Serious Sam 4 Review for PlayStation 5

Greetings Gamers, Greg here to talk about the newer to PS5, Serious Sam 4, from developer Croteam and publisher Devolver Digital. Serious Sam 4 is a nostalgic first person shooter classic updated for this generation’s graphics. In some ways, it almost feels like a reskin of early FPS games. It’s something that isn’t even really made anymore, which makes it even more nostalgic. Our FPS games of today are largely online battle royales or story centric deep dives, but the Serious Sam franchise doesn’t let story or other gamers weigh it down.

Story 

In this installment of Serious Sam, humanity itself is under a full out siege as hordes devour the world at Mental’s command ravaging and laying waste to an already broken world. The people of Earth are accepting their fate and laying down to die except a small but defiant resistance called the Earth Defense Force led by our not so serious friend Sam “Serious” Stone. This game allows for up to 4 player online co-op so, if you’re serious about the game, you can recruit your friends into the Earth Defense Force and fight your way though the unprecedented levels of meat grinding chaos. Use the huge arsenal to rip holes in literally thousands of enemies in a non stop classic style shooter. Other than some amusing one liners, this is not a game built on story, but instead the nostalgia of video games from the early 2000s just ratcheted up a bit.  

Gameplay 

The gameplay is not complicated as it’s just meant to be a never-ending shoot-out with a constant stream of enemies. It allows players to remember constantly firing and strafing is the only trick you need just keep moving and firing. The biggest decision you’ll be making is about which gun you want to do it with because that’s the draw here. Unparalleled clip emptying action. Round after round keep firing your favorite guns and switching bit up as you plow through the deluge of enemies. This can sometimes cause lags, though, as huge, never ending loadouts happen even on a PS5. I saw lots of pop on graphics and full skips in what was being rendered. While we are talking about graphics, much of the character animations are pretty basic and, if you are in third person, you can really see the lack of physics in Sam’s animations. But, who needs physics when you can smoothly strafe infinitely while shooting high caliber weapons with minimal reloading.  

So what’s the verdict on this prequel for classic series this reviewer remembers fondly? It’s exactly the same as its predecessors – if you are someone that played this marvel of a game series when it first came out, this is going to be exactly the nostalgic roller coaster ride you remember. That’s exactly what they are selling and they know it. This is one of those game series you had to be around for the original to truly get the value and, if you are, it’s going to bring back sounds that still ring in your head of headless bomb guys running at you and screaming the whole time. The sounds that let you know what’s coming before it gets to you. A sound of panic and joy that rang from my childhood to my adult good once again.

This is not a great game but a fantastic guilty pleasure. It’s like sitting down in front of your PS5 and eating an entire carton of Ben and Jerry’s and I loving it. Serious Sam 4, you still have some bullets rattling around in my heart – here’s your 6.5/10. 

Check out the launch trailer, https://youtu.be/6QK4uaW4S6Y

For more information, visit: serioussam.com

Related: SERIOUS SAM 4 Unleashed on PlayStation 5 & Xbox Series X|S

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Greg Vander Velde

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I've been a life long nerd and video game junkie known to associate with the likes of Link, Nathan Drake, Batman, and Master Chief. I'm a filmmaker by profession, but spend lots of time behind a controller escaping the real world. @GregVelde on Instagram/Twitter/YouTube

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