Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem Review - More High-octane Action
My first encounter with the Balrog-like, bipedal demon known as the Khnum began as a side quest, and an implicit promise of a bountiful reward—because why else would anyone embark on a frivolous side quest? After mowing down waves of bloodthirsty fiends and Beheaded Kamikaze soldiers, I was soon ushered into a room where the towering beast was kept, fireballs in hand and ready for a showdown. In the trademark harsh, guttural voice of a hyper-masculine action hero, the eponymous Serious Sam exclaimed that this wasn’t the reward he expected, but nothing stops the man of the hour from pulverising the Khnum into mash, anyway. It was then Sam came to a sudden epiphany, as he remarked sagely to himself, “Sometimes the fight is its own reward.”
Sam’s musing about the nature of the Khnum battle pretty much encapsulates Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem’s appeal: the combat is the point of the entire game. And oh, plus all the one-liners and goofy dialogue, too. This is the sort of joke that Serious Sam, a series of first-person shooters, is largely known for, and like its predecessors, Siberian Mayhem is just as big on gun-toting action sequences and ridiculous, even if recycled, punchlines. Yet, just as Sam’s quintillionth quip about the headlessness of the beheaded kamikaze soldiers never really gets old, neither does the trepidation and awe of rearing up for a massive, hectic battle, as you ready yourself against the waves of foot soldiers and aliens rampaging towards you.
Related: Serious Sam 4 Review: Not Quite The Series Savior
A standalone expansion to Serious Sam 4 featuring five new levels, Siberian Mayhem takes place in the Tunguska Plateau of Russia, but the wafer-thin plot about hunting down a certain General Brand does
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