Odds are, if you were ever a PC gamer you've heard of the Serious Sam series. Characterized by its frantic run and gun gameplay as you gun down some of the most massive hordes of enemies you'll ever see in a game, the series was accessible to just about every type of gamer thanks to its numerous difficulty levels and fantastic sense of humor. With the announcement that the third iteration of the series will be coming sometime this year, it's no surprise that developer Croteam has some tricks up their sleeves in order to build hype for the sequel.
In a surprising move, Croteam is banding together various well-known indie developers in order to work on a project which they have named the Serious Sam Indie Series. Each developer will be tasked with putting their own unique spin on the Serious Sam series as they each make their own game. So far, three different developers have stepped up to the plate.
The first of which is Mommy's Best Games who are famous for their "frantic side-scrolling shooters." They will be making Serious Sam: Double-D which will be released on PC, XBLA and PSN and will see the series' first-person roots translated into a side-scrolling shooter similar to Comic Jumper. Providing the gameplay is responsive and varied, there's a lot of potential for this particular indie game. Looking back at Matt Hazard: Blood, Bath And Beyond, it's evident that these wacky worlds can translate quite well into the second dimension and in Matt Hazard's case, actually surpass the game it was based on.
The second announced game, Serious Sam: The Random Encounter, will be developed by Vlambeer who are known for the popular indie game Super Crate Box. All that is known at this point is that this iteration of the series will transport Sam into a turn-based RPG. While very little is known about this, I'm really interested to see how this one turns out. As a huge fan of RPGs, I'm really intrigued to see how they'll translate the frantic gameplay and signature humor of the Serious Sam series into a turn-based RPG which, characteristically, is a much slower-paced genre.
The final game in the indie series will be developed by Lame Castle developer Be-Rad Entertainment. Like Vlambeer's game, little is known about Serious Sam: Kamikaze Attack! aside from the fact that you will be tasked with guiding a constantly running headless kamikaze out of the way of hazards including Sam himself. While this seems like a perfect fit for mobiles, I'm not quite as excited about this game as it doesn't seem to have as much content as the other two which were announced. Keep in mind though that this is all based on early speculation, as the final versions may differ enormously.
While there may not be much to base opinions on, I'm really excited to see how this project turns out. I love the idea of bringing together different developers with very different strengths in order to provide their own takes on an iconic game series. Only time will tell how they turn out, but they're definitely something for all you Serious Sam fans to keep your eyes on.
How do you feel about Croteam's idea to gather together all of these indie developers? Who would you like to see take a stab at the Serious Sam series?
The various games that make up the Serious Sam Indie Series will be released later in 2011 for various platforms ranging from PC to Xbox 360 to PS3.