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A superb engine is used to render massive open landscapes in which you engage dozens of rabid enemies at one time with an excellent selection of weaponry and power-ups, while solving a set of rudimentary puzzles. Serious Sam: The Second Encounter is a linear, fast-moving old school FPS in the mould of Doom. Which means all that's left for me to do now is to tell you about the action and that'll be me done. And that's about it as far as the plot goes. Picking up from where Sam 'Serious' Stone, left off in his last, overly short outing, Serious Sam: The Second Encounter sees you dropped off in Egypt for a second dose of alien blasting.
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Thankfully though, the preceding action is anything but disappointing.
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No surprise then that that's exactly what you're given when you stagger your way through to the end of Serious Sam: The Second Encounter. I mean once you've saved the world from inevitable doom, rescued the human race from a hideous, subjugated existence and limped home, propped up against your rocket launcher and having had your nose blown off by a stray fragment of alien skull, all you're generally given is a 'well done' and an ill-thought-out ending. Wouldn't you? But ooooooh no, that's too much to ask, isn't it, developers? Hmmm? You lazy bastards. After all, you think you'd be entitled to some sort of fanfare-ridden, stunningly rendered ten minute cut-scene which generally tells you how great you are, as means of a reward for being so damn heroic. One of these days, someone will write a really good ending for a FPS.
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