Sound

The secret yodeller

Serious Sam makes excellent use of sound. Each monster in the game has wildly different sound effects to remind you exactly what you should be afraid of if you can't see it on the screen. The spawn-in sound is quite distinct as well, so if you hear (with the help of EAX) a "bdoong" behind you, fear it. 95% of the time, it's not good news - it means a vicious little critter spawned in and is about to give your dictionary definition of 'pain' some context. The remaining 5% of the time, an item just popped into existence, be it health, armor or some ammo. If there are a lot of items that just got dropped, that's bad news too - it means that something big and nasty is going to be breathing down your neck in a few moments.

Ouch my eyes

Just one of many beautiful sites

Music is top-notch, with a rock/techno/synth sound. Songs get re-used too often but they are perfect for the setting and style of play involved in Serious Sam. The tempo is almost always appropriate, especially the song used against bosses or in big fights.

Quality control

The effects themselves are splendid. The rumble of a Sirian Werebull as it gathers steam and closes the distance between its sharp, vicious horns and your puny behind, or the mechanical buzzing and stomping of Big Giant Red Thing That Fires Rockets aren't just there to help identify what's spanking your ass at the moment, but they're there to give the game some excellent atmosphere.

Must be fun holding your own head

Wooo... water

It's true that nothing can ever re-create the magical moment when I first walked into a dark corridor in Doom and heard the background noises like pig-like snorting and monsters shuffling (even though there were none around), but Serious Sam comes damn close. When you're standing out in the middle of a big, bright Egyptian courtyard and can hear a distant, incessant scream that keeps getting louder, and louder, and louder - but you can't find the charging enemy, that's an experience. The suicide bomber, head in one hand, bomb in another, is closing the distance quickly and unless you spot him, you're in for a world of hurt.

A gun! Hooray

Sam at the end of a level

So you kill him, and suddenly hear three, four or five similar screams. Can you take them out in time? What about when twenty such bombers are coming at you all at once? Accompanied by the hoof-on-stone sound of skeleton beasts that throw bolas at you?