Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter

About

Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter is a remastered first-person shooter that cranks up the chaos. You play as Sam, a muscle-bound hero crash-landed in ancient Central America after a cosmic mishap. The game throws waves of grotesque aliens at you in fast-paced levels filled with over-the-top weapons and destructible environments. Play solo or team up to 16 players in co-op to blast through Mayan ruins, futuristic bases, and anything else gets thrown into the mix. Combat is all about brute force and rapid fire, with little room to catch your breath between explosions. The game leans into its goofy charm with absurd enemy designs and Sam’s deadpan one-liners. While not as technically sharp as modern shooters, it holds up for its relentless action and upgraded HD visuals. Community reviews note its cult classic status, with many praising the co-op mode as a highlight. Gamespot named it Game of the Month in 2004, and the remake retains that original’s frenetic energy. It’s a love letter to arcade-style FPS fun with a side of dark humor.

Storyline

The Second Encounter starts where the previous game left off, with Sam traveling to Sirius on the SSS Centerprice. Unfortunately, the starship is accidentally hit by the "Croteam crate-bus" and plummets down to Earth's surface. As the starship falls, Sam reads the coordinates and frets about crash-landing into Egypt again, but instead he crashes into Central America in the Mayan age, with the starship now heavily damaged upon impact. However, not all hope is lost, since the Sirians left a "back-up starship" on Earth, which was a fail-safe in case anything ever happened to the SSS Centerprice. However, since this back-up starship is located in a different time and age than where and when Sam currently is, he will have to uncover the locations of the Sirian portals that will help him reach his destination.