Techtite's PC Game Reviews!

"In any other instance, this would be a mere mission pack...yet such mission packs are frequently priced at more than $19.99, so I'm not complaining (much)."

---From the review

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"No twos are good twos...?" Immediate game sequels are a tough sell. What can a game released so soon after the original, offer the buyer who wants the same game, only "different"...? That's a tough question that every game with "2" in its title has to answer. Here are a few games that handled it the BEST:

---Thief 2. Suffice to say, I loved this sequel. Too bad the studios that made it went bankrupt. A Thief 3 is in the works, though by a different company, who apparently are uninterested to re-distribute this awesome game title. My advice; buy it if you can find it!

---MDK 2. This sequel was far superior to the flash in the pan predecessor, with a more involved storyline and the chance to play as three characters, including a six-legged robot dog with four guns at once. Now that's pretty cool!

---Elvira 2: The Jaws of Cerberus. This sequel was as different from its predecessor as night and day. Actually, that was a good thing, and this game even made it on my personal list of Top 50 Game Classics of All Time.

---Gabriel Knight 2: The Beast Within. Another membr of my Top 50 List, this adventure sequel used live actors who portrayed a story so excellently, you often forgot you were playing "just a game"...

---Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis. This was a "sequel" of sorts to the game based on the final film in the movie trilogy (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade). It got its strength from multiple puzzle branches based on how you solved key puzzles, with muscle, wits, or a little of both.

---Quest for Glory 2: Trial By Fire. Simply one of the Top 5 best adventure game ever made. Period.

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I was slightly apprehensive about Serious Sam 2 when the demo was --no joke-- One Hundred and Ten Megabytes, only to be merely one single game level. For those keeping score, 110 Meg is practically one-sixth of a CD-ROM's whole space; if this is what it takes for one game level, how good could the full game be? As it turns out...pretty good; the actual game isn't bad at all. It's also still priced, much like the first Serious Sam, at a paltry $19.99. Who wouldn't be willing to at least try a game this new, for this cheap?

The first thing you may ask is, what's the deal with Sam's second encounter? The finale of the first game had Sam in command of this awesome giant mother ship, heading to the alien home world to kick serious backside. Well, forget all that; those comical (and a tad annoying) big-brain guys crash into his ship by accident, stranding Sam somewhere near ancient Mayan territory. This is one of three time periods explored, including The Tower of Babel and later, medieval times, which has the obligatory castles, cathedrals, and dungeons. Why? Because they make for pretty game maps, that's why.

Unfortunately, the folks you fight in these new game maps are often the same old folks from the first game. I'd say nearly 90% of the enemies encountered are the exact same characters we've seen before. While new adversaries are inspired --like the chainsaw-wielding cyborg with a pumpkin for a head-- they are seen far less. In any other instance, this would be a mere mission pack...yet such mission packs are frequently priced at more than $19.99, so I'm not complaining (much). 

What I am complaining about, is all those annoying, hard to shoot skeleton hordes, as there was in the prior game. That's probably the most annoying aspect of the first game --and this game-- which I sure hope to never see again. They're hard to shoot, they come in hordes of the dozens at once, and quite frankly, they're BORING. Let's just say, if Croteam puts these guys in Sam 3, it's looking at a maximum grade of marginal thumbs-up. Keep this in mind...because otherwise, I had a lot of fun playing this mere $19.99 game.

New weaponry is where the sequel shines. This is an action game, after all, so get ready for new tools of the trade like the flamethrower. Such flamethrowers have become the norm in modern shooters (like Return to Castle Wolfenstein), yet none have yet to capture the true ominous power of such a weapon, as did the classic game, Crusader: No Remorse. Still, it's cool to see a monster like the cyborg-scorpion aflame after all his shooting from afar. Speaking of shooting from afar, there's also a rifle that lets you shoot enemies from clear across the game map. Right from the start is a buzz saw, which makes Sam exclaim, "Look ma, I'm a lumberjack!" yet otherwise seems too short-range to use at any time other than when you find an invincibility power-up. Instead, be ready to use the standard weaponry from the first game most of all, like the shotgun, rocket launcher, and laser.

Again, I feel the need to repeat the price...especially now, when I get to mention all the added enhancements to the game engine. Like that sniper rifle which can zoom in on an opponent clear across half the current game map. It was also cool in the medieval levels, to see rays of sunlight shine through the clouds, onto the cathedral which supposedly houses the Holy Grail. When the grail is at risk of being taken by the villainy afoot here, the sky grows dark with thunder...only to clear up with that ray of sunshine again, as soon as you're victorious. That's one cool special effect, for a $19.99 game!

As for even more added details, there are no less than 134 secrets hidden about.  At one point, Sam himself will sniff around saying "I smell serious firepower." Shoot a wall nearby and reveal a mini chaingun...cool. Other secret areas range from something as minor as a well-hidden armor pack, to many well-hidden jokes. The best combination of both is in the second level, when getting close to an armor pack, hidden way in the corner, activates the largest rolling boulder you've ever seen, aimed right towards you. How big is big...? This boulder is twice the size of the pyramid-like platform in the middle of the area! Croteam's team of developers have a refreshing sense of humor, and it shows.

In the end, what does this game have to offer, reward-wise? Well, that's just it; let's just say this game has another ending as good --and as bad-- as the prior game's, and leave it at that. While this epilogue is once again funny, the main bad guy is still at large, like the nefarious criminal of a 1950's TV serial...with no sign of ever ending. I hope they make this Mental story a trilogy --ending with Sam3-- yet not ending Sam's explots himself. After all, isn't there many other enemies in the universe he can fight...other than those incessant skeletons?