Jump to navigation
Advertisement

Croteam making Serious Sam for XBLA News

Xbox 360 News by Robert Purchese

25 June, 2009

Majesco has told Eurogamer that Serious Sam will return this summer on Xbox Live Arcade.

Late summer, specifically, for 1200 Microsoft Points (GBP 10.20 / EUR 14.40).

Dubbed Serious Sam HD, the game will re-imagine The First Encounter, and be created by original developer Croteam.

The chaotic first-person shooter, where enemies spawn and overwhelm from every angle, will return with online co-op for four friends. The surreal Egyptian setting will be spread across 12 levels, and we're promised dazzling, revamped visuals.

The charm of Serious Sam, which first appeared on PC in 2001, forms around controlling the swarms of baddies that are triggered when collecting ammo or reaching a new areas. There are bulls that charge, headless baddies that blow-up, ranged attackers, skeletal horse monsters and enormous bosses.

Sam's arsenal is as over-the-top as the situation, but deciding what to use and what to kill while dodging and scrapping is another matter. It's brilliant.

Advertisement

Are you excited about Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter on Xbox 360?
View Eurogamer readers most anticipated games

Thanks!

Want to comment on this article? Log in, or register!

Comments: 1-50 of 51 Next →

Poster
Comment Low-scoring comments hidden. Log in to see them!
Monkey_Puncher
25/06/09 @ 09:29
#1
+6
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
Sweet!

Another game to add to my insanely long list of games I want on XBLA.

I seem to be buying more XBLA games these days than I am full price games these days...
woodnotes
25/06/09 @ 09:30
#2
+4
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
Non-stop games for XBLA these days, all good.
smirny
25/06/09 @ 09:30
#4
+1
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
yes, yes and YES!! :D
Edited 1 times, most recently on 25/06/09 @ 10:30
Darren
25/06/09 @ 09:30
#5
+2
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
Serious Sam was great on the original Xbox (except for the screen tearing as this was the first game I ever noticed in it in, fact fans) so I'd definitely pick up the Xbox 360 version again. I still play the sequel on the PC every now and then. It's good old-fashioned dumb fun.
Wastelander
25/06/09 @ 09:36
#6
+1
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
Nice!
So much fun in co-op.
systems
25/06/09 @ 09:37
#7
+2
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
Should be a laugh if they do it well and can keep masses on enemies on screen with a long view distance. It's an old game so I reckon it'll be spot on. There's a lot of good co-op fun to be had with Serious Sam.
Shrike
25/06/09 @ 09:39
#8
0
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
Yes.
Azazel
25/06/09 @ 09:39
#9
+1
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
Oh yes.
Ignatius_Cheese
25/06/09 @ 09:40
#10
+2
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
Hehe, was only thinking about this a few days ago! Brilliant :oD
Mentalist(air)
25/06/09 @ 09:42
#11
+6
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
Please, please, please let them put in split screen coop. Especially if they can make it four player split-screen coop.
octavedoctor
25/06/09 @ 09:45
#12
+3
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
"Arrrrrgghhhhhhhh!!! Yourself!"

Fantastic.... I remember many a lunchtime LAN co-op game on this back in the day... Enjoyed the Xbox vers the other year - one I'll definately be getting for me 360 xbla library
Xerx3s
25/06/09 @ 09:45
#13
+3
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
"Not sure this is a good idea. I still have serious sam and from what I remember, it was a rediculously hard game using a mouse and keyboard. It's going to be impossible with a joypad!"

Not really. I played the xbox version as well and it held up pretty well.
Dizzy
25/06/09 @ 09:47
#14
+4
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
Great! I loved Serious Sam.... with co-op and some new visuals it could be just what I need ;)
retr0gamer
25/06/09 @ 09:51
#15
-9
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
Serious Sam HD? I was playing this game in better than HD resoluitons on my PC in 2002.
Optimaximal
25/06/09 @ 09:54
#16
+1
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
Wasn't there a time when Croteam said that Serious Sam was just to get the engine out there and recognised, leading to several new IPs & multiple licensing deals?
DrDamn
25/06/09 @ 10:11
#18
+8
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
For me the original managed to capture much more of the essence of Doom than Doom 3 ever did. Good ballsy fun.
miiiguel
25/06/09 @ 10:14
#19
0
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
2009, XBLA evolved.
jim1975
25/06/09 @ 10:15
#20
+4
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
@retr0gamer

Well done
jonsaan
25/06/09 @ 10:19
#21
+3
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
Serious Sam comes highly recommended to all those who morn the passing of DukeNukem.
gourry
25/06/09 @ 10:21
#22
+3
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
Will definately be keeping an eye on this. Can't remember if it was SS1 or SS2 but there was some class scripting in it.

