In Croteam's Serious Sam 3, you won't find pan-global terrorist conspiracies or highly trained, heavily bearded teams of death specialists trekking into enemy installations to strike at high value targets. No, in Serious Sam 3, there won't be anything remotely serious. Instead, you'll again square off against hordes of murderous aliens with superpowered weaponry and revel in the unbelievable spectacle of non-stop, frantic action.
Set for release this summer, Serious Sam 3 is meant to be just as ludicrous as its predecessors. Croteam CEO Roman Ribaric answered some of our questions via email, providing plenty of information and, where appropriate, ridicule.
IGN: How long as Serious Sam 3 been in development for, and were there ideas that you really wanted to include in the third game in the series that weren't possible before?
Roman Ribaric: Serious Sam 3 has gone through several design and prototyping rounds dating back as far as 2007. Full production, though, began only after Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter was finished last year. Yes, there were quite a few things we wanted to do, or to do better, that were not possible in 2001. Our proprietary Serious Engine 3 tech has allowed us to fully realize our vision for the game.
Watch the Serious Sam 3 Reveal Trailer
IGN: Can you go over the story setup for Serious Sam 3? Will there be cut-scenes to deliver story between the battle sequences?
Roman Ribaric: Serious Sam 3: BFE covers the events that happened on Earth, at the peak of Mental's invasion, and that lead into Sam entering the Timelock you see in the original games. This time around, the story is much more integrated into the game - i.e the progression across levels, equipment and enemies is more tied to story and character interactions. But we took special care to make sure the story and cut-scenes don't get in your way when playing. Especially when re-playing the game for 100th time. Fun adrenaline-filled action gameplay and freedom in playing are our primary goals. Fear not - we will not allow Sam to become a FMV-based rail shooter.
IGN: It looks like Serious Sam 3 will retain the same core gameplay mechanics as its predecessors – walk into an arena, trigger waves of enemies to spawn, then kill stuff really fast while trying to frantically stay alive. Is that accurate?
Roman Ribaric: Yes, and no. The basic idea still is that you have to eliminate Mental's hordes very fast while frantically trying to stay alive. And there's spawning - wherever it is required to achieve fun action gameplay. But we have diversified the way fights develop, by using much more different layouts and giving the player ability to explore the areas in different ways. But this is something that is best experienced when playing.
IGN: Was there any discussion about adding shooter mechanics like a cover system or regenerative health to the game, or would that be blasphemous?
Roman Ribaric: Cover system??? Regenerating health??? You can't be Serious!
IGN: It does look like aim down the sights made it in.
Roman Ribaric: Yes, aiming works really well - for those weapons where we put it in. We wanted to give more power and at the same time more precision at distance to some weapons, yet didn't want to ruin their balance in relation to other weapons. This really worked very well. It is not something completely new for the series, though. You probably recall Serious Sam: The Second Encounter's Sniper Rifle which even had adjustable zoom factor.
Hint: He's not carrying presents.
IGN: What type of visual style were you hoping to achieve in Serious Sam 3? It appears as though you're going for something more realistic. There are still crazy aliens, but it seems like some of the bright color of past Sam games has been drained out in favor of darker tones.
Roman Ribaric: The idea is visually and conceptually exactly the same as in 2001: to put bizarre and monstrous alien forces into realistic, bright and open spaces, then let the player engage them while destroying everything in sight. Serious Sam 3 visuals are exactly on the same track. Serious Sam 3 is not done in cartoony colors of Serious Sam 2, but it is certainly not based around dark tones. In fact, most environment textures are based on real-world photos from authentic locations and match the realistic colors.
IGN: I can't see the UI, but is it safe to assume Sam will have health and armor ratings and there'll be item pickups scattered around the levels? Will any of the pickups have special effects? And will Sam still acquire new weapons by scooping up floating gun icons?
Roman Ribaric: The item pickups work exactly the same as in previous games. Their visuals were changed to fit into the world better and we feel we really hit the sweet spot there, where they fit the world visually, and the special effects make them visible, yet not too unnatural. But we've retained the right to put them in craziest places without further explanation - purely in the purpose of fun gameplay.
IGN: The aliens certainly look nuts, but Sam's weapons seems relatively, well, normal. Are there many weapons here we're not seeing, or throughout the game will Sam be using a more down-to-Earth arsenal, perhaps appropriate for the setting?
Roman Ribaric: Just like in TFE and TSE, majority of weapons are different types of good old lead-spewing boomsticks. But there are some obligatory over-the-top exceptions like the Sirian Mutilator, which we'll reveal later and will be a real crowd pleaser.
New visauls, same objective: kill stuff.
IGN: Why put a sledgehammer into the game and what are its attack options? Is it meant to be a primary method of attack or a fallback in case you run out of ammunition?
Roman Ribaric: Why? LOL! Is there any other reason we ever put a weapon into a Serious Sam game, other than: "Because it is fun to mow down the aliens with it!" It works great in the game, as it is much more powerful than anything ammunition-less we've give the player ever before, yet it requires a lot of skill to use effectively in complex situations. In hands of a skilled player, it gives the classic "double-barreled-in-their-face" move a real run for its money. Which is great for the in-game balance of weapons depending on situation, enemies and player's skill.
IGN: Are there other melee weapons to find in the game as well? Will there be unique kill animations for different enemy types that can be accomplished with only his bare hands?
Roman Ribaric: We've really let this idea of melee combat spread out a bit this time. Besides using just the hammer or bare hands and feet, there are various specific moves that can be done depending on the current weapon, the targeted enemy and some other factors. Then there is the Mutilator... There are now more variations on how to finish out a particular type of Mental's minions than ever before.
già nei primi ss in singleplayer ti arrivavano orde da 200 nemici //content.invisioncic.com/a283374/emoticons/emoticons_dent1005.gif