When Behaviour Interactive heard that Devolver was searching for a developer to make a new Serious Sam, we couldn’t have been extra excited and we jumped on the alternative. Many people on the crew had fond recollections of taking part in Serious Sam: The First Encounter when it was launched within the early 2000s and remembered the wacky enjoyable the franchise is thought for. You understand, it got here from an period when video video games have been unapologetically video games first, all the time pushing the bounds of what the know-how may do. As large followers of Croteam’s work, we merely couldn’t go it up.
As discussions moved ahead, we knew we needed to make one thing totally different, one thing that might construct on the legacy of Serious Sam and honor what got here earlier than, whereas nonetheless standing on its personal and shining a new mild on the franchise. We needed to create a recreation that longtime followers would instantly acknowledge, however that a youthful viewers with no historical past with Serious Sam may bounce into simply as simply. And so, Shatterverse got here to be.
Our first job was to recreate the texture of Serious Sam in Unreal Engine, the backpedaling, the gunplay, the basic enemies, after which modernize and redesign these components. We knew early on that The First Encounter and The Second Encounter could be our largest inspirations as a result of these are the video games we nonetheless replay to this present day. With the franchise’s 25th anniversary arising, we needed the brand new recreation to really feel like a celebration of the place all of it started. That meant preserving the excessive-octane motion, the massive enemy waves, and naturally, the bosses. Serious Sam has all the time been recognized for large showdowns in opposition to spectacular baddies, so we needed each boss to really feel like a main set piece and a true check of the gamers’ may.
At that stage, the sport felt good and positively seemed like Serious Sam, however it was nonetheless lacking one thing: its personal identification. We thought lengthy and exhausting about why individuals missed the nice previous days and what they felt when taking part in the unique video games. We needed to seek out that feeling once more with out merely copying what Croteam had already executed, and we ultimately zeroed in on two design objectives. The primary was that urge to replay the identical mission again and again, trying to find each secret and chasing a increased rating. The second was the sensation that something may occur and that generally the deck was stacked in opposition to you, (due to Croteam’s generally cheeky encounter design). As we talked via learn how to carry these emotions again, the FPS roguelike style shortly emerged as the right match.
That stated, roguelike FPS video games can nonetheless really feel fairly area of interest and exhausting to get into, and we needed Shatterverse to be simple to choose up and share with household and pals, even when they’d by no means touched a Serious Sam recreation, an FPS, or a roguelike earlier than. Each system wanted to be simple to understand whereas nonetheless providing sufficient depth to reward mastery. That accessibility additionally formed our method to multiplayer: we needed a recreation individuals may preserve taking part in collectively for years to return, not one that might disappear from the “digital cabinets” if it did not change into a large success.
To make that potential, we selected peer-to-peer multiplayer as an alternative of relying on devoted servers and included an offline solo mode, guaranteeing the sport may nonetheless be performed 5, 10, and even 15 years from now. It was actually necessary to the crew to create one thing that might final and by no means merely be shut down. We additionally needed Shatterverse to launch as a full, appropriately priced standalone recreation, one which was price gamers’ cash from the get-go and didn’t want stay-service releases to be enjoyable. On the similar time, we had so many concepts for locations to go to, previous and new enemies and weapons to create, and all of the loopy issues we may do with Shatterverse. So, we constructed the sport to assist expansions, DLC, and new content material that might develop the bottom expertise if followers needed extra, with out ever cannibalizing the sport they’d already paid for.
The crew has been extremely excited by the reception throughout our many beta playtests, and we’ve listened carefully to neighborhood suggestions as we’ve continued to tweak and polish the Shatterverse expertise. The Serious Sam neighborhood is a devoted one, and its assist has helped us make the sport even higher via a number of rounds of testing. What makes us proudest is that our core viewers appeared to know instantly what we have been making an attempt to do: create a Serious Sam recreation they might simply share with others, spreading their love of the franchise and serving to it attain a new viewers. Finally, we hope Shatterverse not solely welcomes newcomers, but in addition evokes them to choose up the sooner video games and change into followers themselves.
We hope you’ll choose up Serious Sam: Shatterverse and assemble a squad to take on Psychological’s hordes to avoid wasting the Samverse!
Serious Sam: Shatterverse
Devolver Digital
$19.99
$17.99
Serious Sam Stone is again, however this time he isn’t alone. Uber Psychological’s maniacal machinations have fractured the partitions between universes, and now Sam’s from a number of dimensions should be taught to work collectively to restore the Shatterverse.
As a part of the Serious Program, a multidimensional drive opposing Uber Psychological, you may journey throughout shifting universes to complete battles different Sams could not. Psychological has been searching the hero throughout realities, and in lots of timelines, he is already gained. Now, it is your flip to push again. To advance, you should carry down his 5 lieutenants, every a formidable boss in quest of whole annihilation.
Wield a relentlessly damaging arsenal of devastating weapons, unlock highly effective boons, and experiment with run modifiers that reshape gameplay. In true roguelite vogue, demise is rarely the top, and every run opens the door to new methods and limitless prospects throughout the Shatterverse.
MULTIVERSE MAYHEM
Actuality cracked and now Serious Sams from a number of universes are preventing the identical battle. Crew up throughout shifting worlds, collide with alternate variations of the legend, and convey weapons-blazing chaos to timelines that have been by no means supposed to fulfill.
BIG GUNS, SERIOUS DAMAGE
Pack the classics, then crank it into the bizarre. Wield a mixture of iconic Serious Sam staples and model-new toys, constructed for one function – clearing arenas when Psychological’s hordes determine a whole lot is a heat-up. Explosive, loud, and very violent.
ESCALATING DESTRUCTION
A world stuffed with unstable anomalies, hidden portals, and excessive-danger alternatives that may supercharge a run, or finish it immediately. Push ahead larger rewards, unlock highly effective modifiers, and upgrades that completely develop your prospects.
MENTAL’S HORDE, REMIXED
Acquainted foes are again, they usually introduced pals. Face a collection of basic Serious Sam enemies alongside recent monsters, all beneath Psychological’s management, all engineered to overwhelm you, and all begging to be was mush.
ARCADE-STYLE FPS ENERGY
Excessive-adrenaline, run-and-gun area chaos, large battlefields, nonstop strain, a lot of backpedaling, and completely-timed one-liners when every little thing’s on hearth. Shatterverse leans into the Serious Sam legacy and pushes it ahead with procedurally shifting runs throughout hand-crafted arenas set in beforehand unexplored worlds.