A Bland Sequel.
Since 2001, when Serious Sam: The First Encounter quietly came out, people have been amazed at The First Encounter, hoping for an even better sequel, The Second Encounter. However, Serious Sam: The Second Encounter is really disapointing.
The gameplay is the worst factor of what makes this game so mediocre. In the gameplay, unlike FE, tends to be more in small fields, and rooms, etc... In FE most of the battles are on large battlefields. In SE, more enemies have been added, and the ememies from FE have become fewer, although not extinct. The new enemies are sort of what you'll expect in a Sci-Fi First Person Shooter Game. The new enemies are weak, non-frightening, and looks like something thought of in an instant, whithout careful thinking. The final boss is the worst of the gameplay, almost as large as the player. The final boss, Mortekai the Summoner, summons enemies, without fighting you itself. Mordekai the Summoner is really weak, which a couple of grenades and rockets can finish off in just like a minute or so. The final boss looks like a witch in gray rags, so it doesn't really make you thrilled. In FE, the final boss, is almost 100x as large as the player and has giant weapons attached to its arms, and cannot be destroyed simply by firing at it. The multiplayer has nothing in common with the term fun. In multiplayer, there is still the co-op, and deathmatch. In deathmatch, Croteam has added more levels or arenas. These levels has been targeted only for fun, instead of requiring skill, all you have to do, is learn to control the cannon. In the single player and multiplayer co-op is what really offbeat. There are eleven levels, most of them tend to be on small battlefields, as mentioned above. And Croteam has added a bit of weather-like substances to make the levels seem more creative. But the weather, such as snow on the ground, makes it less fun. One level actually has a haunted tower which you have to climb. The arsenals, weapons, have only increased by three from FE. These three are the chainsaw, sniper rifle, and flamethrower. The old set of weapons are still available.
The graphics have improved, only because of the green backgrounds. The setting of the game is the prairies/grasslands and temples of South America, which isn't really appropriate for a FPS game, unlike in FE, the setting is ancient Egypt.
More sounds have been added to SE, wherein FE has a few notable sounds/music. One of the best factors of SE is the background music, which is actually better than FE. But please be reminded that the music is not exceptional, only increases in variety.
The value of this game is the same as FE, where they both cost less than 6 USD today, a really cheap price. But if you have the money and time to play this game, I recommend you play FE instead. SE will give you a few hours of gameplay, and replay value, which is a fair deal for $6.
Alas, the tilt. I don't really like SE because I knew it could have been a better sequel. Also maybe because Fe was made too good. And SE is not a really bad game, except that FE was too addicting. I still strongly recommend you get FE first.
In conclusion, Serious Sam: The Second Encounter is a fair game, with nothing to talk about. SE does not really live up to the original FE. With multiplayer co-op and many deathmatch levels, it is not all that bad, although keeping in mind that Serious Sam: The First Encounter is more unique and fun than The Second Encounter is a good idea.