In every iteration of the Serious Sam franchise, Croteam has emphasized an old school feel. Hordes of enemies, large open areas to take them on, and of course, a heaping helping of over the top violence. Serious Sam 3:BFE holds true to these ideals. The game is rife with gore, aliens, and ample space to kill them. Despite the number 3 in the title the game is both a prequel and a remake of the original Serious Sam, but the story is far from the first reason to play this game.

The game starts out somewhat misleadingly to veterans of the series. The first few levels, in particular, are the exact oposite of what gamers have come expect from the franchise. In a slow tutorial style of play, Sam goes through small corridors with limited weaponry at his disposal, without any real hordes of enemies. However, the pace quickly shifts to what players expect from Sam - an over the top, downright outrageous experience. From that point, the game sticks with the goal of keeping the game as close to old school as possible. The combinations of monsters in the hordes get increasingly entertaining and difficult. Serious Sam 3 is stressful and rewarding. The hordes of enemies are unforgiving and challenging, but walking across the field of battle after eliminating droves of mental's forces can be cathartic.

As a whole, gameplay mechanics remain similar to the first two Serious Sam titles, but the addition of melee kills is enjoyable in its own sadistic little way. Assuming the enemy is close enough, Sam can perform a melee style execution. The animations are appropriately crisp and brutal. It also gives an odd sense of accomplishment to see Sam rip out bloody alien entrails. Not only that, but a sniper riffle-like weapon has been added to the arsenal. Note that while this gun does have a small scope, the sheer speed and quantity at which enemies attack make sniping an outright impossibility. The scope is best used in brief spurts, to clue the player in to the location of the oncoming alien horde. Controlling Sam is fluid and easy, but it's hard to go wrong with controls in an FPS. Each enemy in the game requires a slightly different technique to kill. When the hordes get their biggest, players are forced to change play style often. Fights are fast paced and at times, stressful, but in a good way. It is easy to pick up and play Serious Sam 3 and the constant changes in methods of eliminating aliens is easy to get used to. As is to be expected of any modern shooter, controls are fully customizable to fit any player's preferred mapping.

Many graphically stunning games have been released in the last few months, namely Rage, Skyrim, and Arkham City. Unfortunately, Serious Sam 3 lacks the visual punch of these titles. The character models are sharp and clear, but Croteam should have spent a bit more time on aesthetics before release. Locales primarily consist of various deserts and pyramids, with an occasional underground lair thrown into the mix. Although a new engine was developed for this game, it often appears aged, with graphical fidelity closer to what one would expect from Valve's source engine. Hopefully when the consoles get their release of the game Croteam will make the effort to enhance the graphics to help the game compete with today's graphical expectations.

Many of the game's sounds do little to enhance the experience, but the rest do all they can to take away from it. The voice acting is exactly what is expected from a campy fast paced FPS game and the music suits the genre perfectly. For the most part the sounds in Serious Sam 3 feel natural to the game, but overall they feel very average. At some points in the game the enemy sounds can be very monontonous. Killing some enemies was no longer motivated by survival, but the strong desire to shut the aliens up. With the ammount of enemies on screen at one time all charging the screen and shouting it becomes a cacophony of distracting sounds.

Like its predecessors, Serious Sam 3 all but abandons a strong story in favor of something a bit less pretentious. There are no harrowing moments to be had here, no fluffy emotional attachments, and most importantly, no harrowing moments of tragedy. In their place, is what fans of the franchise have come to expect; a frantic, violent, and just plain enjoyable kill or be killed frag fest. The other included game modes - coop, versus, and survival, provide just as much entertainment as the campaign. The first two are pretty straight forward. The campaign is filled with an impossibly large number of aliens suited perfectly for two players. By far the best additional game mode is survival. Up to 16 players are pitted against an ungodly ammount of aliens. After about two minutes it becomes near impossible to survive. The only downside to this is that there are only two survival maps. Replayability of the versus and survival game modes is, sadly, on the low side.

Minor complaints aside, Serious Sam 3: BFE is a great game. Certainly not the best of the year, but it is well worth playing. The game's charm comes from the fact that it stays true to its indie roots, and there are a number of reasons to get the game. Even though it may not be on par with all of today's standards, it still manages to be thoroughly entertaining mainly because it diverges very far from modern conventions. It is a refreshing change of pace that longtime fans and new players are sure to enjoy.

Serious Sam 3: BFE
Gameplay
Simultaneously stressful and rewarding; a combination that as a whole serves the game well. Co-Op, versus, and survival modes add some replayability.
Sound
Enemy sound effects are repetitive, and the other in-game audio is standard FPS fare.
Graphics
Death animations are character details are crisp, but environments are often bland. The new Serious Engine 3.5 comes off appearing under-utilized.
Controls
Controls are fluid, easy to master, and fully customizable. Additionally, as advertised, there is a deliberate lack of a cover system.
Overall
Although not the prettiest shooter out there, Serious Sam 3: BFE is an entertaining, albeit average prequel.