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We actually did not plan on reviewing any of the Serious Sam spin-offs yet but when I saw gameplay videos of Next Encounter, I wanted to check it out immediately. The plan was to focus on the main series but Next Encounter looked really cool and it didn’t take long for me to get completely absorbed into it. Developed by Climax Solent and published by Global Star Software, Serious Sam: Next Encounter was released for GameCube and PlayStation 2 in April, 2004. For this review, I played the GameCube version. Next Encounter feels very similar to the previous games but with some new weapons, enemies, and environments. According to the internet, the development team drew influence from not only the previous Serious Sam games but also GoldenEye 007, Perfect Dark, Smash TV, Ikari Warriors, and Contra. I haven’t played Ikari Warriors but I have played and enjoy the others so I can’t say they’re bad games to draw influence from. Next Encounter does come with a multiplayer component but I didn’t get to check it out so this review will only focus on the single player.
The story goes that one of Mental’s minions meddles with the Time-Lock in his absence. Sam is sent to the Colosseum in ancient Rome to investigate a time anomaly where he proceeds to clear out a horde of Mental’s forces. A glitch in the Time-Lock warps Sam away from the Colosseum and he battles his way through the Roman countryside in an effort to get back but ends up on a journey travelling to different locations including feudal China, the lost city of Atlantis, and a Sirian spaceship, decimating armies of Mental’s forces along the way. As expected, story beats are conveyed through NETRICSA and cut scenes. In typical Serious Sam fashion, the story is never shoved in your face and the series brand of humor is in full force here. It’s a bloody action-packed adventure but also a bright and colorful experience. You don’t need to play the previous games to enjoy it but you may get more out of the plot if you do.
The campaign took me around ten hours to beat on the Normal difficulty level and it feels very much like the previous games but with some new stuff and a bigger emphasis on scoring and the scoring system is one of the highlights here. While the previous games feature scoring, the scoring here is more involved. You earn points for killing enemies and by collecting treasure and you can earn a combo or multiplier for killing multiple foes in succession. If you manage to kill twenty in a row, you will automatically enter Super Combo: Killing Spree which gives you a speed boost and doubles the amount of points you earn but only for a limited time. You can earn medals based on your performance or score in a level and earning gold medals can result in unlocks including secret levels. The levels do contain checkpoints and when you die, you will respawn at the last checkpoint and at the cost of five thousand points.
From a gameplay standpoint, I’m actually quite impressed with Next Encounter. It retains everything that made the previous games so much fun. It’s a fast-paced shooter with a focus on blowing away hordes of baddies in large environments. While none of the environments feel quite as big as the biggest seen in The First and Second Encounters, I still feel their size and the draw distance are impressive. Next Encounter has all the staples that make a Serious Sam game a Serious Sam game – frenetic action, large environments, waves of enemies coming at you from multiple directions, plenty of toys to play with, and even power-ups. Knowing what weapons to use and when and what enemies to prioritize and when are still crucial. The scoring system adds an additional layer of depth, too. It seems to be designed in a way to encourage you to keep moving and shooting. The idea is to keep the combo or multiplier going so you can earn Killing Sprees and double your points for big scores. So you may want to save certain foes for Killing Sprees because big scores means better medals and unlocks. But the thing is, you can’t activate the Killing Spree manually so it can feel like a waste if you earn it at the tail end of a battle.
Next Encounter does use a dual-stick configuration meaning you move around with the control stick and aim with the C-stick and in general, I would say the controls work really well. I’m not a person that has a hate boner for any specific control scheme – I don’t dislike keyboard and mouse or controllers. Most of the time I use whatever I feel is more convenient. But there are some games where I do prefer a specific control scheme and in the case of Serious Sam, I prefer a keyboard and mouse. I find I that I can react and aim better with a mouse. Even with the auto aim and trying different sensitivities, I never felt quite as comfortable with Next Encounter using a GameCube controller as I do in the previous games with a keyboard and mouse. Still, I am impressed with how comfortable the controls are. Switching weapons in the heat of battle by tapping buttons took me some getting used to but you can also bring up a weapon wheel which is quite convenient.
