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'Serious Sam 4' arrives on PC and Stadia in August
'Serious Sam 4' is coming to PC and Stadia this August, although console players will have to wait.
A proper 'Serious Sam' sequel is in the works
There's a new Serious Sam game on the horizon. A fresh instalment of the bombastic shooter franchise was teased in 2014 but never came to fruition. Instead, developer Croteam released The Talos Principle, a critically acclaimed puzzler about androids and AI. Now, though, we have a teaser trailer for Serious Sam 4: Planet Badass, which shows the titular hero driving through the (French? Italian?) countryside on a classic motorcycle. Of course, he's soon attacked by a "headless kamikaze," which Sam dispatches with a casual shotgun blast. The camera then pans back to reveal a horde of gruesome enemies and the message: See you at E3 2018.
'Serious Sam' returns to VR for a 'Second Encounter'
If you're a fan of bombastic early-2000s first-person shooters and you own a HTC Vive or an Oculus Rift, Croteam has you covered. Serious Sam, the studio's fast-paced, over-the-top and gratuitously violent ode to big guns, explosions and cheesy one-liners now has two more VR games on Steam.
Serious Sam's next adventure will be in virtual reality
Adapting classic gaming franchises to VR seems to be a theme at E3 this year. Fallout is getting a VR experience; so is Doom. So what nostalgic game series is next? Serious Sam, of course. Today, Croteam announced Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope -- a virtual-reality smorgasbord of explosions, hordes of alien monsters and gratuitous 1990s video-game violence.
JXE Streams: A piece of puzzle pie in 'The Talos Principle' DLC
There's nothing about pies in The Talos Principle. We're probably just hungry. Either way, today we jump into The Road to Gehenna, a bit of DLC for The Talos Principle that features brand new puzzles, a fresh storyline and (most likely) philosophical questions about the meaning of life, humanity and the technological singularity. We're going deep, people. The Talos Principle is a truly incredible game, blending a rich story of gods and robots with mind-bending spatial puzzles in a gorgeous 3D environment. Join us at 5PM ET (2PM PT) on Twitch.tv/Joystiq, the Engadget Gaming homepage, or right here in this post. And, please, try not to laugh too hard when it takes forever to figure out some of these riddles. We can't all be puzzle gods.
'The Talos Principle: Road to Ghenna' promises more robotic philosophy
Haunting. Creative. Beautiful. Intelligent--these are the words we used to describe The Talos Principle and its narrative-driven first-person puzzles. It's a charming, well-written game that gently convinces the player to question the very nature of consciousness. If you liked it, you're about to get more of it--Croteam and Devolver Digital recently announced The Talos Principle: Road to Gehenna, the game's first episodic expansion pack.
The Talos Principle review: God in the machine
Mac, PC, Linux Often, performing routine tasks can provide unexpected clarity: You think of the perfect ending for your short story while in the shower, or realize the best comeback while riding your bike down a familiar street – three hours after the actual argument. Or, you finally understand the true nature of consciousness while angling a laser beam into a portal beside a door. The Talos Principle takes advantage of this vague phenomenon, presenting a series of straightforward physics- and tetromino-based puzzles within a deeply introspective, proddingly philosophical narrative. It could have easily been a puzzle game and nothing else – and its intricate puzzles could sustain it on their own – but The Talos Principle offers an intelligent story packed with history and the quiet questions we ask ourselves just before falling asleep. It's mysterious and haunting, creative and beautiful – and loads of fun.
Best of the Rest: Jessica's picks of 2014
ATTENTION: The year 2014 has concluded its temporal self-destruct sequence. If you are among the escapees, please join us in salvaging and preserving the best games from the irradiated chrono-debris. Threes Threes is ingenious. Its simplistic presentation belies beautiful, thoughtful design and butter-smooth mechanics. Threes isn't a matter of "less is more," it's fully encapsulated and pushed to the limits of what it intends to do, providing hours upon hours of repeated gameplay on that four-by-four tiled screen. On top of the brain-teasing numbers game, writer Asher Vollmer, illustrator Greg Wohlwend and composer Jimmy Hinson infuse Threes with personality, giving the numbers voices and faces, and tipping Threes from "Fun" to "Absolutely adorable. And, of course, fun."
