Serious Sam 3: BFE

Alright. Serious Sam 3: BFE is done and dusted. My stats here are a bit deceptive as I played it co-op via Serious Sam Fusion 2017 (beta) rather than loading the game direct. Feel free to check out my cheevos for that game if you would like a sense for what was actually accomplished during our run. Our? Yes. I played this co-op with two and three friends (depending on the moment). Total playtime was 4.1 hours to run through the campaign. And I mean run, lol. We had two classic run and gun sessions to play through the game.
Personally, I hadn't played a Serious Sam game in like 15 or 20 years, and I really didn't know any of the controls to begin with, so I learned on the fly. And I think the lesson learned there is that you can definitely pick up and play these games with little to no issues. The controls are in fact quite intuitive. I did put myself at a disadvantage by using a gamepad rather than k/m as well, but it was fine overall even playing with a gamepad.
You're obviously not playing this for the story, but there is a story, and it's as funny and ridiculous as you would imagine. I laughed, then I chuckled, then I shook my head, then I laughed some more. The ending was particularly amusing IMO.
As far as level design, I think it's a bit of a mixed bag. The combat arenas are all very cool. The mazes that make up some of the indoors levels OTOH were very easy to get lost in. Which I did copiously. Fortunately my teammates were patient, lol. There is a bit of very lite platforming as well. Overall though, regardless of the mazelike layouts for certain levels, the level design in mostly done in a way that keeps driving you forward. There are also a few puzzles that gate progression. Our game's host who knows the game inside and out really handled all of those while I wandered around killing things and trying not to get lost.
Combat is the star of the show of course. This is fast-paced with constant movement and hordes of creatures that, if I am not mistaken, have difficulty scaling based on the number of players you have. With a pretty large selection of highly destructive weapons at your disposal, this is always fun. I'm not really sure what difficulty level we were playing, but I can definitely say that battles became increasingly hectic and fun as we progressed. The final stretch on the way to the final boss fight was non stop insanity. I did realize at some point during the last few stages that there was no notable penalty for dying (I hadn't really died prior to the final couple levels), after which I just kept pushing the envelope lol. It's highly satisfying running around with a cannon firing cannonballs at enemies, but every weapon felt good with real weight and impact.
Beyond all that, the voice acting was actually pretty good considering the intentional cheese of the writing, and the graphics at times still are able to impress. I think playing this via Fusion is the way to go due to some of the upgrades that offers. Plus, you can play with up to 16 people co-op via Fusion as well. We didn't have 16 people, but I can only imagine how awesome that would actually be. Btw, the player trackers for co-op do help tremendously as you know both the distance and verticality of other players' locations when you inevitably split up to grab supplies or simply in the flow of combat in general.
So yeah. Solid chance you already own this and possibly have already played it as well, but if not, you might consider giving it a go. It's pretty short and is something you can dive into while also largely shutting off your brain for a bit. Only buy it on sale at this point though, of course.
If you found this review helpful and would be interested in supporting my Curator group, Robilar's Reviews, it would be appreciated. Cheers.
Also follow IndieGems for more reviews like this one.

who would have guessed that spawning a gazillion npcs and killing them in instantly with a nuke in gmod would turn out to be a solid game design philosophy for a fps game

Man, playing Serious Sam 3 is like a total time machine! The second I heard those screaming kamikazes, I was immediately 20 years old again, glued to my wooden PC.
It’s that same chaotic, mindless, "run-and-gun" energy that I loved growing up. It’s not complicated—just pure, old-school nostalgia and a ton of aliens to blast. If you played the originals as a kid, this is such a fun trip down memory lane!
Yup, grab myself a Sting drink, and an instant noodle bowl, i will last a day with the game!

It's a bit boring at first and has its problems but once you are 2 hours in this will be one of the best gaming experiences of your life. They kept the Classic Serious Sam formula with some additions. Graphically its impressive especially since this is over a decade old at this point. There's not much new in terms of story this is actually a prequel to SS:TFE and TSE where you get to experience Sam's story before he went back in time. Other than that its raw action and that's pretty much it.

In short a solid experience and if you're a fan of Serious Sam like me then this is a must play for you in my opinion.

8/10

There are some people that may call this entry the weakest one in the series but I think it's pretty solid despite it's lack of large scale battles from the other encounters.
(there still are large-scale battles in this game, but not as much as the other games.)
It tries to keep things relatively varied all the time which is nice as that can prevent it from getting monotone when playing for longer periods, it is also more interesting to find secrets and new tricks in the new, complex modern environment.
Its also one of the last games that were trying to do it old-school in the far off year of 2011, before every game started to minmax itself.
The only downside of this version is that ammo seems very scarce even when playing on Serious difficulty, although the Fusion 2017 fixes that.

I love getting swarmed by aliens and I love torturing myself, best Serious Sam game so far (haven't tried 4 yet). I really loved the atmosphere and the vibe of the game and how the music change depending on the situation or even the place. I loved exploring the ancient parts of Egypt. Fantastic immersion.

After doing a full co-op playthrough twice or thrice, going for all secrets on Tourist difficulty and doing a Serious difficulty playthrough (in Fusion), I can say that Serious Sam 3: BFE holds up quite well. This is an excellent entry point for those new to the series, as graphically it's a bit more modern looking than the First and Second Encounter. Once again, go read the reviews for the previous two games if you want the full picture.
The third entry in the series takes a bit more of a realistic approach and lays a bit more backstory on the table. The gameplay is still pretty much what you would except: more polished than in the First Encounter but not as creative or experimental as in the Second Encounter. It feels more professionally made, but nonetheless, even the music is this time around a bit less exciting and lacks that little something extra. A few new weapons in the arsenal spice things up at least, and there's well over a hundred secrets in the campaign as per usual.
Serious Sam 3 even manages to feel a bit tougher than the previous two entries – for multiple reasons. The graphics lessen the visibility, as in the sandy landscapes there's often sand clouds in the air from a storm, a hostile bomb or just from your own bullets. This occasionally makes spotting approaching Kamikazes and Kleers challenging. Not being able to hold double the amount of bullets on Serious difficulty makes the game seriously more harder than in TFE and TSE. The enemies also get new attacks and attack patterns, which is kind of a cool feature that also raises the difficulty. Some enemies are easier than before though, like the Sirian Werebull and partly the Kleer, because they don't slide around as much thanks to the newer engine.
All in all, a fun polished experience for when you want to blast down tons of enemies, whether alone or with a friend. Personally though, I'll have to rank it between The First and The Second Encounter because it lacks that little spark of creativity and goofiness.
8,25 / 10