Serious Sam 4 Reviews
Serious Sam 4 feels like a game that suffered through development hell. The core gameplay is still tight and satisfying. There are some innovative new ideas that expand on the series' longstanding formula. But there are a lot of elements that just don't fit, feel half-finished, or just distract from the best aspects of the game. I really hope the fans and Croteam can have an ongoing discussion about Serious Sam 4 and bring it up to a higher standard that everyone is happy with.
Serious Sam 4 has everything fans of the series could want and more. The fights are chaotic and extremely violent and the gunplay is the best its ever been. It can get a bit redundant and it overpromised on certain features, but anyone looking to demolish thousands of aliens will find tons to love here.
Joy, cheerfulness and the gleeful sounds of carnage accompany us in the carefree fragfest that is every battle, but still Serious Sam 4 feels old: it's like going back to the nineties without anything having changed. In its simplicity, Serious Sam 4 is the very essence of old school shooters, condensed into a dozen hours of gameplay. It represents first person shooters as they were in the beginning, in the fabulous beauty of their original sin: a bloodthirsty naivety made of exaggerated weapons, alien bits and frenetic battles against unreal hordes of enemies.
Review in Italian | Read full review
When everything is trying to reinvent itself in the forms of a remakes and reboots, Serious Sam 4 stays true to franchise's identity, which still feels great, even by today standards.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Serious Sam 4 takes us back to a simpler time in first-person shooters, where massive guns and well-timed one liners make up the bulk of the action. There's a bit of jank that's impossible to miss and Croteam isn't breaking any new ground here but Serious Sam 4 is a great way to just shut off any critical thinking and blast away at a few thousand aliens for an afternoon.
Serious Sam 4 is seriously an outstanding first-person shooter. The gameplay is a ton of fun, and while it mostly involves shooting – there is a level of strategy required in using the right weapons at the right time. The visuals are a bit of a mixed bag. While I was impressed with how big the environments were and the enemy character models, I found some of the human character models were a bit, off – especially their vacant stares.
I declare myself a fan of Serious Sam. I always have been, and not secretly. Croteam has always had in its hands a product that is based on the purest fun that an FPS can offer, shoot your enemies and enjoy it in the best way. And again, they're still exceptional for it. This fourth installment is a dream come true for many, but it could have been much better, because the technical problems with which this console version has arrived, undoubtedly affect the experience. We know that the differences are obvious, but in this stretch of the end of the year where an incredible shooter like Battlefield 2042 is "the worst" of those that have come out in relation to its technical problems, Croteam is not exactly in a good position.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Serious Sam 4 is good, mindless fun, that is unfortunately mired by performance issues. This is recommended for big fans of the series, or for those looking for a nostalgia fix, for back when games were simpler, linear affairs which could be completed in a weekend. It's not a particularly great-looking or running game, but it is also only $39.99 at launch. The full campaign doesn't overstay its welcome, and its many secrets will tempt completionists. Give it a shot if you like your bloody kills combined with quippy one-liners. Just be ready for a bumpy ride.
The new chapter of Serious Sam presents itself to the appointment with the public as the long-awaited return of a legendary saga, which for years has given admirers moments of pure war exaltation punctuated by action hero jokes. In this sense, the last chapter represents a welcome confirmation: if you have loved Sam's previous adventures, you can not help but also adore his last murderous outing, thanks to a full-bodied campaign dotted with crazy shootouts and memorable sequences.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Despite its difficulties, Croteam has created a worthy modern interpretation of its franchise in Serious Sam 4. The shooting borrows from modern classics like DOOM while retaining the unique battles that give the series its cult classic status, and the narrative mostly succeeds when it remains over-the-top and completely carefree. Serious Sam 4 learns from what didn't work in Serious Sam 3 and should be on the radar of not just series fans but anyone who enjoys a good, well-made FPS. Seriously.
It may not top Serious Sam 3, but even then, this latest entry in Croteam's beloved series is still a winner. Serious Sam 4 is fast, loud, insane, and just straight-up cool.
Serious Sam 4 feels like a decade old game, and some of its elements are plainly outdated. Sometimes it's best to just leave things behind, and maybe it's time for the Serious Sam franchise to take a much needed break.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Serious Sam 4 repackages, rather than reimagines the iconic shooter's core mechanics in a way that will amuse fans of the original games. Sadly, a lack of innovation and outdated sense of hmour will undoubtedly put off newcomers.
Serious Sam 4 doesn't deviate from the other entries in the mainline series, and that's perfectly okay. The fourth installment looks and handles perfectly, though some players may succumb to the repetition before the campaign concludes. That said, it's still an absolute blast to play, and it should keep fans busy for quite some time.
Delightfully chaotic and ruggedly lovable, this is a decidedly old-fashioned shooter that succeeds on the principle of 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it.'
Serious Sam 4's PS5 port is disappointing. For a one-year-old game, it would have been nice for some PS5-specific features to be added to this port and give us a reason to try it out on the PS5, but...there seem to not be many reasons to try Serious Sam 4 on the PS5. It does not feel like many changes were made to this port, and the experience is reminiscent of a PS3 game. If you're looking for a fun and demon-filled FPS for your new PS5 this holiday season, then you might like Serious Sam 4. Otherwise, perhaps you should consider waiting until the experienced is more polished.
At the end of the day, SS4 is what it sets out to be — a racous, over the top, arcade FPS that is best played with up to three friends. If that’s the kind of game you’re looking for, it’s very easy to recommend it. With a launch price of $40, it’s a lot more feasible to get some friends to buy in as well than if the price were $60, so keep that in mind, too.
Serious Sam 4's core shooting is as fun as can be, and the writing is on par with Hollywood's best action flicks, but everything else in the game is too dated for the overall experience to be truly enjoyable.
Serious Sam is a series that has long alluded me and I'm starting to think it might have been for the better. Although this fourth iteration might feature some staggering, titanic battles and silk-smooth gunplay, its existence feels like a clear reminder that it's often best to let the past stay dead. Serious Sam 4 is an excavation from a long-outdated era that is more Duke Nukem Forever than it is Doom.
With an insane amount of enemies that can appear on screen at a given time and an insane arsenal of weaponry at your disposal, Serious Sam offers a hectic good time for those of us looking to turn our brain off and just get into the flow of blowing up aliens. Not to mention, playing co-op with friends lends to combined bewilderment and joy. However, be aware that this game is a slog on PC with performance being highly variable. It will require a lot of graphical tweaking, but thankfully Croteam has provided a plethora of graphics options which should make finding that performance sweet spot a breeze.