The Talos Principle traps pirates in an elevator
Claustrophobic pirates, beware: Anyone who illegally downloads The Talos Principle will be trapped in an elevator early in the game, with no way to progress. Developer Croteam and publisher Devolver Digital tweeted links to a NeoGAF thread featuring a screencap of a post titled "Elevator doesn't work!" on The Talos Principle's Steam forum. The first response to the thread reads, "Congratulations you must be the first one to show to the internet world what Croteam did this time to punish pirates :) You should be proud of yourself, it will be all over the internet in about 30 minutes I'd say." Well played, @Croteam. Well played. http://t.co/jHO3BiQoPN pic.twitter.com/UYfYXPlbrH - Devolver Digital (@devolverdigital) December 28, 2014 Croteam previously deterred pirates from fully enjoying Serious Sam 3: BFE with an immortal, speedy, rifle-wielding, giant scorpion. The elevator trick, while more subtle, appears to be similarly effective. We discussed The Talos Principle's surprisingly emotive philosophy on episode 126 of the Super Joystiq Podcast. [Image: Devolver Digital]
Test your machine's, brain's aptitude at The Talos Principle
The Talos Principle, next month's cryptic puzzler from Serious Sam series creator Croteam, can now be sampled on PC, Mac and Linux via Steam. The sort-of beta includes "four increasingly difficult complete puzzle levels" as well as a benchmarking bot to test your build's capability of running the game. We suppose that in a way, the puzzles are also a benchmarking tool to see whether your brain can run The Talos Principle, or if its attempt will simply result in a melted, confused pile of goop. An additional taste of The Talos Principle can be had by downloading Sigils of Elohim on iOS, Android, or on PC, Mac or Linux through Steam. Sigils of Elohim offers sets of one puzzle type that's found throughout The Talos Principle, which tests organizational skills that were likely earned by any Tetris player. Senior Reporter Jess Conditt conquered a few of The Talos Principle's obstacles on video during her tour of publisher Devolver Digital's booth at Gamescom 2014. Those punishing bosses in Titan Souls though ... not so much. [Image: Devolver Digital]
Philosophy, puzzles and Tetris in The Talos Principle next month
First-person puzzler The Talos Principle is coming to Steam on December 11 for PC, Mac and Linux, with PS4 and Android versions scheduled for the first quarter of next year. You'll likely recognize Serious Sam makers Croteam as the developer, but compared to its previous fare the studio's latest effort is an altogether different beast. Self-proclaimed as a "philosophical" game, The Talos Principle explores the greenery and stone of a ruined castle that's curiously interlocked with futuristic technology. So one minute you're strolling down an idyllic woodland path, the next you're moving laser projectors around a courtyard to get past a barrier of light. All the while, as Joystiq's Jessica Conditt put it in her Gamescom write-up, the narrative "approaches death, religion and other deeply introspective topics" as you seek to decipher the underlying mystery. You can watch Jess taking The Talos Principle for a spin at Gamescom by exploring beyond the break. Point the video to the 3:21 mark to skip to the game, or just watch her dying aplenty in two of Devolver Digital's other upcoming offerings, Not a Hero and Titan Souls.
See the pretty pixels sprouting in Devolver's indie garden
Devolver Digital's indie garden at Gamescom features a lineup of games that the publisher has curated over a few years for mass-market consumption, including three that we're particularly excited about: Not a Hero, Titan Souls and The Talos Principle. Each one is wildly different, but they all carry a similar theme. Not to bring the mood down or anything, but that theme is death. Not a Hero stars a bearded dude with no special powers, but he does have a gun. The problem is, everyone else has a gun, too. It's a twist on the classic pixelated platformer in that the environments have depth, allowing players to sink behind outcroppings in the walls to hide from flying bullets. It's lighthearted, fast-paced action featuring a humanoid blue bunny gang lord. Not a Hero comes from OlliOlli studio Roll7, and it's due out on PC in early 2015, with PS4 and Vita versions in the summer. Titan Souls has been a favorite of ours since E3, when it was awarded one of the coveted Joystiq E3 Selection stickers. It's all about one – you have one arrow, one life and you fight one giant, punishing enemy at a time. The only thing more than one in this game is the number of times you'll die. Titan Souls is by Claw and it's due out on PC, Mac, Linux, PS4 and Vita in Q1 2015. The Talos Principle is a slower burn than its companions, offering a serene, 3D puzzle experience similar to Portal or what we've seen of The Witness. Between the shape and light-manipulation puzzles, it approaches death, religion and other deeply introspective topics from a philosophical angle, offering a mix of narrative and riddle. The Talos Principle is in development at The Swapper studio, Croteam, for PC, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS and PS4.