Running over a sandy hill, one lone skeleton creature comes a long which you take out and continue up the hill and think 'This is too easy". Two seconds later, an entire army of the buggers comes charging at you! Run!!!

Good stuff.
Edited 1 times, most recently on 25/06/09 @ 11:21
DDevil
25/06/09 @ 10:27
#23
+5
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
I wish they would stop putting out such good games while I'm unemployed and don't have the money! ;_;
foreverafternothing
25/06/09 @ 10:35
#24
+3
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
Definite purchase methinks.
riz23
25/06/09 @ 10:36
#25
-8
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
Sorry to rain on the parade but Serious Sam was a great game on the PC oh.. seven years ago, you can probably pick it up on some budget PC label for three quid now. Or even the sequel. Not sure why I would want to pay 10 pounds for this in 2009..
wellzy4eva
25/06/09 @ 10:41
#26
+3
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
This is the perfect co-op game for XBL, now all I need is Quake 3 Arena and I'm set!
alasdairm
25/06/09 @ 10:48
#27
+3
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
The original Xbox game works on the 360 - altough it still has the dreadful screen-tear that was present on the old xbox

Have had system link games with a combination of original xboxes and 360s

Will still get the HD revamp thought !!
miiiguel
25/06/09 @ 10:53
#28
+5
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
"Not sure why I would want to pay 10 pounds for this in 2009.. "

XBLA:
1. Sit on couch in front of big telly.
1. Click Download.
2. Send game invite to buddy.
3. Play/enjoy/loose badly.

PC:
0. Sit on a corner of a room in an office desk.
1. Look for the game *somewhere*
2. Install.
3. Do the patching *thing*
4. Do some more patching.
5. Check the foruns for *that* problem that your particular GPU has with the game.
6. Phone a friend and beg to play with you.
7. Play alone for 10 minute.
8. Give up, go play 360/PS3.
Edited 1 times, most recently on 25/06/09 @ 11:54
Chufty
25/06/09 @ 11:09
#29
0
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
You're loosing (sic) badly on the 360 because the atrocious speed and precision of your Xbox controller.

Anyway, Serious Sam games are awesome. I was, just the other day, wondering what had happened to Croteam. I hope there's an SS3 in the works!
Hunam
25/06/09 @ 11:11
#30
+3
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
Fantastic game. The 8 player co-op was utter lunacy of the best kind.
miiiguel
25/06/09 @ 11:13
#31
-2
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
"You're loosing (sic) badly on the 360 because the atrocious speed and precision of your Xbox controller. "
I can give you that, though I'm in for the thrils, not so much for the kills. Disclaimer: that's me though, I can understand the "pros", no judging here.
Malek86
25/06/09 @ 11:19
#32
+1
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
Cool. I have the Xbox game, and while greatly simplified from the PC version - the addition of lives was necessary, as the dual analog wouldn't let you survive long, but there were too many around, on Serious difficulty i finished with a whole bunch lives left - it was still pretty good fun. Too bad it doesn't work with VGA in Europe.

But, that was two games: TFE and TSE. If they are giving only TFE (and maybe not even all of it, as I recall the original game was more than 12 levels), maybe 1200 points is a bit of a stretch. And TSE was superior anyway, so...

Though I wonder what does that mean when they said "reimagining". Maybe it will be worth it even if you already have the PC or Xbox games. I'll be checking it out, as I am a fan of the series.

