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Serious Sam 3: BFE Review

Constant shooting, a healthy arsenal and little room to breathe

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The biggest downside to Sam 3 is its own high strung pacing and constant barrage of enemies. This is a huge contrast between modern shooters where you typically get cooled off after just a taste of action. Here you are in a continuous state of panic for minutes as enemies of all types shoot and run towards you in wide open areas. The last level features extreme numbers of dangerous enemies, constant backtracking and tiresome waves. Almost 7,000 enemies were killed in just over 11 hours. Croteam tried to break the action during the early parts but the later levels are gruelling.

serious sam 3: bfe
Survival mode sends insane enemy waves at you

Multiplayer is split into competitive and cooperative modes with the latter being the most popular. There are only three small versus maps and one of those is recoloured for the CTF mode. The maps aren’t interesting or structured well so you will grow tired of them after a short time. The spawns are also poor because you will reappear directly behind players in the middle of the action. Projectile weaponry is linked to your connection so the best weapons tended to be the shotguns. You might find one versus server populated during prime time compared to a handful of cooperative servers.

Cooperative mode is the real meat of online play. It allows you to play through the campaign or survival mode with 15 other players. Very little changes from the campaign, with every player having their own ammo reserve. There isn’t much team work and the general interaction involves running around like crazy shooting everything. Enemies lock onto specific players and ignore you running alongside them with a mini gun. The leash can be used with other players to decapitate the biggest foes but it’s too clumsy in the heat of the battle. Oddities with network code will mean you have to lead targets. This is most obvious when trying to hit a kamikaze soldier moving across your screen.

serious sam 3: bfe
This guy is dressed appropriately for deadly cooperative action

If you haven’t played a game like Serious Sam before then Sam 3 will be quite a shock to the system. It will be incredibly exhausting but it’s more because of what you are used to. Once you have command of movement, prioritizing enemy types and weapon switching the free flowing combat can be strangely satisfying. Serious Sam 3: BFE doesn’t try to push the genre forward or heavily modernize its old formula. Aside from a graphical upgrade it’s like stepping into a time machine. It makes a case that there is life left in this old style shooter gameplay.

Our ratings for Serious Sam 3: BFE on PC out of 100 (Ratings FAQ)
Presentation
82
Good visuals with a wonderful array of options including saturation, blood and crosshair type. Environments aren't crammed with detail but enemies look nice and die well.
Gameplay
75
Solid constant shooting that continues for minutes without rest. Good arsenal and some attempts to change pacing. Can be exhausting during last level and has a poor final boss.
Single Player
55
Next to no story with bad presentation to match. Collecting some keys to unlock doors or gas cans to fill up a car is the best of the mission quality. Should last over 10 hours on normal.
Multiplayer
68
Cooperative modes may be entertaining for a few hours but never as tense as the campaign. Survival mode can be strangely addicting. Versus is shallow and the package feels incomplete. Very few are playing online.
Performance
(Show PC Specs)
CPU: AMD Phenom II 955 @ 3.2GHz
GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD 5850 1GB
RAM: 4GB DDR3
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
PC Specs

75
Usually runs fine, even when dealing with insane enemy numbers. Occasionally stutters on any settings. Destruction is the most taxing on framerates.
Overall
73
Sam 3 is a step back in time. It puts you in large open areas and spawns hordes of enemies to keep you in constant terror. Backtracking and shooting nonstop can be exhausting but also enjoyable.
Comments
Serious Sam 3: BFE
Serious Sam 3: BFE box art Platform:
PC
Our Review of Serious Sam 3: BFE
73%
Good
The Verdict:
Game Ranking
Serious Sam 3: BFE is ranked #997 out of 1957 total reviewed games. It is ranked #86 out of 103 games reviewed in 2011.
997. Serious Sam 3: BFE
998. Adventures of Tintin
Xbox 360
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Screenshots

Serious Sam 3: BFE
19 images added Dec 17, 2011 19:28
Videos
Serious Sam 3: BFE - Melee Gameplay
Posted: Nov 12, 2011 13:35
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