Serious Sam: The Random Encounter Review

Serious Sam: The Random Encounter
Developed By: Vlambeer
Published By: Devolver Digital
Date of Release: October 24, 2011
Price: $4.99

In the year 19XX, jRPGs were beginning. The ironically named Final Fantasy hit the scene, and things were good. Random enemy encounters, turn based battles, epic storylines. Over the years the series grew and evolved, spanning nine sequels before things started to get crappy. Why am I discussing a Japanese role playing series in a review about Serious Sam? Simple, Serious Sam: The Random Encounter takes the best of Final Fantasy's turn based random battles and blends with an ample helping of bullet hell action to create a thick hearty smoothie of awesome gameplay.




Dutch indie developer Vlambeer, famous for their titles Super Crate Box and Radical Fishing have managed to retain the series' signature style of humor while distilling the experience down into eye-pleasing pixel art and rocking chiptunes. Sam and his buddies may look retro, but they still have all of their gun-toting machismo, and then some. They are gonna need it too, since they have hordes of Mental's minions to face off against.

The gameplay in SS:TRE is deceptively simple. One must navigate massive world maps nearly an entire screen wide, solving mind boggling puzzles such as getting that key, and when you least expect it, BAM! Random Enemy Encounter!




Battles are fought on a horizontally scrolling battlefield as Sam and co. run backwards and fire at their foes. Sam's classic arsenal is present and accounted for, from his twin revolvers to his minigun. Each turn allows you to set your party's weapons, aim them, and use items. When you choose the command to attack, you take control of the party's vertical movement, which allows you to avoid enemies and their projectiles. With some skillfull shooting, you can win the day. Various items are scattered across the map in chests, including the hilarious Kamikaze Bait, which sends a horde of 100 headless kamikazes rushing at your foes, allowing you to turn the tide of battle.

Altogether it took me just over an hour to see the adventure through to the end, and I honestly did die quite a lot. However game over only means that you start over at the beginning of the map, and you retain your items. An endless mode is available after you finish the main quest, and it offers hours of enjoyable replayability.

Seriously Short. Seriously Sweet. Seriously worth your money.