Games

Serious Sam II

Format: Xbox
Publisher: 2K Games
Price: £29.99
Buy it now from Amazon.co.uk

As games machines become more and more sophisticated, and the games we play on them become more challenging and complex, it's no surprise that some people take refuge in the more comforting world of retro gaming, preferring the simple and direct challenges of the past to the over-egged puddings of today.

Others turn to games like Serious Sam, games that offer all the visual muscle of modern gaming but fall back on the trusty thumb-twitching gameplay styles of yesteryear to deliver refreshingly immediate challenges.

Stripping the first-person shooter back to its glorious basics, Serious Sam II is not what you'd call a quantum leap forwards from the first game. You're a guy called Sam, an ass-kicking and generically obstinate hero who must fight the evil forces of Mental for no other reason than he's a hero in a game and that's what he does. You quickly amass an arsenal of death-dealing weaponry culled from the FPS rule book - shotguns, machine guns, rocket launcher - and set about using it on the onslaught of enemies in your path.

And it's here that Sam distinguishes himself. The game throws bad guys at you at a startling rate. There's no time for stealth or strategy - and even if there were, there are no functions in the game to support such pansified notions. You pull the trigger and start blasting. And blast some more. And keep blasting. Dodge explosions, grab health and armour, find secret areas but above all else - just keep plugging away with your guns.

You should know by now whether Serious Sam II will be your cup of tea. There are no subleties to discuss. It's an old fashioned shooting gallery with a very silly sense of humour. Enemies range from zombie accountants to clockwork bulls, and the sheer size of some of your foes more than makes up for the shallow gameplay. At one point you're suddenly faced with an ENORMOUS robot spider. Dispatch that, and you face ten more. All at the same time. It's that sort of game.

There are some small changes from the previous title - you can now ride the occasional vehicle and pick up non-combat objects - but the core remains the same. Blast everything. There are certainly better games out there, and there are undeniably more interesting games out there. What makes Sam so much fun is that he never pretends otherwise. Unpretentious and hilarious action. Sometimes that's all you want.