Serious Sam ( Croteam, PC, MA15+)

By PETER ELEY

(Herald rating: * * * * )

There's a definite retro feel, an air of deja vu, about Serious Sam. No plot to speak of, lots of teleporting, two sorts of shotgun and lots of stupid monsters give you a clue? It's Doom, of course, the seminal 1993 shoot-'em-up that spawned a thousand clones.

Croteam, a band of Croatian software developers, hitched a ride aboard a time warp to find inspiration for Serious Sam.

It's a no-brain action game where furious action overrides intellectual considerations.

Shoot first, and don't ask questions — there isn't time, not even afterwards, as hordes of mutants intent on eviscerating you just keep on regenerating.

It's what Doom would look like if the team that wrote it had access to today's technology.

Serious Sam is seriously good-looking, with graphics as good as any shooting game.

While the influence of Doom is evident, our manically macho hero Sam himself could pass for the Duke — Nukem that is, not Wayne — and the lighting effects and visuals in general are reminiscent of Unreal.

The game takes place in Egypt, a la Lara Croft and her Tomb Raiders, so Croteam are covering their popular bases.

In general, though, Serious Sam is more than the sum of the parts it has taken from other games, and is a well-crafted, fun game that is up there with the better shoot-'em-ups.

peter_eley@nzherald.co.nz