Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem expert review

This franchise dates back to 2001 with Serious Sam: The First Encounter for Windows, Xbox, and the Palm OS. That’s right: this thing ran on Palm Pilots. The original title saw an HD re-release in 2009, 2010, 2017, and 2020 respectively. But there has been an entry into the franchise in the form of a mainline or spin-off title regularly since the original came out.

It’s very clear that the game is a first-person shooter in the vein of Duke Nukem, Doom, or even Just Cause with its wackiness. The optional up to 4-player co-op mode adds another layer to the experience since a game like this is always better with friends. Let’s see how the game stacks up against similar titles across several categories:

• Setting, Tone, and Story
• Performance
• Gameplay and Functions
• Visuals and Sound

Are you ready to get into the visceral action explosion so hot it melts Siberian ice caps? Let’s do it.

Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem background

Serious Sam’s legacy spans decades, but he has almost always sported a t-shirt of some kind, a cocky and boisterous attitude, and that signature angry bomb graphic. His antics fall into the “boomer shooter” category or games that recreate experiences like 90s pc fps games.

Serious Sam 4, released in 2020 and 2021 for various platforms, acts as the anchor for Siberian Mayhem as it was initially a mod for Serious Sam 4. Long-time modders formed Timelock Studios to develop this mod as a formal entry into the series with the guidance of Croteam and Devolver Digital.

Setting and tone

Serious Sam 4 was released in 2020 with great reviews, bringing a sleek revival to the franchise. It introduced tons of new weapons, co-op gameplay, and arcade-like mechanics. The game serves as a prequel to Serious Sam 3: BFE while Siberian Mayhem acts as a stand-alone expansion where Sam tracks General Brand to the Tunguska region of Russia.

This area of Russia suffered what is believed to have been a meteor airburst in 1908. It leveled 830 square miles of forest. Known as the Tunguska event, researchers did identify some materials of extraterrestrial origin in 2013. That makes a great tie-in for Serious Sam since the franchise is based on interacting with aliens.

Sam wields a mix of dad jokes and dated, but situationally relevant pop culture references. But the quick-paced, in-your-face action pairs well with Sam’s cavalier attitude toward the terrifying creatures and mutants he encounters.

Story

Since this game acts as a sequel-prequel of sorts, here’s a quick refresher on the overall plot:

• There are multiple universes, but fans consider two of them as the “main” universes
• The timeline order of games from a canon perspective is Serious Sam 4: Planet Badass, Serious Sam 3: BFE (Before First Encounter), Serious Sam: The First Encounter, then Serious Sam: The Second Encounter
• This game is a “midquel” in that it occurs after 4
• Sam has two main enemies: General Howard “War Dog” Brand, a corrupted Earth Defense Force member, and Mental, the final Hum-Tah or Infinite One fighting for intergalactic domnimation
• Sam is chasing down General Brand, but still dealing with Mental’s cronies

Since you’re tracking down Brand, the story doesn’t have too many twists and turns. After all, being a midquel limits the story’s ability to take too many liberties. However, for a game like this, tracking down a bad guy and taking him out in a grand fashion is kind of the point, right?

How long to beat Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem

The game has 5 levels total, making for about 5 – 6 hours of story gameplay. Those looking for all the secrets could spend up to 15 hours exploring the open world.

Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem performance

In general, if your PC can run Doom Eternal, it can run Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem. The game doesn’t have game-breaking performance bugs like Cyberpunk 2077 or Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. It does have a long initial load time as you load a save file, but that is a common territory with most games nowadays.

Some players have criticized Serious Sam 4 for lackluster performance citing massive stuttering issues to AMD Ryzen users reporting major problems. However, on my Nvidia and Intel machine, the game ran beautifully with minimal stuttering, pop-ins, or rendering issues.

The only problem seems to be that the game doesn’t appear capable of fully exploiting a PC’s potential regarding CPU or GPU output.

Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem gameplay and functions

As far as classic boomer shooter mechanics go, Siberian Mayhem checks all the boxes. Not only does the shooting feel crisp with a mouse and keyboard, but the aim is fairly true, as well.

