Wow! This game is challenging even on normal mode...

[Cwagmire]

And I love it! I've been an avid gamer over the years; however, I missed out on SS when it was originally released on the PC back in the 90s.

However, I picked up the HD remakes during one of the last Steam sales and wow, I love these old school shooters! They provide such a challenge and at certain points can be crushingly brutal.

I kept at it and I just beat the game today and it's one of the few games in a long time that I actually felt like I accomplished something after beating. Most games nowadays almost hold your hand in terms of difficulty (even on the hardest modes).

I can't even imagine playing this game on serious mode as I would say that normal already kicked my ♥♥♥ pretty good.

I just bought BFE this weekend, but I'll have to load up TSE first and probably get my ♥♥♥ whooped again. :P

Man, I hope Croteam can keep these games coming because it seems like many developers have forgotten about these types of games.

[Aidan M]

The game had a fair level of difficulty up until the end when it makes you fight like 2000 werebulls at once. I managed to get past that Part after hours of dying and when I saw the huge alien boss I promptly rage-quit and started the second encounter. My respect goes out to anyone who can finish the game on ANY difficulty.

[yaheshua]

@cwagmire Yes it is, and I, too, love it. Back in the day i beat both (TFE and TSE) on hard (it really was an accomplishment). Didn´t even bother with serious, jeje. And yeah, this is a great game! Try it on a higher difficulty, it´s even more satisfying beating the game.

@aidan M. The "2000 werebulls" are the hardest part. The "huge alien boss" (Ugh-zan III) is waaaaay easier then the mobs you fight trying to get to the pyramid. You should give it a try someday. Besides, the phone call to mental is hilarious!

[fuller556]

My firs time playing it, it took me forever to beat the game on TOURIST!!!

Yeah, it's that hard, LOL.

My rule, however, is that I have not beaten a game unless I have finished it on its default difficulty level or above (normally Medium). I'm proud to say that I'm halfway through The First Encounter on Normal. I'm DETERMINED to beat it. Then I'll do The Second Encounter.

I was actually on the verge of beating Serious Sam II on Normal months ago but somehow screwed up my saved games and lost all my progress. So I'll have to start it over; I just haven't gone back to it (I had it at retail before getting the Steam version during the recent Serious Sam Super-Sale).

Definitely don't feel too badly if you have trouble completing this one... The mobs of enemies in a few areas, particularly the mob of Werebulls on the final stage, are sadistic sometimes.

[Rhyten]

The last level of Sam 1 isn't hard, just throw out your cannon and go do some bowling

[Orcelot005]

The levels before Metropolis are a decent challenge (I'm playing on normal difficulty) but the part where it sends like a million Kleer Skeletons after you is bloody hard as hell, I died many times before I was able to get past this part.

I actually just managed to kill them around 10 minutes ago and I ran out of ammo as I was killing them so it took me forever as I had to use the pistol when there was still a ton of them left... lol both my arms were aching by the time I finally killed them all so I need to take a break now so my arms can have a rest.

[fuller556]

@Rhyten:

I LOVE bowling with cannon balls, but they STILL wipe the floor with me. Less so once I get out into the open, though...

@Orcelot005

I'm in the sewers right now on my playthrough. I don't remember having much trouble with the wave of Kleers on Tourist, but we'll see how I do on Normal once I get there. I'll report back with the results!

[fuller556]

Alright, so I finally went through the stampede of Kleers on Normal Mode. Here's how I ended up dealing with them:

1. From afar, roast as many of them with rockets as you possibly can. This won't work forever. Keep sidestepping, using your peripheral vision to keep an eye on the hammers they toss and the location of any blown off to the side from the explosions.

2. Eventually, you'll be too overwhelmed to continue with a rocket assault, so switch to the Mini-Gun. You should have full bullets. Keep spraying them with bullets, retreating as necessary, and always aim for the ones closest to you.

3. If you get a chance (I didn't), switch back to rockets. You've probably used all of your Mini-Gun ammunition (or close to it), so if they start getting too close again, switch to the Laser.

4. Finally, if you run out of ammo in everything else and you get a mob too close to use explosive weapons, it IS possible to use the Pump-Action Shotgun and circle-strafe around the swarm, pumping them with shells until you get rid of them. Believe it or not, this happened to me, and I had probably no less than 75 Kleer left. I took a couple of hits and came very close to dying, but I was able to finish them off with next to no shells left and able to gear back up with the Ammo Pack that spawned, as well as replenish my health using the Med Kits.

