Serious Sam: Next Encounter

Games Radar UK (Pre-2006)

Tremendously fun, and the co-operative mode is a thing of brilliance. It might look a bit scrappy but it works a treat. [GamesMaster]

VideoGamesLife

What it lacks in finesse and refinement it makes up for in its relentless pace and continuous blasting lunacy. It won’t be the sort of game you’ll be telling your grandkids about in years to come, but it does the job and for its bargain price.

G4 TV

It’s as fast and frantic a shooter as you’ll find anywhere.

Game Informer

Hidden levels, new features, and cheats all await the dedicated gamer. However, it will take a seriously patient player to not only finish the game, but to go back and earn the gold medals. [May 2004, p.94]

Computer and Video Games

A game where you have to kill a seriously stupid amount of vicious creatures, who lack the brains to do much other than charge straight at you. It's an absolute apocalypse and in terms of body count makes "TimeSplitters 2" look like Songs of Praise.

PGNx Media

If simple fun is what you’re looking for, you can’t get much better than Serious Sam.

GamePro

Serious Sam delivers all the requirements of an exciting FPS, and the 20-buck asking price is a sweet incentive.

AceGamez

It provides the perfect environment for a quick blast about, either on your own against endless hordes of colourful monsters, or with a friend.

Edge Magazine

Next Encounter is one of the grandest and busiest console battlefields yet created. This is a spiritual update to Space Invaders, a one-trick pony that kicks harder than most FPS thoroughbreds, making the "Medal of Honour" series seem like a vain diva by comparison. [June 2004, p.109]

IGN

If you miss the old days of "DOOM" or just want a cheap thrill, then Next Encounter will help pass the time even if it may make your brain feel like it's shrinking.

Nintendo Power

A grown man in a diaper, a scary clown and an Elvis impersonator are among the 11 kooky playable characters. [May 2004, p.121]

GamerFeed

It's got the kind of gameplay to get you going in a hurry, and its challenge lasts quite a while. It wouldn't hurt to get Serious.

GameCube Europe

If you can look beyond the dated graphics, the basic gameplay model and of course if shooters are your thing, then you are in for quite some fun, and that’s what it is all about really.

GameZone

I absolutely love the insane amount of weapons that this title includes.

GameSpot

If you can forgive the game's dated-looking graphics, its rather basic gameplay model, and its comparative level of ease--which is, admittedly, a lot to forgive--you can have a good time with Serious Sam: Next Encounter.

Electronic Gaming Monthly

Ten years ago this balls-out approach might've been considered fresh, but today it feels like an empty stereotype of the genre's past. Some might dig its old-school vibe, but I'll take a pass. [June 2004, p.93]

Play Magazine

A lack of variety hurts in the end, and while the visual style is enjoyably simple and nicely handled within its constraints, you start to want more meat on the bones. [May 2004, p.56]

games(TM)

By trying to compete in the 'ultimate first-person shooter' squabble, many a title finds its grasp underplayed by its reach. The beauty of Serious Sam is its totally nonchalent attitude towards the genre and the way it plays what could be seen as its weakest card as its strength. [June 2004, p.109]