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Running Backwards - Or A Short Guide about how to make a decent game ReUsing 3 Different Assets For Dummies

A little history lesson for you, completely useless but still interesting
Right after Serious Sam 2, Croteam started to work on a Serious Engine 3. They wanted to expand, find some partners, create more IPs, make more games. They were experimenting left and right, also wanting to create a military shooter. What would be that particular shooter, no one knows. BUT, what is left of it, are the sprint animations, modern assault rifle, ironsights, C4, some ruined streets maps, soldier models, reload animations - ALL these assets in this game - are from those Military Shooter Project.
So they failed, after that, they contacted ID software - long story short, they wanted to create a DOOM game, they showed the ID-guys some concepts, arts, models. And while the stuff were good, ID declined. The answer was: you guys sure are talented, but you live too damn far, we better find some studio that is near to us and hire THEM instead. Spoiler: that OTHER studio tried to make Doom 4 and failed and thats how Doom16 happened long-long after that.
Anyways, CroTeam saved some models they made for the presentation - clone soldiers (literally zombie soldiers from Doom1,2), Mancubus (Fat Scrap guy from this game) and a Baron Of Hell (Chnum) (there's more but you get the idea)
So after that CroTeam decided to return to Sam, they remastered First and Second encounters, made some notes and then,....
They basically threw all their accomplished works from different but not realized projects into one game plus balance and most of the stuff from First Encounter.

And there we have it, a Serious Sam game with DeltaForce/CoD vibes, where you have balance from the First Sam Games and also fight Literal Demons From Hell

To be fair, throwing random stuff at the walls not always work...but this time, it KINDA worked?
I mean its weird to see Sam intereact with people (although they die soon afterwards). He's trying to act TACTICOOL but in practice - he still just shoot left and right. "New" monsters kinda fit the universe but you just cant deny the fact that they're NOT from here.

Whats the plot?

Its a prequel, obviously. Aliens are attacking earth. Sam and a bunch of survivors trying to activate ancient Time Machhine, to prevent the catastrophe...somehow.
But...while some aspects of the lore are fan-servish, there is a lot of plotholes.
How was NETRICSA created?
In the original game, Sam was chosen among others. Here HE'S THE ONLY LEFT ALIVE.
Why in the previous games Sam acts like nothing tragic ever happened?
But then, who cares? Its just a shooter game right? You won't expect a lot from the story here, so dont bother, I guess.
But I'd still want to believe, that after SS2, Mental decided to attack Earth early so the story kinda changed here, another TIME PARADOX.

No more story and plot, about the gameplay now

Its a solid shooter game. If you dont like new features and extra "modern" buttons, you can disable them. Though it completely ruins the Unique Features of SS3.
12 levels of...EGYPT, again. But this time - modern one. Some new monsters, most of them are classical, just like the balance of them.
Grenade Launcher is replaced with kinda powerful C4
There's a new weapon - called Devastator, which looks like a Grenade Launcher, but it fires like Sniper Rifle, but in reality - its a Gauss Gun, BUT ACTUALLY, its just a powerful Shotgun with a scope
Sam can now insta-kill some of the monsters with his bare hands. But this feature solely exists for achievments.
There's also a laser hook from Bulletstorm - but completely useless since you have so much power anyway.
There's also a Sledgehammer that is really useful at the start of the game.
And finally, Tommy-Gun is replaced with Modern AutoRifle which is just pure fun to use.
As for the secrets hunting - they are not as fun and original like in previous games. And lots of them are centered around PARKOUR and destructible objects. If those objects are gone - you cant have the secret - restart.
All of this ends with a pretty awkward final boss, that is also a Gimmick One.
A nice addition were the new monsters, that make the shootout in this game not as boring like in previous entries. Some enemies make you REALLY vulnerable, others require a certain weapon to deal with. And when all of this is mixed - the game becomes really fun. Until the Final Level of course. Its like a tradition, producing fun-factor throughout the whole game and then ending this all with a long and really boring slug-fest.
Oh, there's also possible online gaming, I guess?
Survival is back. So if you havent enough in singleplayer/coop, so there's that.

About the graphics and sound problem

While the game looks okay for the most part. It really is...one-color-toned. Lots of brown. A LOT - of brown. You can change the colors of this game - but it ruins the atmosphere completely.
The other problem - is DUST. Basically every explosion you'll make (and you will explode things a lot) will cover the whole screen in VERY THICC DUST - you just cant see what behind it. Realism? Maybe, but this game is not about it though?
And finally, turning V-sync ON is a must, since the optimization can be weird sometimes.
Also, there's a rare but frustrating bug with sound. Basically, the game can randomly revert your speakers.Which means, you hear an enemy from behind..but he's actually in front of you. I double checked my setup - and Im pretty certain the game does that if you alt-tab a lot.

TL;DR:

Phew, well, that was a wall of text.
Its a good game, kinda weird at the start but if you give it a chance - it can entertain you for sure. You really feel the improvements after 1-st and 2-nd games...despite its weird story behind the curtains.
Though this game is FAR from perfect, it still made its job and now CroTeam are more than stable in our current age of gaming, mostly thanks to the success of this game.
Here's a couple memes for you:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jz4e6a4Rvj8&ab_channel=ExTaZzY