About Serious Sam Classic First Encounter
Serious Sam Classic: The First Encounter is the original high-adrenaline arcade shooter developed by Croteam and released in 2001. In the near future, humanity's first steps among the stars bring it face to face with Notorious Mental, an ancient and immortal being who has wiped out civilization after civilization just for fun. Earth's last hope is the Timelock, a device left behind by the Sirians, an ancient race that once fought Mental. It sends Special Forces veteran Sam 'Serious' Stone back to ancient Egypt to stop the threat before it begins.
What made Serious Sam famous is its sheer scale. Huge open arenas fill up with dozens and sometimes hundreds of enemies at once, from screaming headless kamikazes and charging bull-like Sirian Werebulls to skeletal Kleer warriors and towering Biomechanoids. Your job is simple: keep moving, keep shooting and never stop circle-strafing. Sam carries a satisfying arsenal that grows from a trusty revolver to double-barrel shotguns, a Tommy gun, a minigun, a rocket launcher and a massive cannon that fires cannonballs straight through crowds of foes.
The campaign travels through sun-drenched temples, pyramids, oases and hidden tombs, packed with secrets for players who explore every corner. Bold, colorful environments were a technical showcase for Croteam's own Serious Engine, and the level design places items, bottlenecks and cover in just the right spots. Each chapter builds toward spectacular boss battles against gigantic creatures, and Sam's cheesy one-liners keep the tone light even in the middle of total chaos. The pace is fast, the action is pure and the fun starts from the very first second.
Serious Sam is even better with friends. The GOG version supports online and LAN multiplayer, with cooperative play through the whole campaign for up to 16 players and classic deathmatch for those who prefer to battle each other. It runs on Windows and needs only very modest hardware. Fans of old-school shooters and anyone curious about the roots of a legendary series will find a cult classic that still delivers a serious amount of fun. Grab your shotgun, ignore the screaming and get ready for the first encounter.
Key Features
- Old-school FPS – Fast, pure arcade shooting.
- Massive hordes – Dozens of foes at once.
- Ancient Egypt – Temples, pyramids and oases.
- Big arsenal – Shotguns, minigun and cannon.
- Online co-op – Up to 16 players.
- Deathmatch – Classic versus action.
- Giant bosses – Huge end-level fights.
- Cult classic – By Croteam, 2001.
PC Version and Compatibility
The game runs on Windows. The minimum setup is Windows, a 1 GHz processor, 256 MB of RAM and a DirectX 7 compatible 3D graphics card (DirectX 9 recommended). These modest requirements mean the game runs smoothly on almost any modern Windows PC, laptops included, and the GOG build is already set up to work on current systems without extra patches.. Languages: English.
Global Activation & What You Receive
This GOG key unlocks the full game Serious Sam Classic First Encounter. It is a Global key that can be activated worldwide. Sign in to your GOG account, open gog.com/redeem, enter the code and the game is added to your library, where you can download it directly or through GOG Galaxy.
Why Buy This Game?
Why buy it? It is the cult classic that defined arcade horde shooting: huge battles, a satisfying arsenal and co-op for up to 16 players.
Related Games
Remade with sharper visuals a decade later, Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter replays this exact campaign in high definition. Continuing the story on new alien worlds, Serious Sam 2 adds vehicles and even bigger crowds. Defining the fast retro shooter genre in 1996, Quake offers dark gothic levels and pure speed. Bringing demon-slaying back to its roots, DOOM delivers brutal and fluid first-person combat.
