| Serious Sam: The First Encounter | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Croteam[a] |
| Publisher(s) | Gathering of Developers[b] |
| Designer(s) |
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| Programmer(s) |
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| Artist(s) |
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| Composer(s) | Damjan Mravunac |
| Series | Serious Sam |
| Engine | Serious Engine |
| Platform(s) | |
| Release | 21 March 2001
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| Genre(s) | First-person shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Serious Sam: The First Encounter is a 2001 first-person shooter game developed by Croteam and published by Gathering of Developers. It is the first in the Serious Sam series. The game follows the soldier Sam "Serious" Stone, who is sent back in time to ancient Egypt in 1378 BCE to uncover information about the technologically advanced civilisation of the Sirians that could help humanity survive the attacks of extraterrestrial forces in the 22nd century. As Sam, the player traverses linear levels, either enclosed or set on open plains, and battles increasingly large waves of enemies with an expanding arsenal. During gameplay, the player can pick up new weapons and replenishment for ammunition and health, as well as review strategic information. In multiplayer, the game has two deathmatch modes and cooperative play for the single-player campaign.
Development began in 1996, after Croteam had moved away from creating games for the since-defunct Amiga family of home computers. Unable to afford a commercial game engine, the studio developed S-Cape3D alongside In the Flesh, a story-driven first-person shooter inspired by Half-Life. This concept was abandoned as Croteam's chief executive officer, Roman Ribarić, considered it not accomplishable due to the team's size. In 1999, he and programmer Alen Ladavac devised the name "Serious Sam" and a new narrative. Having little funding and no success in finding a publisher, Croteam turned to licensing out the engine (since renamed Serious Engine) and released a vertical slice as a demo in May 2000. The latter saw the game attain much popularity, especially after Erik Wolpaw interviewed Ribarić for the website Old Man Murray, and Croteam eventually signed a publishing agreement with On Deck Interactive, the budget-price games division of Gathering of Developers. After the division was shut down, Serious Sam was moved over to Gathering of Developers and released on 21 March 2001.
The game received positive reviews, with critics praising its engine, gameplay, presentation, sound, and humour. Mixed opinions were raised regarding the game's multiplayer modes and repetitiveness, while its puzzle elements were criticised as too trivial. Due to its budget price, several reviewers cited the game's price–performance ratio as particularly positive, leading to scorn when the game was released in the United Kingdom with a price double that in the United States. The game won multiple year-end accolades, including game of the year from GameSpot.
The First Encounter was followed up by Serious Sam: The Second Encounter in February 2002. Both games have been combined into one in several packages, including an Xbox port released by Gotham Games in November 2002. With the publisher Devolver Digital, Croteam developed a remake, Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter, that was first released in November 2009 and later brought to Xbox 360, Stadia, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. A virtual reality port of that remake, Serious Sam VR: The First Encounter, was released in March 2017.
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