Serious Sam 3: Jewel of the Nile – game expansion review

If you want to play another one against the world game, but you find it difficult adapting to the challenging arcade style gameplay than this could be your cup of tea.. Or juice, or beer, whatever works.

Jewel of the Nile is a single player campaign, which works as the expansion to the original story of SS3 quite literally. It takes place between two levels of the original campaign, after The Power of the Underworld and just before The Lost Temples of Nubia.

This one, just like the game mentioned, slightly combines gameplay mechanics of modern first person shooters with the simple arcade style massive mayhem this series is known for. It is not uncommon in the SS game that Sam loses all of the weapons and starts from a scratch, this is just another solid example. However, it doesn’t take long to stock up on the arsenal and blaze on as intended. This one is much more consistent in that regard, and the whole experience flows faster and more naturally.

The downside of it, however, is the fact that it’s fairly short. The levels are big enough, but there are only 3 of them.

They’re nothing groundbreaking, but are well designed and still different enough to feel fresh. The content is also what keeps it that way as there are mainly classic enemies to encounter (insert TFE cover) with an exception here and there, just for a good measure. They are well placed… And sometimes too well. But that’s where the challenge is. It forces you to start again and reconsider your strategy. After all, overcoming against all odds is what Serious Sam is all about.

While absent from the original campaign, the big bad green, four-handed bastard is back and with vengeance. Yes, it’s Aludran reptiloid and its projectiles seem even faster this time.

The only new weapon here replaces sledgehammer and is the lumberjack axe… That cuts trees… That are indestructible… Yeah, that won’t work. Anyways;

Your weapons are switched this time. Laser gun and sniper rifle are no longer hidden, so if you missed them, it’s about time to put them to good use. However, minigun and canon are. So watch for the secrets.

The first pair, both can and should be heavily used. Laser gun will give you crowd control while sniper clears alien scum in a surprise attack from a distance.

Just like in SS3, the melee finishers do not have invincibility frames so it can very well be your last move too. It best serves as a last resort really.

Jetpack is back in one level that is entirely designed around it. It’s a welcome change and more fun than in the core game. It’s still wonky to fly and shoot at the same time, but that is not needed anyway. Instead, the jetpack serves more like jump boots than anything else.

Ancient Egyptian tombs are here and so are the puzzles. I’ll be honest, they’re annoying. Not hard, but will keep you inside a couple of minutes whether you like it or not. Thankfully it’s only one part of the level, so you solve it and move on.

Jewel of the Nile seems to be the greater challenge than the base game, especially in the Serious difficulty where constant hordes of skeletons and giants drove me nuts! Kleers seem faster as well as reptiloids. On the other hand, the final boss is the perfect monstrosity that you’ll love to hate. Too bad it wasn’t in the core game.

Many people like to say that this expansion is superior to the core game, however, I strongly disagree. I played both these days and there are still plenty of favorite moments from the core game.

Jewel of the Nile is a short but sweet action injection with everything that Sam is known for. Witty humor, juicy combat, annoying puzzles, massive battles, and explosions everywhere!

Blooper Reel:

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