The insanely popular first-person shooter series Serious Sam is getting a fourth instalment. Croteam made the announcement via a new teaser trailer. While lacking specific details, the trailer gives longtime serious fans just enough to intrigue them. The trailer opens up with some roaring classic rock and Sam riding down a highway like a scene straight from Easy Rider. The familiar scream of the Beheaded Kamikaze roars over trailer, followed by the boom of Sam's shotgun. Titled Serious Sam 4 Planet Badass, Croteam also announced that the full reveal will be at E3 2018.
What is Serious Sam and why should you be excited?
Since Serious Sam exploded onto the PC scene as a fast paced, arcade style shooter, many FPS series have taken the spotlight. This should not distract from how important the series was to the FPS genre. Serious Sam: The First Encounter received an 87 on Metacritic and won Gamespot's 2001 Game of the Year award. Bungie released Halo: Combat Evolved in the same year.
Where Halo: CE distinguished itself for smart AI, Serious Sam's was notably stupid. Despite this, fighting off hordes of headless kamikaze aliens quickly became one of the most fun FPS experiences since Doom and Quake. In the years since then, juggernauts like Call of Duty, Battlefield and Overwatch have dominated the genre. However, with the resurgence of both Doom and Wolfenstein in recent years, there is a clear demand for the simpler, smooth arcade style of shooter.
This is why gamers and shooter fans have reason to be excited. While Serious Sam was never the industry innovator like other series, it got everything right. Gameplay that emphasises strafing, quick reflexes and a huge weapon arsenal over Hollywood-esque set-pieces, multiplayer and microtransactions is missing. Especially as it is rumoured that Black Ops IIII won't have a singleplayer campaign. While the graphics look relatively bad, especially compared to Doom (2016) or Wolfenstein: The New Order, this hopefully means the Quake like gameplay is king.
Serious Sam 4 Badass Planet will be on display at E3 2018 this June.