Serious Sam Collection gets Mental in Europe July 12
A new Serious Sam bundle will make its debut on Xbox 360 next month, July 12. Included within the Serious Sam Collection are Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter and Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter, HD remakes of the first two original Serious Sam games, plus sequel Serious Sam 3: BFE and its "Jewel of the Nile" DLC. Rounding out the collection is Mommy's Best Games' side-scroller, Serious Sam Double D XXL. This specific announcement applies to Europe where The Mastertronic Group, with blessings from developer Croteam and publisher Devolver Digital, will offer the Serious Sam Collection. We've inquired about a North American release and will update this post when we hear back.
Serious Sam stars in newest Humble Weekly Sale
This week's Humble Weekly Sale collects just about every remake, sequel, and spinoff in Croteam's Serious Sam series as a pay-what-you-want compilation for Windows, Mac, and Linux. The bundle's core package includes the unapologetically arcadey first-person shooters Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter and Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter, along with a rarely-seen public test version of the original Serious Sam. Also included are Vlambeer's turn-based RPG Serious Sam: The Random Encounter, Mommy's Best Games' gun-stacking side-scroller Serious Sam Double D, and Be-Rad Entertainment's autoscrolling platformer Serious Sam: Kamikaze Attack. Bundle buyers who beat the average purchase price (currently around $4) will also receive Serious Sam 2 and the Deluxe Edition of Serious Sam 3 BFE, which includes the Classic (non-HD) versions of The First Encounter and The Second Encounter, along with a downloadable soundtrack. Serious Sam's Humble Weekly Sale ends on June 13.
Serious Sam 3 and DLC prices permanently reduced on XBLA
Serious Sam 3's Xbox Live Arcade port has received a permanent price reduction, down from 1200 MS Points ($15) to 800 MS Points ($10), a savings of $5. The Jewel of the Nile DLC has also been reduced to the same price.Serious Sam 3 originally launched on the PC in late 2011, a game our own Ludwig Kietzmann says "is like a dam filled with cookies." Last year, Serious Sam 3 was ported to Mac and Linux before its Xbox Live Arcade debut in October.
Serious Sam 3 now in Steam Workshop, mods incoming
Serious Sam 3 recently received Steam Workshop support, Croteam and Devolver Digital announced. The update gave players the ability to use community-made weapons, character skins, maps and gameplay mods, and the option to subscribe to modders that use the Serious Editor.The update initially provided users with over 60 mods to play with, some of which can be seen in the gallery below. %Gallery-169987%
Serious Sam 3: BFE explodes onto XBLA October 17
Serious Sam 3: Before First Encounter is getting serious on Xbox Live Arcade next week, launching on October 17 for 1200 MSP. Devolver Digital also announced that the "Jewel of the Nile" DLC arrives on the same day, just a day after it debuts on Steam.The DLC includes three new campaigns along with some new weaponry. It's available with the Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Lat Team Standing and My Burden multiplayer versus modes for 1200 MSP too.Devolver Digital revealed the above trailer to commemorate the announcement. It features the Rich Knuckles character from previous BFE commercials holding down his new mobile helpline, and includes an interesting soundbite from a certain CEO.
'Jewel of the Nile' DLC runs screaming to Serious Sam 3 on October 16
Announced back in July, the 'Jewel of the Nile' DLC pack for Serious Sam 3: BFE finally has a launch date: October 16. Jewel of the Nile features three campaign missions that take place during the middle of the single-player story, transporting Sam and his tight white t-shirt to the Temple of Isis on the island of Philae.All three missions will be playable alone and in co-op, and feature a few new weapons for an asking price of $9.99. Sam will even encounter "a monstrous temple guardian" boss and probably a bunch of other screaming monsters, because that's what happens in Sam's world. He'll even have to fight an Aludran Reptiloid but you probably already knew that because you saw the screen above. Look how perceptive you are!%Gallery-167519%
Serious Sam 3: BFE runs screaming to Linux via Steam
While it's true the first Steam game to run on Linux will be Left 4 Dead 2, Devolver Digital's fast-paced shooter may be a close second. Serious Sam 3: BFE is currently in development for Linux and should launch sometime this year – the Linux version will launch with all content "up to date" with the PC and Mac versions.The Linux version of Serious Sam 3: BFE will feature full Steamworks integration, including achievements and "the whole shebang," developer Devolver Digital CFO Fork Parker says. Look for it to debut on Steam sometime this year.%Gallery-161026%
Serious Sam 3: Jewel of the Nile DLC announced
Devolver Digital announced DLC for Serious Sam 3: BFE today by the name of Serious Sam 3: Jewel of the Nile. The DLC features three new missions set in the middle of the game's storyline, in which Sam explores the Temple of Isis on the island of Philae.Serious Sam 3: Jewel of the Nile will launch on PC in October 2012 for a currently unannounced price. Check out our gallery of the DLC below!%Gallery-160026%
