Serious Sam Siberian Mayhem Byte Size Review (PC)
In an interesting move a bunch of Serious Sam 4 fans and modders have joined together and formed Timelock Studios. And with the help and approval from Croteam, the developer behind the Serious Sam franchise, they have released Serious Sam Siberian Mayhem. A 5-6 hour stand alone game based between the final two levels of Serious Sam 4. Serious Sam has always been a not-so-serious run and gun franchise and Sam’s Mayhem in Siberia is just as un-serious.
Why So Serious?
With all the expected, and recognisable, enemies here, this is a by the numbers and typical Serious Sam jaunt in the snow. Falling late in the Serious Sam 4 story arc I do find it a bit odd that they have added some new weapons, gadgets and enemies though. Seems to lose continuity with its source material. Not a big deal when you look at the context and even the style Serious Sam is delivered in.
I definitely don’t have a powerhouse of a PC but Serious Sam ran well, if not looking anything special. It was nice to see updated versions of my favourite cannon fodder. Although I, like always, seem to have a serious problem with motion sickness from Sam.
Are you Serious?
Along side Doom, the Serious Sam games give me a really decent dose of motion sickness. To add to my question of why, there is even a section in the settings labelled Motion Sickness. I tried various options, including the auto-prevent. But, while better, I never really got to a point where I could play for more than 10-15 minutes at a time. It could be just the speed of the game (Doom is also very fast paced), it definitely doesn’t help that I have always been that motion sickness guy, even when travelling in the front seat.
It’s a shame because I do like the premise of Serious Sam. Some times you just want to shoot aliens in the face, and follow up with a cheesy one liner. And even more so in this modern life, not having the time to invest into deep story driven games.
Closing Comments (Seriously).
Serious Sam sits along side Duke Nukem, Quake, and Doom as my FPS memories on PC from many years ago. I love the idea of the mindless shooter, even if my stomach can’t handle them. Maybe I have to give titles like these credit for my love of RPGS? Serious Sam Siberian Mayhem, like Serious Sam 4, is stuck in that 1990’s – 2000’s mould. Could it move on? Yes. Should it? No, I don’t think so. There will always be a place for kicking butt and chewing bubble gum, I mean, double the gun, double the fun….
