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Serious Sam Some things simply get better with age, especially smart-mouthed, trigger happy, die-hard mercenaries like Sam 'Serious' Stone.

Sam Stone who, you say? And you call yourself a gamer? Shame on you. Go dunk your head five times in a bucket of water.

A parody of classic first-person shooters like 'Duke Nukem', 'Doom', 'Castle Wolfenstien' and 'Quake', the 'Serious Sam' (2001) series was an outrageous lampoon of everything that made those games great. Small groups of enemies corralled in cramped rooms and corridors were replaced by ridiculous waves of gibbering and slobbering foes in wide-open environments. With all that potential carnage, you needed a supercomputer to calculate the number of corpses and body parts flying through the air and littering the ground. And, the best part was…you never had to reload your weapon, ever. Groovy.

Now, you can experience all the bloody, gruesome, grisly, ghastly and gory bliss in vivid HD with the release of 'Serious Sam: The First Encounter' on Xbox Live. Cleaned-up and spiced up by the original creators - Croteam - with the help of Devolver Digital, 'First Encounter' reinvigorates the enduring franchise and for the first time ever introduces 4-player online co-op so you can share the mayhem with likeminded, sicko friends of yours who like you, like to blow stuff up REAL good. At a bargain price of only $15, you cannot go wrong either.

What about the story? What story, chump? Here's all you need to know. A long time ago, on a planet not-so far away, two alien races fought over a mudball called Earth. One group of aliens wanted to befriend the human race, the other, enslave it. To change the course of history and provide source material for the 'Stargate' franchise to steal from, Sam 'Serious' Stone is sent back through time to ancient Egypt.

The goal was simple. There were no stupid puzzles to solve. There were no intricate jumps to make. You just shot, stabbed, sliced and reduced to itsy bitsy pieces anything that moved, and I mean ANYTHING. 'Serious Sam' is as simple as that and as oftentimes is the case, simple is what works best. When you are tired of micromanaging character stats or figuring out that nasty boss's attack pattern, 'Serious Sam' is the perfect game to load up when you just want to check your brain at the door, run, gun and shoot stuff dead. Groovy.

'Serious Sam: The First Encounter'
Format: Xbox 360 (Xbox Live Arcade)
Publisher: Majesco Entertainment
Developer: Croteam, Devolver Digital
ESRB Rating: M for Mature
Official Site: http://www.serioussamhd.com/

Rating: 7 / 10

About G4 in Canada
G4 Canada (formerly TechTV Canada) launched in September 2001. G4 is the one and only television station that is plugged into every dimension of games, gear, gadgets and gigabytes. Owned Rogers Media Inc., the channel airs more than 24 original series. G4 is available on digital cable and satellite. For more information, see www.g4tv.ca.

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'Serious' action on XBLA

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By John Powell - G4 Canada