The variety of weapons and additional items like mountable rockets will keep combat unpredictable, fast-paced, and explosive.

UI and interface

The UI is simplistic in a good way with just five tabs and lots of icons the player can mouse over for more information. Much like the game itself, it is straightforward and easy to use.

Players can view weapons, gadgets, enemies, and even the man himself among the various tabs.

Shooting mechanics

The arcade-style gunplay is not nearly as twitchy as other fps games like Titanfall 2, CS: GO, and the like. This game is designed to be a classic, more arena-like shooter hearkening back to its roots with Doom and Quake.

Getting precision headshots with a pistol feels gratifying while taking out multiple enemies at close range with a boomstick is also quite pleasing. Gadgets are hit or miss (sometimes literally), but the weapon suite, overall, feels very solid.

However, playing with a controller is practically impossible if you want to enjoy the game casually. Without the added stability and utility of a mouse, it can be difficult to aim as well as switch between weapons. While playing as a sniper is a viable and fun option, this makes mouse and keyboard the optimal experience.

New weapons and gadgets

This game adds all kinds of new items from enemies to unique puzzles. But what really sticks out are the new weapons and gadgets including:

• AK-47MX rifle: thought firing rockets from a shotgun never gets old, this trusty rifle is a solid go-to. The only downside is how little ammo you can carry for it.
• TCC-2 “Perun” Energy Crossbow: snipers should definitely give this one a go. It can take out medium enemies in one hit and it has “hitscan”, so it damages targets at any range.
• XPMR Burner Raygun: this core weapon is fantastic. Players can find it in Stage 4 and it does more damage the longer you maintain a beam on a specific target. Pro-tip: dual-wield it against bosses, Khnums, and aerial enemies.
• Airstrike Designator: as one might suspect, this gadget calls in missiles to help Sam take down lots of weak enemies or big, hulky bosses with lots of health.
• Portable Hoverboard Scooter: this is a bit of a throwback as Sam had a hoverboard in the Serious Sam: Xbox game. Players can use it to glide around the map to explore more casually.

Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem visuals, sound, and enemy design

Despite dating back two decades, the franchise for Serious Sam remains vibrant and full of life. The enemies are always nipping at Sam’s heels, but he always has enough shells to take them down.

As with any shooter game, the quality of the gun sounds is an important factor when it comes to immersion. The sound, world, and enemy design in Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem are some of the best features.

Sound design

Overall, the gun noises, monster snarls, and environmental sound effects create a fantastic ambiance. You almost feel the chill of the Siberian wind and you definitely feel unease when you hear clip-clops of a Kleer skeleton heralding your imminent doom.

The only thing lacking was a better soundtrack to measure up to Sam’s cringe-worthy, yet endearing one-liners. The music was mood-setting, but not truly epic for those moments where you really got a spree going.

Enemy design

Many of the classic franchise enemies appear in this game, as well, in grisly detail. Players can get a better idea of enemy weak points under the “Dossiers” tab. Or you can just admire the work that Timelock studios put into rendering the creatures.

The bottom right lists useful stats while the top right has lore, as well as tips on how to fight them or what moves to watch out for. The best feature is how the sound design is incorporated so seamlessly into how the enemies inhabit the world of the game.

There’s nothing quite like the death knell of horse hooves when you’re in a dark room playing this game with headphones on.

World design

Even if some assets get reused quite often, the world of Siberian Mayhem is expansive and immersive. You can skid over ice, shoot seagulls off the docks, and discover abandoned shacks in the distance from any possible objective.

It feels like a logical evolution of a classic fps game from the 90s in the best possible way. After all, in what other games do you get to mow down weird alien-zombie-humans on a snowmobile?

Verdict and wrap-up

If Doom Eternal is a heavy metal opera through hell, this is an 80s hair rock romp through the alien-infested streets of New York. Does it tell a huge, sweeping story like Wolfenstein: The New Order? No.

But this boomer shooter has uniquely designed monsters, engaging gameplay, and satisfying feedback loops. Besides, how can you resist a dude who shares sage wisdom like “Every day, once a day, give yourself a present”? Of course, he will also just start singing “Born to Be Wild” in the middle of combat.