Let’s get this out of the way: Nobody plays Serious Sam for the story. The premise is gloriously stupid. After defeating the giant alien god Ugh-Zan III at the end of The First Encounter , Sam activates a teleporter back to 1344 BC to retrieve the final part of the Sirian weapon. Naturally, the teleporter malfunctions.

Today, The Second Encounter is most commonly played via the remaster or within the Serious Sam Fusion engine. Even when compared to modern titles like DOOM Eternal , it holds its own thanks to its "purity." There are no skill trees, no crafting, and no complex cover systems. It is just you, a massive gun, and five hundred screaming aliens.

. Originally released as a follow-up to The First Encounter , it’s often considered the peak of the classic series. It takes everything that worked in the first game and cranks the dial to eleven. The Chaos Returns