The idea of a roguelite version of Serious Sam is, without a doubt, genius. I’ll be honest and admit that I couldn’t care less about the plot in these games. They’re rarely good, and usually feel more like a distraction from what I’m actually here for: wave after wave of enemies to mutilate with ultraviolent prejudice. Throw in some light exploration, the occasional platforming gauntlet, a traditional roguelite progression system, and just enough plot and environmental storytelling to prove that some actual care went into the thing’s development, and you’ve basically got Serious Sam: Shatterverse. On paper, it sounds like a decent match, a decent mixture of elements. The question is, did that idea actually pay off?

The game is a bit boring if all you have access to is a pistol. Grab the tommy gun, and this is when the carnage begins.

Serious Sam: Shatterverse is a very basic take on Serious Sam and roguelites, and does exactly what you’d imagine it’d pull off: select a character, jump into a randomly generated series of levels, defeat enemies, grab powerups, get eventually demolished by a boss, cash in the actually important items used to unlock permanent buffs, start a new run. The gimmick, the selling point in question is being able to play as different (loudmouthed) iterations of the titular Sam, and that the gunplay in here is actually quite good.

Weaken a foe, then finish it off with a melee attack. You’ll regain some health doing so.

Serious Sam: Shatterverse is a retro-styled first-person shooter, one where grabbing a new gun means having infinite ammo to spend on anything that moves, no need to aim that well, and just running and jumping around like a spider monkey that just so happens to be wielding a tommy gun. Defeating enemies grants you experience points which allow you to pick an extra temporary perk when leveling up, and killing an enemy with what’s essentially a Doom Eternal glory kill recovers a bit of your health, essentially encouraging you to be even more aggressive than usual, as you now realize that being ultra ignorant towards your foes is the actual best way to stay in top condition.

To be honest, it is fun, controls like a dream, and does look good enough, but it just lacks that extra pizazz that makes a roguelite truly stand out. Maybe it’s genre fatigue, as a new one is released pretty much every single week, but there is very little that this game does that other FPS roguelites haven’t in the past. Cooperative multiplayer is a neat feature, one that feels borderline mandatory in order to make Serious Sam: Shatterverse more interesting than it actually is, but I guess looking for an actively playerbase to enjoy this game with, at this particular moment, is a harder task than some of its actual boss battles.

You’ll see this fella quite often. And it’ll kill you. And you’ll hate it.

There is nothing inherently wrong with Serious Sam: Shatterverse. It ticks all the boxes. It’s a perfectly serviceable first-person shooter / roguelite hybrid that uses its source material well enough to conjure up a half-decent excuse for a plot, and a varied arsenal of weapons for you to use against hordes of familiar enemies. I guess my main issues with it are how grindy it is, requiring you to play multiple runs before being able to unlock anything worth giving a crap about, and the simple fact that it is yet another roguelite in a sea full of painfully similar competitors. Serious Sam fans will have an absolute crack with this game, and it is enjoyable with friends, but for everyone else, this is a discount purchase, I suppose.

Serious Sam: Shatterverse is available now on PS5, Xbox Series S/X and PC.

Reviewed on Intel i7-12700H, 16GB RAM, RTX 3060 6GB.

A copy of Serious Sam: Shatterverse was provided by the publisher.