Bottom line? Don't give up!!

[fuller556]

Shew!! Like the OP, I've finally managed to beat this game on Normal. I honestly thought it would take me even longer than it did to get through the arena before the Great Pyramid. Not that I didn't struggle! Will have to now do the same on The Second Encounter and Serious Sam 2 before moving on to BFE. Should be just as big a challenge as this one was.

[dragonhunter505]

Originally Posted by fuller556

My firs time playing it, it took me forever to beat the game on TOURIST!!!

Yeah, it's that hard, LOL.

My rule, however, is that I have not beaten a game unless I have finished it on its default difficulty level or above (normally Medium). I'm proud to say that I'm halfway through The First Encounter on Normal. I'm DETERMINED to beat it. Then I'll do The Second Encounter.

I was actually on the verge of beating Serious Sam II on Normal months ago but somehow screwed up my saved games and lost all my progress. So I'll have to start it over; I just haven't gone back to it (I had it at retail before getting the Steam version during the recent Serious Sam Super-Sale).

Definitely don't feel too badly if you have trouble completing this one... The mobs of enemies in a few areas, particularly the mob of Werebulls on the final stage, are sadistic sometimes.

ARE YOU KIDDING when I played on tourist I could stand in one place have a coffee come back and id still have full health.

[fuller556]

Heh, the health regeneration did not help me very much during a couple of the larger ambush areas my first time through, LOL.

I wasn't really an FPS veteran when I first got this game and had really only played Doom and Quake to that point, neither of which I had beaten on anything above the easiest difficulty level. I've gotten a lot better since then, which finally let me get through this one on Normal. I doubt if I'll ever try it on a higher difficulty, though, LOL.

[MeMeMeMeMe]

Originally Posted by dragonhunter505

ARE YOU KIDDING when I played on tourist I could stand in one place have a coffee come back and id still have full health.

There's always one!

[Orcelot005]

Originally Posted by fuller556

Alright, so I finally went through the stampede of Kleers on Normal Mode. Here's how I ended up dealing with them:

1. From afar, roast as many of them with rockets as you possibly can. This won't work forever. Keep sidestepping, using your peripheral vision to keep an eye on the hammers they toss and the location of any blown off to the side from the explosions.

2. Eventually, you'll be too overwhelmed to continue with a rocket assault, so switch to the Mini-Gun. You should have full bullets. Keep spraying them with bullets, retreating as necessary, and always aim for the ones closest to you.

3. If you get a chance (I didn't), switch back to rockets. You've probably used all of your Mini-Gun ammunition (or close to it), so if they start getting too close again, switch to the Laser.

4. Finally, if you run out of ammo in everything else and you get a mob too close to use explosive weapons, it IS possible to use the Pump-Action Shotgun and circle-strafe around the swarm, pumping them with shells until you get rid of them. Believe it or not, this happened to me, and I had probably no less than 75 Kleer left. I took a couple of hits and came very close to dying, but I was able to finish them off with next to no shells left and able to gear back up with the Ammo Pack that spawned, as well as replenish my health using the Med Kits.

Bottom line? Don't give up!!

Yeah, that was pretty much my tactic, but I ran completly out of ammo so I had to use the pistol for quite a while. I finally got around to beating the game on normal (I had a lot of other games to play, and I'd get frustrated and exit the game if I died too many times LOL) and I still think that was the most difficult part of the game.

Did anyone find the last boss really easy compared to the rest of the game? Sure, I died a few times but even that huge molten lord (is that it's name? I can't remember) was much harder.

[fuller556]

I didn't think the last boss was easy, LOL. Beat it on the first try on that playthrough, if I remember correctly, but not easily.

One trick to the section with the Kleers is to try and save the Ammo Packs. That way, you can at least go into that fight with almost full ammo. It's definitely one of the hardest parts of the game, but not as hard as the mega-ambush at the Great Pyramid. Took me MANY tries to get through the stampede of Werebulls without dying. I saved RIGHT after finishing off the Kleers if my health and armor were reasonably high. I found that you have to be FLAWLESS with the Cannon to have a hope of getting through the Werebulls without major damage. I'm not, LOL.

[Dosbilliam]

Originally Posted by Orcelot005

Did anyone find the last boss really easy compared to the rest of the game? Sure, I died a few times but even that huge molten lord (is that it's name? I can't remember) was much harder.

The giant Lava Golem? Just rocket/minigun/laser it to death...and a piece of advice for everyone...KEEP MOVING AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.