Reception
| Reception | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Aggregator | Score |
| GameRankings | 75% |
| Metacritic | 74/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Publication | Score |
| 1UP.com | 90% |
| GamePro | 80% |
| GameSpy | 70% |
| IGN | 82% |
| PC Gamer (US) | 75% |
Unlike its predecessors, Serious Sam: The First Encounter and Serious Sam: The Second Encounter, the first of which was awarded GameSpot's PC Game of the Year in 2001, Serious Sam II received less praising reviews. The game's average review is a 75% according to Game Rankings. Its highest mark by mainstream media was a 4.5/5.0 from Computer Gaming World, though most reviews were in the 70% or 80% range. Other notable reviews include GamePro rating it 4/5 and GameSpy giving it a 3.5/5 (Good). IGN awarded Serious Sam II an 8.2/10, summing up the sentiments of many of other publications' reviews:
| “ | Like its predecessor Serious Sam II caters to a very specific taste. Fans of old school action games that focus exclusively on shooting down wave after wave of enemies will definitely find that this game delivers. Still, the endless fragfest that is Serious Sam II occasionally runs the risk of becoming monotonous. What saves the title is the endless variety of enemies that come your way and the intense challenge that they offer. Throw in an engine that can handle it all with ease and a unique, colorful visual style and it's the perfect game for twitch-happy action junkies. | ” |
One of the main criticisms of the game was that it was a lot less "serious" and a lot more "cartoony" than The First Encounter and The Second Encounter. An over-emphasis on reflective surfaces and oddly out of place pixel shading were perceived as being more about showing off the capabilities of the engine than about defining the atmosphere of the game. Lighter colors and a more upbeat soundtrack made the game feel less grounded in reality, contrary to the realistic Egyptian tombs and Mayan pyramids of the earlier games, and players complained that while the weapons of the previous games seemed to be massive and powerful, those in Serious Sam II were less so.
Read more about this topic: Serious Sam II
Famous quotes containing the word reception:
“Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody’s face but their own; which is the chief reason for that kind of reception it meets in the world, and that so very few are offended with it.”
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)
“I gave a speech in Omaha. After the speech I went to a reception elsewhere in town. A sweet old lady came up to me, put her gloved hand in mine, and said, “I hear you spoke here tonight.” “Oh, it was nothing,” I replied modestly. “Yes,” the little old lady nodded, “that’s what I heard.””
—Gerald R. Ford (b. 1913)
“He’s leaving Germany by special request of the Nazi government. First he sends a dispatch about Danzig and how 10,000 German tourists are pouring into the city every day with butterfly nets in their hands and submachine guns in their knapsacks. They warn him right then. What does he do next? Goes to a reception at von Ribbentropf’s and keeps yelling for gefilte fish!”
—Billy Wilder (b. 1906)