Serious Sam: Double D XXL

Developer: Mommy's Best Games
Steam Release: Aug 2011
Hours Played: 4.1
Similar To: Capsized / Shoot Many Robots / Weapon of Choice / Zombie Kill of the Week
Rating: 2/5 Parsnips

GAMEPLAY
Serious Sam: Double D XXL is ridiculous and totally insane. You clamp your guns together so they stack on top of each other and then rapid-fire your way through a gazillion waves of ludicrous enemies. In contrast to the slick presentation of the menus, this side-scrolling platform shooter appears a bit of a mess at first. Objects are out of proportion with many looking like they've been cut and pasted from a magazine but fortunately, the insane gameplay detracts us from its graphical shortcomings as most of the time the player is forced to indulge in a rampaging frenzy as wave upon wave of bizarre and surreal enemies rush at him from all directions! Your job, of course - as Sam the main man - is to obliterate these enemies using your steady influx of guns and weapons. 
 


BALANCE & PACE
To facilitate with this endeavour you activate the gun-stacking screen accessible  at various checkpoints represented by glowing orbs. Here, you clamp your guns together using a contraption that can effectively fire around six weapons at a time! Once fitted, you jump around while ripping through enemies with streams of missiles while avoiding missiles of their own. Currency comes in the form of green boxes which you pick up and use at shops littered through the levels to buy upgrades for your guns. You may also look for secrets if you wish before moving onto the next level. You might also want to have a go at the equally insane challenges. The game may gift you fire-power just a tad too generously before battles but it’s a decent, over-the-top platform shooter. 
  

PRESENTATION & DESIGN
To the accompaniment of tuneless rock music and a series of circular discs that appear to be speakers you get your swish menu screens. These "speakers" form the sub-menus that give you plenty of screens to explore surrounding all sorts of things to do with the game. Music aside, it is all very slick with the transitions of jumping around from menu screen to menu screen being silky smooth and pleasing on the eye. The controller, along with mouse & keyboard work equally well. From here you can: view a list of 12 challenges; view unlocked secrets; visit the list of achievements; play around with the options and view loads of stats. It's all crisp and stylishly done. Some players may question the awkward movement of your character or the unusual decision to have jump being the left trigger on the controller but these are minor points.
 

PROGRESS SYSTEM
Playing the main game is arrived at through the menus rather than a map-screen. There is a story hidden within the game somewhere but it’s inconsequential. On hitting Play Game you can either: Continue Campaign which throws you directly into the game on pressing the Quick Load option; try one of the 12 challenges (unlocked by finding hidden pies) or enter a Head to Head Arena only available after you have completed the campaign. Continuing the campaign also gives you the option to replay one of the 22 levels – assuming that you have unlocked it. With no score to speak of, Help & Options will guide you to the Player Stats screen which shows you: how many levels you have completed, secrets found, challenges attempted, arenas unlocked, guns found (out of 32) and connectors found. Finding secrets and attempting all 12 challenges may be just for the hardcore.

CONCLUSION
Serious Sam: Double D XXL plays a lot like Shoot Many Robots and likewise has its tongue firmly in its cheek. With its bizarre roster of enemies (headless women carrying boob-shaped bombs, crazy pancake monsters with forks for legs and axe-wielding chimpanzees to name but three) there are plenty of WTF moments. Players of the original first-person shooter games will also recognise the old enemies along with the sound-effects including the unmistakable cry of Kamikaze man! Like Shoot Many Robots, with its emphasis on extreme fire-power and mowing down wave upon wave of enemies, Serious Sam Double D will definitely please the casual gamer who likes to sink into a blood-bath and indulge in a mindless, bloody romp.