croteam? Сейчас узнаем. Сюжет крайне прост, всё по заветам Джона Кармака. Сэм Стоун отправляется в прошлое, дабы добраться до    К БОЮ ГОТОВ

    Легендарная серия классических шутеров Serious Sam будоражит умы игроков невообразимым количеством монстров, с которыми нам предстоит сражаться. Первая часть прошла долгий путь разработки, поиска издателя и признания. Что же получилось у студии Croteam? Сейчас узнаем.

    Сюжет крайне прост, всё по заветам Джона Кармака. Сэм Стоун отправляется в прошлое, дабы добраться до главного злодея, уничтожившего планету Земля.

    Игровой процесс тоже не имеет особых новшеств. Линейные, иногда красивые уровни с небольшим количеством загадок. Главная особенность Serious Sam - ТЫСЯЧИ монстров. Самые разнообразные - большие, маленькие, сильные, летающие. Ни в одном шутере нет такого разнообразия противников, как в серии Serious Sam. Сражаться с инопланетными отморозками предстоит при помощи незамысловатого арсенала, в котором присутствует классика шутеров: двустволка, ракетница, миниган и ещё некоторые виды.

    Многие говорят, что Serious Sam нарушает каноны классических шутеров. Но чем? Крутой Сэм привносит в жанр самобытность, для хорошей игры требуются навыки ведения боя. Секретные комнаты, классическое оружие, куча монстров - всё это делает "Крутой Сэм: Первая Кровь" отличной игрой.    … Expand
  25. slider1983
    Jul 31, 2020
    9
    It's an entertaining game and very exciting. It manages to merge ancient history with sci-fi technology proving the developers were keen on providing its players some kind of edutainment while going crazy with action and its sci-fi setting. Not the best FPS ever but there’s a seriously good time to be had here plus Mental had it coming y’know.
  26. SergeiZ
    Jul 18, 2020
    9
    Great old school action game! Excellent shooting, a sea of ​​humor, wonderful dynamics of battles.
  27. Garybaldo
    Jun 2, 2020
    6
    The game is sorta repetitive and frustrating to play, I really don't think it stands up to 2020 standards, no reason to purchase it or play it outside of nostalgia nowadays.
  28. nitorita
    Apr 25, 2020
    9
    I grew up on this game during my childhood. I clocked hundreds to thousands of hours on it and I memorized every single secret in every map. I learned how to rocket jump to the highest possible heights, even higher than the other online players. It was the greatest fun I ever had as a kid, and I loved the community and how they were really cool to hang out with.

    Serious Sam is    I grew up on this game during my childhood. I clocked hundreds to thousands of hours on it and I memorized every single secret in every map. I learned how to rocket jump to the highest possible heights, even higher than the other online players. It was the greatest fun I ever had as a kid, and I loved the community and how they were really cool to hang out with.

    Serious Sam is definitely a gem that everyone who is into arena shooters needs to play. Modern titles like DOOM can't even hold a candle to an oldie like Serious Sam and how chaotic it is. It can get insanely hard at times (especially on Serious difficulty), but it is always satisfying. I definitely recommend it for everyone, since you will love every single minute playing this.    … Expand
  29. Depindr1917
    Apr 7, 2020
    7
    Игра интересная топовый мясной шутер, но короткий поэтому 7/10
  30. Andreas444
    Mar 12, 2020
    9
    A challenging FPS with different types of enemies so you`ll have to use all your weapon arsenal to your advantage.
    The levels look gorgeous,with beautiful soundtrack while killing all those aliens.
    Also Sam with his one liners never gets old.
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Awards & Rankings

16
#16 Best PC Game of 2001
6
#6 Most Discussed PC Game of 2001
11
#11 Most Shared PC Game of 2001

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
87

Generally favorable reviews - based on 31 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 27 out of 31
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 31
  3. Negative: 1 out of 31
  1. Computer Games Magazine
    80
    This is the best dose of pure visceral excitement to hit shooters in years.
    Read full review
  2. Armchair Empire
    80
    Just firing this beast up, and blasting some bad guys without a care in the world feels very refreshing.
    Read full review
  3. Da Gameboyz
    86
    If you like mindlessly shooting things (like me), buy this game! Well worth the bang!
See all critic reviews »