14 DAY TRIAL // 
Saving the entire planet from the Mental's hordes seems to be a never-ending adventure, but only because the studio making the game, Croteam continues to release prequels to prequels. While the latest title in the series won't make the same splash in the history of games as its predecessors, it's a fun enough addition that will likely keep fans happy, at least for a little while.
I lost track of the Serious Sam game timelines. At one point, I just wanted to keep shooting enemies and didn't care about the order of incoming titles, or even if they were remakes of older games. The story is not sufficiently serious (pun intended, of course) to warrant such an emotional investment.
In any case, Serious Sam games are somewhat of an anachronism, a gaming concept that doesn't really belong in this era. The only thing that would come even close would be the recent Doom games, but that's a stretch as well. Mindless automatons blindly trying to shoot or ram players over and over again. And everything is peppered with one-liners and cheesy dialogue.
In essence, it's like a bad movie that good for that reason. In any other universe, Serious Sam 4 would not be able to claim anything in 2020, but it still rides the wave of the melancholy of the previous titles. And since the original Serious Sam was released back in 2001, most of the people that still remember it and can enjoy it are now in their 30s and 40s. The younger generation would have a difficult time accepting the game as a fresh title.
The game itself is not bad. For me, it's only good because I still remember the fun I had with the first ones, and I'm continually trying to capture that feeling. Unfortunately, I can't claim any success in this endeavor. Most of the time, the only reason to move forward is to see how ridiculous the story gets and that's about it.
As for the story, it's somewhat complicated from the start because it's implied that players already know things about the Serious Sam universe. New players will have to piece together information or simply watch some YouTube videos to get up to speed.
The situation is all the more complicated because Serious Sam 4 is a prequel to Serious Sam 3: BFE, which, in turn, is a prequel to the first ones. The Croteam team made its job very difficult by killing the main bad guy, Mental, early in the series. Now, they only have prequels left.
Visually, Serious Sam 4 would have been impressive a decade ago. Now, it's full of bland textures, uninteresting level design, some choppy animations, and has an overall B+ quality feeling to it. It's not a bad game, by any stretch, but it's not as impressive as it should be. The same recipe that worked 20 years ago no longer works today.
Leaving aside the ridiculous story, which actually works really well despite its quality, and the visual aspect, we're left with the basic gameplay. You pick up a weapon and you shoot. Most of the time, players will be using the all-purpose shotgun, but there's a large assortment of firearms and other tools to enhance the gameplay slightly, at least for a little bit. For example, slowing downtime is extremely useful, but the exceedingly rare modules that allow that are hard to come by.
The game is peppered from time to time with boss fights, and there's even a giant robot segment in which you get to control a giant robot built for the Pope. Unfortunately, the core gameplay remains the same. Point, shoot, dodge, repeat, not to mention that you're going to be running backward most of the time.
One of the most important changes is the addition of unlockable skills, some of which are useful, but the feature only scratches the surface of what could have been done with it.
Finally, the voice acting and the characters' animations during cutscenes switch from decent to horrible. The only redeeming quality is the constant banter between Sam's teammates, making for some very entertaining dialogue, but that's about the extent of that.
I would love to see a more modern Serious Sam game, but Croteam only delivered an old game that's hidden under a fresh coat of paint. And it's not the expensive kind of paint. The studio's obstinance to use its engine and continue its development is no longer a working strategy. There was a time when the Serious Sam engine was the object of admiration, but that's long gone.
The Good
- Fast-paced gameplay
- Fun banter between characters
- Story is so bad that's good
The Bad
- Obsolete gameplay
- Weak AI
- Bland graphics
Conclusion
It's challenging to find something worthy of mentioning, and that in itself is bad. I like the fast-paced gameplay, the voice acting, and the somewhat crazy story that makes no sense. It's the best anyone could extract. Now even the inclusion of a cooperative mode doesn't save it.
The stale gameplay is probably the biggest issue. Not much has changed, and the concept feels old. The graphics are forgettable, the weapons are not interesting, the animations are not great, and the overall quality leaves to be desired. Playing on our melancholy can only go so far.
