I've got a big soft spot for Serious Sam. Back in the day, a young Josh really marvelled at that one bit—you know the one—where what-felt-like-a-million Beheaded Kamikazes pour over the sand dunes and begin charging directly at your position. It was probably the first game I played that made fun of games, that mucked about with familiar tropes to create something that felt like a long piece of affectionate mockery.
All this to say I am glad Sam is still here and still Serious, and we just got a glimpse of his latest adventure—Serious Sam: Shatterverse—at the PC Gaming Show. This is Behaviour Digital's co-op roguelite take on the Sam Saga. Samga. Anyway, the point is you'll be charging into runs over and over, creating different builds through modifiers, and generally dying a fair bit until you crack 'em. You know, a roguelite.
From the PCGS trailer, Shatterverse is an appropriately blood-speckled affair filled with myriad recognisable enemies from Sam's many other games. Gnaars? Check. Kamikazes? Check. Did I see a Walker in there? Entirely possible! It was hard to see through the sheets of gore.
Shatterverse also looks like, uh, a 'verse. That is to say, it's bringing together all manner of Sams and art styles to render you and your pals' playable characters. There's polygonal Sam, lizard Sam, portly dad Sam. A lot of Sams, in essence. I rather like it. This is a series that's now been going for (I'm sorry) a quarter of a century. It's fun to mix and mash its legacy like this.
We didn't get a full release date at PCGS, save a wink that the game is due out this year, but there is a Steam playtest upcoming in the relatively near future. If you're interested in shattering Sam's 'verse, you can sign up to check it out over on Steam.
Check out everything revealed at the PC Gaming Show.
