Action · November 24, 2009

Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter (2009)

calendar_todayAge 17+trophy35 achievementslocal_offer-90% current discountgroup1M–10M ownersrecommend6.9k recommendations
The classic arcade FPS Serious Sam: The First Encounter, which scored an overall of 87% on Metacritic and was awarded Game of The Year 2001 on Gamespot, is now reborn in glorious high-definition for legions of long-time fans and a whole new generation of gamers around the world. Featuring dazzling visuals and revamped design, gamers take control of the legendary Sam ‘Serious’ Stone as he is sent back through time to ancient Egypt to battle the overwhelming forces of Notorious Mental and the Sirian army. Key Features Serious Engine 3 - Beautifully rendered, high-resolution visuals and lushly redesigned environments to create the most astonishing Serious Sam game ever! Frantic Non-Stop Action - From the charging Sirian Werebull to the screaming Headless Kamikaze and the multi-story Ugh-Zan, all of the infamous minions of Mental have been spectacularly redesigned for Serious Sam HD! Great Arsenal - Wield demon-stopping revolvers, lead-spewing miniguns, and monstrous cannons for when you absolutely, positively, have to kill every enemy in sight! 15 Levels of Bedlam - Set against the expansive backdrop of ancient Egypt with every square inch upgraded and reworked to create one of the most visually stunning game experiences! Co-Op Mode - Embrace the mayhem with up to 16 players in campaign mode! Steam Cloud Support - With Steam Cloud your profile is stored on the Cloud servers.

Action releases from 2009

45 Action titles launched in 2009 — top 6 by review volume.

Community Tag Signals

Tag weights reflect how many Steam users voted each descriptor — larger pills = stronger consensus.

  • FPS · 264
  • Action · 207
  • Shooter · 123
  • Co-op · 121
  • Gore · 114
  • Multiplayer · 98
  • Comedy · 96
  • Online Co-Op · 90
  • Classic · 86
  • First-Person · 86
  • Old School · 84
  • Indie · 73
  • Singleplayer · 63
  • Aliens · 62
  • Difficult · 57

Peer Action titles

Comparable titles in the same genre and review-volume band — ranked by Steam positive percentage.

Position in Action

MetricThis titleGenre position
Review volume8.2k Steam reviewsTop 45% in Action
Positive rating93% positiveGenre average: 83% — this title sits in top 24%
Metacritic68/100Genre average 77 — top 87% of Action titles
Engagement hours4 h averageTop 77% for session depth among Action

Features & Capabilities

Multiplayer

  • Multi-player
  • PvP
  • Online PvP
  • Shared/Split Screen PvP
  • Co-op
  • Online Co-op
  • Shared/Split Screen Co-op
  • Shared/Split Screen

Community

  • Steam Achievements
  • Steam Trading Cards

Input & Comfort

  • Partial Controller Support

Other

  • Single-player

Reception Metrics

Steam community

93%Very Positive · 8.2k reviews

7.6k positive · 573 negative

Metacritic

68/100 critic aggregate

Open Metacritic page

Metacritic user score

8.5/10

Curator recommendations

6.9k

Press Quotes

“Call it what you want, but whatever you do choose to say should translate to 'buy this now if you are a shooter fan.'” A – Gaming Nexus “Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter is a great purchase for both fans of the series and newcomers.” 80/100 – Destructoid “Like I said before, this is the perfect example of how good games should be remade.” 8.0/10 – The Armchair Empire

More from Croteam

Croteam has 7 titles indexed — top 6 by review volume below.

Engagement Profile

All-time avg

4h

brief (under 5 hours)

Median

3h

Typical completion time

Achievements

35

Steam unlocks available

Release & Availability

Release dateNov 24, 2009
DeveloperCroteam
PublisherDevolver Digital
Base price$1.49 -90%
Required age17+
PlatformsWindows
Estimated owners1M–10M
External linksOfficial site · Metacritic page · [email protected]

Localization Coverage

Interface / Subtitles (6)

  • English
  • French
  • German
  • Italian
  • Spanish - Spain
  • Russian

Editions & Packages

  • Buy Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter