Serious Sam Classic: The Second Encounter

It's been 25 years since the Serious Sam franchise started. The team decided to add card drops to both classic Encounter games. It is nice to be able to pick this one up and start it without any issues on Win 11. And while both games have an HD version, purists can always go with the originals. I have always found it interesting that this is the Serious Sam game where the poster sports a Sam without his iconic sunglasses. What gives?
But what is The Second Encounter? Initially planned to be released as an expansion pack but eventually it ended up as a sequel. This 2nd episode ditches the Egyptian desert and puts us in a South American region this time as the alien ship (that Sam stole) crashes due to an explosion. While gameplay remained unchanged (as chaotic as the first one), Sam received some power-ups and new weapons such as the sniper rifle, the flamethrower and the chainsaw. With new weapons come new enemy types and, of course, big boss battles.
It is a fun sequel and recommended for the fans. It is also very cheap at the time of writing this review.
"Give a man a bullet, and he'll want a gun. Give a man a gun, and he'll be giving away the bullets."

TSE has a significantly different weapon sandbox and thematic structure than the first game, despite looking like "TFE part two" on the surface.

The undefeated classics. Classics is harder on normal dificulty than HD version. Those gravity trics they used in this one make me feel joy.

Not a boom shoot, play only if nostalgic

At time of writing I finished the first half of the game and I've never laughed harder. Play it in a good mood, with ample time on your hands of course, and have a blast.

It continues directly from where TFE left off. It keeps the things I liked about the first game and builds on them with more weapons, enemies, power-ups, and much more varied levels. Serious Sam's classic chaotic gameplay is still here; you keep moving forward while shooting through huge hordes of enemies.
I think the biggest improvement in the game is the level design. Leaving Ancient Egypt behind and fighting in completely different regions such as Mesoamerica, Mesopotamia, and Medieval Europe was a great change. Some levels also have very creative mechanics. The gravity mechanics in The Pit are especially surprising. Seeing something like that implemented in a simple-looking engine like Serious Engine is still impressive. Being able to walk on walls and different surfaces when the direction of gravity changes makes the level design feel more experimental compared to TFE. Having more traps and environmental hazards alongside the large battlefields also makes the levels more interesting.
The new weapons are also good. The XOP Flamethrower works really well against Kleer Skeletons. The RAPTOR Sniper Rifle is also very useful for shooting enemies from a distance. The Serious Bomb is really useful when everything gets completely chaotic. The new power-ups are good too. Serious Damage and Serious Speed are especially useful during big battles. I recommend saving them for when you are in a difficult situation.
The new enemies also make the fights more varied. Zorg Mercenary kept me moving with its ranged attacks, Zumb'ul with its rockets, and Fiendian Reptiloid Demon with its powerful fireball. I especially liked Cucurbito the Pumpkin. It is designed as a humorous parody of Leatherface, and I think it is a really cool enemy. Adding new abilities to some of the old enemies was also a great addition. Scythian Witch-Harpy carrying a Kamikaze was another detail I liked.
The co-op side is also pretty fun when playing with friends. Especially during the big battles, playing together makes everything much more chaotic and fits the game's chaotic gameplay very well. However, the online side is unfortunately dead nowadays. I rarely saw only 1-2 people online, and if you don't have friends to play with, it is very difficult to find active players.
The boss fights were good. Kukulkán and Exotech Larva offer different and fun encounters. However, I was a little disappointed with the final boss. After the huge Ugh-Zan III fight in TFE, facing a much smaller boss like Mordekai the Summoner at the end of this game felt a little underwhelming. Mordekai was also quite easy in my opinion. Summoning enemies and teleporting around is a cool idea, but I don't think it had the same scale or impact as the final battle in TFE.
The game also has great references to classic FPS games and pop culture. The hidden phone booth conversation in the first level was especially good. Sam calls “Blondie” and asks when he is coming. After getting the answer “When it's done,” he says “I've been waiting forever.” “Blondie” is a reference to Duke Nukem. The words “When it's done” and “forever” are also making fun of the years-long development of Duke Nukem Forever. Sam complaining about waiting for him feels like a reference to the players who were waiting for Duke Nukem Forever. The small references to Quake are also nice details. Hidden and absurd things like the giant Kamikaze, the Santa Claus and Snowman jokes in the Medieval levels, and the “Crollywood” sign on top of the mountain also show the game's sense of humor very well.
I liked TFE, but I had more fun playing this one. The variety of the levels, new weapons, and enemies make the game much more fun. The formula in the first game was already good, and this game keeps that same formula while adding more variety. You can think of these two games like Doom and Doom II. If you liked the first game, you should definitely play this one too.

The Second Encounter is a bit less difficult than The First Encounter, but I personally think TSE is the better game, quite possibly the best game in the Serious Sam series. The fights feel more fair than many of those in TFE while still being challenging and engaging, and happening on a huge scale in huge, varied levels with superb soundtracks. I always get excited to replay this game, and even though I'm gen Z lol, this game is definitely gonna have a mystical presence in my memory for a long time. Do yourself a serious favor and buy it. Seriously.

Probably the best serious sam game there is, such a huge improvement over the first encounter, and it's pretty cheap.