Ah, Serious Sam. This Croteam’s magnum opus is the Doom for the wacky and the wicked among the bravest of the shooter fanatics.
Sam has been all over the place. From ancient Egypt to the Mayan empire, Babylon and medieval Europe.
Then we got some lucid dream about campy Sirians, blue tribes, and Elvis people in the wildest of the places, including the pivotal moon Kronos and the planet Sirius.
Then we got back to modern day Earth to complete the circle. Speaking of completing the circle, this is where Serious Sam 4 comes in.
The variety in the series and the flexibility of storylines allows you to play it in whatever the order you want. This time, however, the focus is on those last two games, and I’ll tell you why.
There is a very specific relationship between all of the Sam games but the only way to sort it all out is to start from the beginning. Trying to explain the Serious Sam timeline to someone has gotten worse than back in a day when you had to explain the order of the Star Wars episodes.
You see… Serious Sam 3 was the prequel to the first two games. But the first one was in the past while the third one’s in the future. But now it’s getting better because the game that follows, Serious Sam 4 is another prequel. Yes! A prequel to a prequel. So it takes place even more in the past… That still looks like a future.
Poor casuals, I really don’t blame them. If you’re new to the series, forget everything, this is how the story goes:
Sam is a space captain minding his own business. Suddenly, the unknown alien force invades, and everything goes to shit. Brave armies of the Earth Defense Force give their best to fight the monsters, but the Earth is losing the war. That’s Serious Sam 4.
By the time Serious Sam 3 starts the war is already lost. The whole planet is in ruins and the last survivors see the hope in the discovered artifact called Time lock. In the end, Sam is literally the last man standing.
The Earth is blown away but Sam manages to get to the past and it’s in Ancient Egypt. The start of the very first game; Serious Sam – The First Encounter. Here Sam faces evil aliens to beat them before it’s too late, and save the Earth.
But waging one man’s war takes time (literally) pun intended, so Sam goes to other places as The Second Encounter takes place, and so on…
In a nutshell, that’s the reason number one, why you should play Serious Sam 4 before Serious Sam 3. That’s how the story goes.
Actually, for anyone who hasn’t played Serious Sam yet now is the perfect time to start, the timeline is here.
Some players did not understand the story and complained that Serious Sam 3 is not as massive, explosive, and hectic as other Sam games. Serious Sam 4 will show you why. As I said, in Serious Sam 3 the war is already lost, the planet is devastated, and the alien forces you encounter there are merely remnants of that invasion force, scattered around and disorganized.
Now, why should you play Serious Sam 4 after Serious Sam 3? Ironically, for the same reason, but inversed.
Serious Sam 3 is the best training ground for Serious Sam 4. It retains that old-school gameplay but combines it with some modern stuff that will also be in Serious Sam 4. Then it’s also lighter on the chaos compared to what awaits you there, so it creates a natural growth in terms of gameplay scale and difficulty.
Ultimately, Serious Sam 4 is the perfect middle ground when it comes to the tone of the game. It’s serious but not as much as Serious Sam 3. It’s crazy but closer to the First and Second Encounter than to campy silliness of Serious Sam 2. Even if you want more silliness and craziness than look no further than that Popemobile action in Serious Sam 4.
But in the end, if you’re simply wondering why does it even matter in what order I play? Look, even better! Just go ahead and play it.
It’s a bloody video game!
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