@miiiguel: well, come on now. I remember, both Serious Sams never had any problem on my PC. Even now on Win7 and HD4670, they work just fine from installation. Though if you want it, you have to manually set widescreen mode in the ini file, but that's only once. I'll admit coop is pretty good though, I played it once in LAN and it was great fun.
muscleblade
25/06/09 @ 11:23
#33
+2
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
Ive always bought more XBLA games than retail games. This isnt going to change when the best game releases this summer is Xbla games. Marvel VS Capcom here i come. The new game from Epic looks to be fantastic too.
MisterSlimm
25/06/09 @ 11:24
#34
-1
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
Judging by the screenshots, the graphics are only dazzling if you haven't seen the PC original or any game in the last ten years.
riz23
25/06/09 @ 11:25
#35
+1
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
@miiiguel Nice try, but of course it's not all like that. :) Main point being I played this game seven years ago why pay another tenner now?
muscleblade
25/06/09 @ 11:25
#36
0
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
"You're loosing (sic) badly on the 360 because the atrocious speed and precision of your Xbox controller. "

That has already proven to be a false statement in cross platform releases like Lost Planet. If your good with the controller you wouldnt dream of using a keyboard and mouse. I use that enough at work.
Malek86
25/06/09 @ 11:30
#37
+2
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
@muscleblade: but Serious Sam is not exactly your average, modern, slow shooter. The character moves fast, and so do your enemies. In the Xbox version they even had to add a form of auto-aim, otherwise it would have been nearly impossible to play.
miiiguel
25/06/09 @ 11:32
#38
0
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
Main point being I played this game seven years ago why pay another tenner now?

Well, maybe if you want to, idk... "play it again riz23" ? :) All in all, it's all a matter - like everything - of personal decisions, for instance, I have a pretty big collection of movies and I watch them more than once, I re-read books. Though, ppl are diferent, my boss says he doesn't understand why I buy movies, as he can't watch them more than once. Fair enough.
asphaltcowboy
25/06/09 @ 12:01
#39
-4
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
Not sure why everyone gets so excited about Serious Sam, I never really found it that compelling :(
muscleblade
25/06/09 @ 12:16
#40
+1
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
I think it looks great and i will probably get it. I bought Cellfactor, another FPS on XBLA and i enjoyed it a lot.
Dr_Wadd
25/06/09 @ 12:19
#41
+1
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
I was only recently saying to someone that we needed a 360 version of Serious Sam, but I`m not sure that this is what I had in mind. I assume that if this is a port of the older games then the enemy numbers are going to be largely untouched. I want to see the greater processing power available now used to throw even more enemies on-screen at once. That said, there is an extremely good chance that I`ll pick this up when it is released.
Roamer
25/06/09 @ 12:26
#42
+1
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
Why don't they add split-screen to these games? That's what makes consoles great for multiplayer gaming. If not for that, why bother re-releasing a 8-year old game? If I wanted to play with strangers online, I'd have bought a PC....
siro
25/06/09 @ 13:30
#43
-1
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
I buy movies even though I watch them only once (or not at all in many cases). Same for games and books.

I really liked Serious Sam Coop, but I don't see me playing it from the couch. The action is just too frantic to be not right in front of the screen. Also 1200 pts are always a major downturn to me. :(
mcbain23
25/06/09 @ 14:24
#44
+1
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
methinks this'll be good fun.

That "bull charging" moment was awesome!
Waldo
25/06/09 @ 16:29
#45
+1
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
It's using Serious Engine 3, so the visuals will be upgraded considerably. Look at the comparison screenshot linked to in the article.
Waldo
25/06/09 @ 16:30
#46
-2
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
It's using Serious Engine 3, so the visuals will be upgraded considerably. Look at the comparison screenshot linked to in the article.
Vermillion3000
25/06/09 @ 18:15
#47
0
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
Serious Sam is awesome. Can't wait to play in the comfort of my HD telly at home rather than hunched over my work PC.
I's a good time for downloadable games.
Which is nice cos it's a pretty crap time for boxed product.
Vermillion3000
25/06/09 @ 18:24
#48
0
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
Serious Sam is awesome. Can't wait to play in the comfort of my HD telly at home rather than hunched over my work PC.
I's a good time for downloadable games.
Which is nice cos it's a pretty crap time for boxed product.
muscleblade
26/06/09 @ 11:28
#49
0
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
@Vermillion3000

Exactly!
SomaticSense
26/06/09 @ 12:03
#50
0
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
Roamer wrote: "Why don't they add split-screen to these games? That's what makes consoles great for multiplayer gaming."

They did for the Xbox versions. Hopefully they'll do the same for this one as well.

But I'd be lying if I said I didn't want them to focus on the Live co-op side of things this time. That was never an option in the Xbox release, and if anyone desperately needs split-screen that version is backwards compatible anyway.

Live co-op on Serious Sam. Hell yeah!

Comments: 1-50 of 51 Next →

Want to comment on this article? Log in, or register!

X View gallery