Serious Sam 3: BFE PC
User Score
8.3 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 377 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 323 out of 377
  2. Mixed: 24 out of 377
  3. Negative: 30 out of 377

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  1. digdilem
    Jun 5, 2012
    3
    Played it all the way through, but really it was a grind. Dull, boring, none of the glee and fun that the first two in the series brought us. The method of killing the final boss was ridiculous, and every other boss was dull and boring. The level design was also fairly uninspired.
  2. Jakkar
    Dec 6, 2012
    4
    This isn't Serious Sam. To call a Sam game repetitive would seem redundant, but I can find no better word to describe the cause of the boredom and frustration I felt in trying to complete this game.

    Taunting you for hours, initially, with gameplay necessitating the use of cover while reloading low-power modern military weapons and fighting firearm-wielding humanoids mixed up with 'endle    ss spider crab things', it finally opens up to real large-scale setpiece runs against hordes of foes, but forgets any of the lessons of pacing and most of the depth and fun inherent to enemy behaviour in the original games.

    Eventually you come to fight hordes so large it feels more like a gruelling job of endlessly mopping the same floor in a club toilet as wave after wave of drunkards arrive to vomit across the tiles. You will spend hours simply 'wiping' massive groups of identical enemies with sustained fire, the pattern of projectile dodging repeating ad nauseum until you're subconsciously going through the motions unharmed. To counteract this most of the larger enemies and many smaller examples can do catastrophic, ridiculous amounts of damage to Sam, and one mistake can send you back to your last quicksave. If you play above Normal difficulty there will be so very many of these.

    Animations are dreadful, enemies are a mixture of poorly recreated old and illogical new, most foes follow the precise same AI routines and the level design is complicated yet utterly boring. Dialogue is unbearable and has none of the deranged snappiness of the classic games, focusing instead on crude, peurile humour and military grunt cliches. There's also far too much of it, in cutscenes instead of voiceover.

    A very bland copy of the original information database makes a return in painfully 'console' form, with no controls, no text scrolling, and a very slow wait for any information on the subjects in question.

    In the end the only thing I liked about it was the way Gnaar's heads explode when you unload a coach gun into their optic orbit.

    Painful. I'm going to buy the HD classics on Steam now to cleanse myself of this travesty. I don't know what happened to Croteam to lead them to lose the soul of Sam so completely, and attempt a poor copy years later.    … Expand
  3. duce
    Oct 28, 2012
    2
    The good: Great graphics, enormous maps, hordes of enemies

    The bad: Very inconsistent game play. Some areas border on impossible, while the bulk is too easy. The tragic: Jewel of the Nile DLC - 2nd map has a spot where C4 is to be used. Just does not work, after using the C4 the spot it is supposed to stick to remains on screen, just floating in mid-air. 3rd map requires insanely tediou    s jumping. This destroys any flow in the game and is very frustrating. Overall: if you are OK with most of the game going by quickly and needing to spend 70% of your time trying to get past 5% of the game, then buy it. If you are looking for consistent game play, look elsewhere.… Expand
  4. ozgeek
    Apr 28, 2012
    0
    You don't get machine guns early. I really hate shotguns. Slow, and slow reloading. The only fastest weapon is the pistol. Health pack and armor is far few and apart. I'm 30 or under HP 99% of the time and I am areadly about level 3 in. Where's the assault rifle? Oh they don't exist. Okay, thanks very much I will stop playing. I will not be forced to use weapons I don't like. Besides this is a blandier version of the older games. too much linear and same old annoying enemies.… Expand
  5. mAs7eRa
    Dec 27, 2012
    2
    I just can't believe how can such a game be ruined like that. First of all, I'll start with the graphics. I really like them! That's something that made me really want to play this game. I was with the thought "Imagine the old SS, but with such amazing graphics, would be insane". But no, that's the only good thing about the game. The old SS were fun, with great variety of levels amount and design. The new game is just pathetic. It starts for a short time at a city, has a bit of cave levels and ends in the desert. Before you had jungles, Egypt levels, you had puzzles, you had secret levels with islands and so on. This game is just TOO SHORT and boring. It reminds you a bit of the old one, it has better graphics, but the gameplay can be compared to 40% of the old one's. It has great potential, but bad investment. It feels like the developers didn't put enough time/effort on it (or mainly on the level + enemy AI). To be honest, the first time I was playing this game, the moment where I got really excited was at the last level! AT THE END! I remember my thoughts "Ah, they put a jetpack, this game is gonna get really interesting and a bit different", I finally started to enjoy it. And then, for my disappointment I realized that I was playing the last level. Yes if you want to complete the levels at 100% it will take you some time(some levels around an hour), but the levels are FEW. It is even possible to run through the levels, kill 60% of the monsters and finish the game. Maybe it is just me, but I am hugely disappointed. I expected much more, and I am really happy that I did not buy the game at full price. In my opinion, if you get it, definitely buy it with a promotion. No wonder steam is giving 85% discount for it at the winter sales! I really hope they will put more effort in SS4 if there is such, because the game really has potential, but is not a complete product.… Expand

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
72 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 53 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 27 out of 53
  2. Mixed: 26 out of 53
  3. Negative: 0 out of 53
  1. Pelit (Finland)
    Mar 13, 2012
    82
    This game is the opposite of modern FPS. Enemies attack in hordes and the levels are labyrinths. Serious Sam 3: BFE is a game from 90's made with the tools of the 21st century. [March 2012]
  2. Worth Playing
    Mar 3, 2012
    70
    Serious Sam 3: BFE is a game worth checking out, especially if you were a fan of old iD Software titles like Doom or Wolfenstein, or the even the Serious Sam series itself. If you're a gamer who's only played modern FPS titles, you'd still do well to see what Serious Sam 3 has to offer. It's more unique nowadays, and it's polished just enough to be an enjoyable experience.
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  3. PC Master (Greece)
    Mar 1, 2012
    85
    A worthy descendant of the original Serious Sam titles, it's a FPS that deviates from the standards of today's games: its difficulty level is high, it challenges your reflexes, it's utterly addictive and it's honest, as it delivers on what it promises. [February 2012]
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