hen the first Serious Sam title was released so long ago on the PC, it was at once praised for its intense FPS action, but also derided for its almost complete lack of story. But, for all the detractors, the game ended up being quite a surprise hit, spawning a sequel on the PC as well as having the original ported over to the Xbox. Well, Climax Entertainment is ready to release Serious Sam: Next Encounter for the PS2 and Xbox and they’ve stuck to their guns, literally. Featuring the same trademark action and light story that the series is known for, this next installment adds onto what was popular all of the previous installments. While not much has been changed overall, the game still remains a fun time, especially for those looking some mindless FPS action.

While the game does feature furious action, the storyline is still a bit on the light side. Series villain Mental is still up to his shenanigans and has once again started tampering with time travel, which results in his son ending up transporting himself back in time and causing all sorts of havoc. As a result, Sam is sent back in time to take care of the new menace and travels through three distinct time periods that are spread out across 32 levels. The action takes place in ancient Rome, China, and the legendary city of Atlantis, with each time period recreated to resemble the styles of the times.

It’s pretty obvious from the start that the real meat of the game lies in the action. In all, there are 12 different weapons to pick up and use throughout your adventures, ranging from Sam’s standard .45 to more damaging fare, like rocket launchers, grenade launchers, shotguns, and even mobile spider mines. Each weapon serves a unique purpose and throughout the game you’ll need to take careful stock of what you’re toting around as well as recognize which situations call for what weapons. To mix things up a bit, some weapons also feature different kinds of ammunition. For example, the rocket launcher can spew out regular rockets or heat seekers, while the flamethrower (my favorite) can be outfitted with special tanks that can shoot out things like ice and laughing gas.

Perhaps the most noticeable addition to the Serious Sam franchise is the inclusion of vehicles. While you won’t find anything on the scale of a Battlefield 1942 or Unreal Tournament 2004, the game does offer up three distinct vehicles to move around in, including a jeep, submarine and a farm-like threshing machine. While in a vehicle, you’ll have the benefit of not only being in control of some pretty powerful firepower, but also the benefit of having some extra armor surrounding you during those particularly fierce battles. Control for the vehicles is pretty simplistic and easy to get a hang of and shouldn’t give gamers any problems when it comes to moving around. I did notice some odd times where my vehicles were a bit touchy, but none of it caused me too much annoyance.

Being a game that’s all about the action, Serious Sam: Next Encounter still features some pretty fluid controls that make it easy to both get around the battlefield as well as keep general tabs of the swarms of enemies that will usually be after you. Movement is mapped to the left analog stick, while the right stick controls axis movement for looking around. On the GameCube version that I played, jumping was mapped to the left trigger and my primary fire to the right. Switching through weapons was also pretty easy and with a quick press of the Y or X button, I was able to cycle through my stockpile of firearms quickly. One gripe that I had was the fact that the game doesn’t feature an on-screen map of any kind, which gets pretty annoying after awhile not due to the fact that you can get lost (but not very easily), you’ll often times find yourself surrounded by enemies. When an enemy warps into an area of a level, they’ll usually do so in all directions. If you’re not paying too much attention, however, you’ll usually find yourself getting rocked by a monster that you didn’t even know was there. Also, while on-ground movement is pretty intuitive, control while swimming in water is pretty horrendous, particularly when you’re trying to get out of it. When trying to get out of water you need to swim up to a ledge bordering it and then jump. Unfortunately, the mechanic is pretty flawed and actually getting it to work is pretty hit or miss.

For those who want some multiplayer action, the game does feature four different modes; co-op, Deathmatch, Hold The Flag, and Pass The Bomb. Co-Op mode allows two players to play through the normal story mode together, which is a nice touch. Hold The Flag is a variation of Capture The Flag, but instead of having to deposit a captured flag, you need to try and hold on to it as long as you can. Pass The Bomb is a bit more out there and has each player starting the game in possession of a bomb. Each player has a time limit in which to kill their opponent and in the process, get rid of their own bomb before it explodes. And, to help make up for the fact that not all gamers out there may have a bunch of friends to play with, the game features the ability to play online with up to 8 players for the PS2 (GameCube owners have to settle for split-screen 4-player).

But, perhaps the game’s biggest flaws lie in the multiplayer modes. While the action is still pretty furious, the various modes suffer from some pretty unforgivable flaws. First of all, while playing, you’ll automatically switch between weapons as you pick them up. This proves to be a problem if you’re running around with a powerful weapon like the rocket launcher and then happen to pick up a handgun. The game will automatically switch to the handguns, regardless if they’re less powerful than what you were holding before. This results in many unnecessary deaths and got really annoying, really fast. Also, while the game does feature a pretty good framerate, the visuals can chug every now and then, which for an FPS title can usually mean the difference between life and death. And, to make matters worse, most levels feature some pretty illogical spawn points. It’s one thing to die while fighting it out, but it’s a whole other thing to die and then respawn in almost the exact same spot where you just were.   Also disappointing is the fact that you’re not allowed to tweak important settings like being able to turn off radars, so you’ll always be able to figure out where your opponents are, which some would consider “cheap Deathmatch.”

Visually, the game still has that pseudo-cartoony look to it and features some nice particle effects when it comes to weapon explosions and the like. Character and enemy models, however, are a bit bland. While the game has never been known for mind-blowing visuals, it was a bit disappointing to see that the game hasn’t been spruced up that much since its last installments. And, the game does feature some nice audio work including some pretty funny voice clips from Sam himself. But, with some pretty repetitive weapon noises and some grating enemy sounds, the game doesn’t exactly offer up top-notch audio.

Overall, Serious Sam: Next Encounter is a fine play for those looking for some pretty standard FPS action. And, at $20, it’s a pretty cheap buy, as well. But, for all the action the game has, it’s still pretty bland when it comes to gameplay depth and overall variety. True, the game does have a lot of levels and a lot of enemies to mow down, but for all that variety, nothing seems all that different from previous Serious Sam titles. And, with some flawed multiplayer modes, I couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed.