Serious Sam: The First Encounter cover

Serious Sam: The First Encounter

Critic score3 critics
First release
Mar 21, 2001
Developer
Croteam
Genres
Indie, Shooter · Action, Science fiction

A first person shooter extravaganza where you take the role of Serious Sam, a badass killer whose goal is to defeat monsters commanded by Mental, an extraterrestrial entity that wants to destroy humanity. Serious Sam is a high-adrenaline arcade-action shooter heavily focused on frantic arcade-style single player action. In a world where cyberpunk meets fantasy-fiction and advanced technology is mixed with black magic and psycho-powers, Sam travels through the beautiful world of ancient Egypt and several diverse planets, confronting countless Mental's minions on his way to the Mental's base.Key Features Frantic Arcade-Style Action - Fight your way through 15+ nightmarish warriors in Mental's army, including the charging Sirian Werebull, screaming Headless Kamikaze and other crazy monsters, and finally challenge the multi-story Ugh-Zan boss!

Also known as Serious Sam Classic: The First Encounter, Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter, Сериозният Сам: Първият сблъсък

Attributes

No Attributes added.

Details

Storyline, release dates, time to beat, age ratings, modes, links, keywords

Release dates
PC (Microsoft Windows)
Mar 21, 2001
Xbox
Nov 12, 2002
Time to beatIGDB · recorded
Main Story
14h
Main + Extras
17h
Completionist
19h
Game modes
Co-operative, Multiplayer, Single player
Perspective
First person
Where to buy

At a Glance

Critic Score
83
Main Story (IGDB)
14h
Main + Extras (IGDB)
17h
Completionist (IGDB)
19h

Overview

Steam review summary

Steam users rate this Overwhelmingly Positive, 3,087 reviews in all languages, recorded 14 October 2026

Valve's summary of Steam user reviews. Valve counts only reviews from purchases on Steam, not key activations, and leaves out review periods it has marked as off-topic. It isn't part of the CritScore score.

Review summary: SteamSteam data provided via the Steam Web API (opens in a new tab)Not affiliated with Valve →

Multiplayer

  • Online multiplayerSteam · 14 Oct
  • Online co-opSteam · 14 Oct
  • Local co-opSteam · 14 Oct
  • Shared or split screenSteam · 14 Oct
  • Shared or split screen PvPSteam · 14 Oct
  • LAN co-opSteam · 14 Oct
  • LAN PvPSteam · 14 Oct
  • Steam Remote Play TogetherSteam · 14 Oct

Feature data: SteamSteam data provided via the Steam Web API (opens in a new tab)Not affiliated with Valve →

About storefront and compatibility information

Compatibility, feature and availability information shown on this page is recorded from the storefronts and services named against each fact, on the dates shown. Steam and the Steam logo are trademarks of Valve Corporation; Steam data is provided via the Steam Web API. Other product and service names are trademarks of their respective owners. CritScore is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by or certified by Valve Corporation or any other storefront or platform holder, and does not itself test or certify any game.