One of my favorite things about Next Encounter is that even though it feels familiar, there’s enough changes or new stuff here to make it feel refreshing. Almost all of the weapons are new. While many feel familiar and even function like their counterparts in the previous games, they do showcase new weapon models which I think look pretty cool. Not only that, several weapons can fire multiple types of ammo that can you switch between on-the-fly and the gunplay feels great. Weapons have good audiovisual feedback, I love the muzzle flashes, and enemies bleed when hit and can be turned into gibs. My only issue is that the Cannon feels nerfed.
If you’ve played the previous games, you should know what to expect here. Levels have you running and gunning, blowing away hordes of baddies so if you didn’t care for the prior games, I don’t think you’ll care for Next Encounter. It’s more of the same. Some enemies from the previous games make an appearance but most of the cast is new. The returning foes do come with new models and some even feel a little easier to take down at least when comparing Next Encounter to the previous games on the Normal difficulty level. Some adjustments have been made to attacks and behavior as well. For example, the Reptiloid projectiles don’t feel as aggressive. Every enemy is distinct and certain weapons are better for specific threats.
Some levels contain areas that offer vehicles but they’re not really for transportation. They’re for annihilation. They are weaponized, can be destroyed, run out of gas, and are typically found in large areas. Basically, you drive around the area and decimate the foes that spawn before eventually moving on and you will reach a point where you’ll be forced to get out and traverse on-foot.
Every location you travel to feels distinct. I can’t say the level design reaches the same highs as that of The Second Encounter but the variety is nice. You’ll navigate around a villa, caves, temples, gardens, a fortress, and even Caesar’s Palace among other areas and there are secrets to find. Most environments give you plenty of space to maneuver and some are basically large empty-looking boxed areas that throw wave after wave of enemies at you. None of this should be new to veterans of the series. Levels also feature narrow platforms and corridors and some of the battles set in these areas can be a little frustrating. It’s probably my only major gripe with the game, too. Frustrating because you don’t have a lot of space to maneuver, making it more difficult to evade certain attacks, and some of the foes that appear in these areas can be a bitch like Elephant Gunners which fire cannon balls that can often kill you in one hit. I can’t say I struggled with this kind of thing too many times, at least on Normal, but I do feel some of the smaller areas lean more towards frustrating than fun.
Considering the time the game released and the hardware it was designed for, I am impressed with the visual presentation and it can be played in widescreen. The draw distance is impressive, the amount of enemies and action on-screen is impressive, and I like the colorful environments. Many showcase pretty scenery and backgrounds, visual and gore effects look good, and the action is backed by solid audio work. Once again, listening for enemies coming is often just as important as seeing them coming and many enemies come with distinct sounds, making them easy to identify just by listening. I think the soundtrack is good but not quite as good as that of The Second Encounter. As expected, more intense tunes kick in when enemies appear and the game features a good mix of songs that fit the locations and action well. On the technical side, the game ran great and I encountered no major issues.
I think Next Encounter might just be my favorite first-person shooter on the GameCube. Although, I admit I haven’t played all that many for the system. But I like style of gameplay Serious Sam offers, the action is fast-paced and fun, and it runs and controls well in my experience. With over forty levels, multiple difficulties to select from, secrets to find, unlocks, the scoring system, and multiplayer – it’s a game that should keep you occupied for quite some time and has plenty of replay value. I feel like the developer was able to successfully capture what makes the PC games so great and bring that over to consoles. While Next Encounter is not the first Serious Sam console game, it is the first Serious Sam game to really feel different. New weapons, new enemies, new environments, and a more involved scoring system than what came before it are just some of the reasons it stands out and I would say it feels refreshing. It manages to give you that Serious Sam style of gameplay without compromising anything that makes it fun, unique, or special. I think it’s a lot of fun and a game I would revisit.
I absolutely recommend Serious Sam: Next Encounter. It may be a spin-off, it may not be canon, but it is a well made shooter and wonderful Serious Sam title. If you enjoyed The First and Second Encounters, I don’t see why you wouldn’t enjoy this. The action is typical Serious Sam, the weapons are cool and feel good, there’s a wide variety of baddies to blow away, and plenty of reasons to return. You get plenty of bang for your buck and I, personally, feel it’s one of the best shooters for the GameCube. Definitely check it out.