The First Encounter and its follow up, The Second Encounter, remain some of the best first person shooter games you can play. Croteam did develop a direct sequel, Serious Sam II, but while it was a solid game it didn't quite have the magic touch that its first two titles had. Now Croteam is going back to basics, literally, with Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter. It's basically the same game but with the boosted graphics of Croteam's new Serious Engine 3.

We got a chance to play a near-final build of Serious Sam HD (CDV is scheduled to release the game to both stores and via digital download before the end of the year) and it was like checking out a former girlfriend who suddenly looks hotter than you remember her before. Yes, it is the same game, right down to the placement of the secret areas and the power-ups but Serious Engine 3 has given the game's memorable enemies an polygon boost as well as some rag-doll physics moves that they didn't have before. Blowing up chunks of foes causes them to fall down stairs or inclines if they happen to be nearby. Blood splatters all over the walls and sometimes in your camera point of view. We suspect Australia will likely ban this game from sale because of the over-the-top (but still cartoony) blood and gore.
For those of you who have never have the pleasure to play a Serious Sam game, keep in mind that this title doesn't have the smartest of enemies. They tend to either charge at you or stand there firing their weapons and that's the same way they do in for this remake. Croteam partly makes up for it by the sheer number of enemies on screen combined with spawn and surprise placements that keep you on your toes as you go through the massive levels That shard of an armor power up you see in the distance might trigger a ton of hurt if you go for it.

We had a ball playing through the levels of the preview build and even if you own the original Serious Sam game we suspect you will enjoy the higher resolution textures, the better lighting and effects and of course the better looking enemies. Like the original there's support for four player co-op through the single player levels. However there's no word yet if Serious Sam HD will also have mod tools released for the game as the original did.

We suspect that Croteam has plans to release The Second Encounter with updated graphics if the first remake is successful in terms of sales. However, we really would like the team to get the promised new game Serious Sam III out and about soon. Playing the first game in the serious with some spruced up looks is fun for a while. But we want to see the new adventures of Sam 'Serious" Stone even more now. Let's hope the wait won't be too short.