And with some slight modifications you can turn five guns into one.
By: Casey Curran
Serious Sam Double D XXL, as the name probably implies, is the kind of game that wants to sell itself on how outrageous it looks and feels. While most games going for this type of style stumble, however, Serious Sam succeeds by knowing what makes these types of games fun — and what about them is fun to mock. It is a game that is stupid and embraces it, creating something that is a blast to play.
CONTROLS (3.75/5)
The game can be played as a twin-stick shooter or via a more old-school control method similar to Contra. Of the two, the twin-stick method is clearly superior. Aiming with only one stick was awkward and the mechanic was too integral to the gameplay to play it without aiming. While the twin-stick method does work, however, it felt like it could have used a little more polished as the controls felt as though they were not fully finished.
This was especially obvious while jumping, which was very floaty and hard to control in terms of your vertical distance. Granted, platforming was a very small part of the game where this never got in the way, but the controls still could have used a little more refinement.
GRAPHICS/SOUND (3.5/5)
Graphics are a bit of a mixed bag. They look sharp when viewed in still images, but in motion the game has some clunky animations. The environments look nice, but there’s little diversity as the areas rarely undergo a drastic change. Character designs make up for this as they are very over the top and goofy. These made up for most of the game’s graphical shortcomings as they always made me look forward to what it would throw at me next.
The music was mostly forgettable, but it gets the job done nevertheless. The sound effects did a great job of fitting the game’s tone, as they added a lot to the violent and goofy atmosphere. The real star, however, was the voice work. Sam is basically what Duke Nukem should have been. He’s a macho idiot, but in an awesome way with some hilarious one liners. What makes this really work is that the game never forgets that it’s making fun of him just as much as it is giving him the spotlight.
GAMEPLAY (4.25/5)
While SSDDXXL initially gave the vibe of a standard side scroller, as the game progressed there were a few traits that made it stand out from the pack. The most noteworthy is its weapon modification system. The game offers connectors to connect weapons together, which allows everything from shotguns to machine guns to grenade launchers to be combined into one super weapon. When pieced together, they will all fire simultaneously. It offers an extra layer of depth that can actually make the game too easy; however, it more than makes up for it with how much fun testing out different weapon combinations can be.
Another more subtle difference is the game’s smart level design. Levels did a very good job of shaking things up without changing the core gameplay mechanics, and it did them in ways that made the game clear while not spelling out what to do to the player. For instance, rather than explain that you can jump on a certain type of enemy’s corpse, it released a large wave while putting the player in a pit too deep to jump out of. There were quite a few other instances like this that advanced gameplay in impressive ways.
OVERALL (4.25/5)
Serious Sam’s latest venture is dumb fun. It works because it is very aware of this and embraces it. Serious Sam Double D XXL is only for a certain audience who would love a crude side scroller with over-the-top humor, but if this sounds appealing to you then you should definitely check it out.
RotoRob GAMING 