Talk:Serious Sam II/GA2

1a. prose

I have a few ideas about the prose of this article:

• "In others, they must protected NPCs..." — I presume "protected" is supposed to be "protect"? nub :) 08:16, 23 March 2026 (UTC)</>
• "When one player finishes a stage and enters into the next, all other automatically follow along." — "all other" or "all others"? nub :) 08:16, 23 March 2026 (UTC)
• "The change to a cartooish art style and comedic tone were divisive among fans of the series." — "Cartooish." Sounds like an equally fun utterance, but alas, it isn't a word I'm aware of. nub :) 08:16, 23 March 2026 (UTC)
• "The game's tone was turned more comedic and cartoonish, being influenced by the externally developed Serious Sam: Next Encounter." – The passive construction makes this feel awkward to me. Perhaps you could shorten it to "The externally developed Serious Sam: Next Encounter influenced Croteam to give the game a more comedic and cartoonish tone."? Also, if I may, how<> was it influenced by that game? And why does it matter that the game was 'externally developed'? nub :) 08:16, 23 March 2026 (UTC)
• "Butts and Yahoo!'s Alex Pullman recognised the lower-quality enemies as a necessity for the numbers they are presented in." — The numbers they are presented in...in waves? On screen simultaneously? Why is that a necessity? So the game won't crash? nub :) 08:16, 23 March 2026 (UTC)

That's all on that front! Great job. nub :) 08:16, 23 March 2026 (UTC)

1b. MoS

Straightforward "yep". Complies with the MoS, I see no words to watch, the fiction is rightly marked and handled, and, even though this is a personal preference, I love that each and every paragraph is well-developed. Great job. nub :) 08:16, 23 March 2026 (UTC)

2a. list of sources

Uh, yes. Obviously. What kind of article doesn't have a list of references at the bottom of the page? nub :) 08:16, 23 March 2026 (UTC)

2b. reliable sources

Generally reliable. But, and I'm certainly not the most knowledgeable regarding pre-2010s video game article sourcing, so forgive me if I raise a dumb point, I would like to see justification for using these sources, which are either 1) not listed at WP:VG/S or WP:NPPSG as far as I know, or 2) listed at those places, but listed as unreliable or marginally reliable.

• Gamesplanet (ref 5) nub :) 08:16, 23 March 2026 (UTC)
• Seriously! (several refs in the 30s and 40s) nub :) 08:16, 23 March 2026 (UTC)
• Atomic (ref 40) nub :) 08:16, 23 March 2026 (UTC)
• GameMecca (ref 49) nub :) 08:16, 23 March 2026 (UTC)
• Beyond3D (several refs) nub :) 08:16, 23 March 2026 (UTC)
• HomeLAN (ref 56) nub :) 08:16, 23 March 2026 (UTC)

2c. original research

To check and make sure there is no original research in this article, I will conduct a spotcheck using Veracity. This table lists 29 random passages from throughout the article (19.7% of 147 total passages). These passages contain 50 inline citations (19.9% of 251 in the article). Generated with the Veracity user script. nub :) 08:16, 23 March 2026 (UTC)

More information Reference #, Letter ...

Reference #	Letter	Source	Archive	Status	Notes
Gameplay
As Sam "Serious" Stone, the player traverses forty-two enclosed levels distributed across seven thematic episodes, starting on the planet of M'Digbo.
2	b	hardcoregaming101.net	web.archive.org		Corroborates "the player traverses forty-two enclosed levels".
3		pc.gamespy.com	web.archive.org		Corroborates "seven episodes" and "starting on the planet of M'Digbo". However, I do not see across these two sources Serious Sam's name being said. "Stone", from a cursory Ctrl+F, doesn't reveal any instances.
There are forty-two enemy types in total,
12	a	Wand, Kelly (June 2005). "Son of Sam". Computer Games Magazine. No. 175. theGlobe.com. pp. 44–50. R…	archive.org		Corroborates the passage.
13		ign.com	web.archive.org		—
a bird strapped with an explosive, homes at a nearby enemy when deployed.
6	c	pc.gamespy.com	web.archive.org		Corroborates the passage.
22		ign.com	web.archive.org		—
Other props, such as trees and buildings, are also destructible.
4	c	gamesradar.com	web.archive.org		Corroborates the trees part.
26	a	videogames.yahoo.com	web.archive.org		Corroborates the buildings part.
Vehicles, such as the weaponed dinosaur and hovercraft, have unlimited ammunition and enable the player to travel faster.
2	g	hardcoregaming101.net	web.archive.org		Corroborates the unlimited ammo part.
29	a	pc.gamespy.com	web.archive.org		Corroborates the dinosaur and hovercraft parts.
In multiplayer, the campaign can be played cooperatively with up to sixteen players in the Windows version and up to four players on the Xbox, either locally connected via System Link or online through the Xbox Live service.
5	e	gamesplanet.be	web.archive.org		Corroborates the Windows version supporting up to 16 players.
32	a	ign.com	web.archive.org		Corroborates the Xbox part.
The Windows version additionally features split-screen multiplayer and a deathmatch mode.
2	i	hardcoregaming101.net	web.archive.org		Corroborates the deathmatch claim.
35	a	seriouszone.com	web.archive.org		Obliquely mentions split-screen, but never confirms that the Windows version explicitly has split-screen.
Development and release
The Croatian studio Croteam began rudimentary work on Serious Engine 2, the second iteration of its proprietary game engine, after completing Serious Sam: The Second Encounter in early 2002. With the finalisation of the Xbox compilation of Serious Sam: The First Encounter and The Second Encounter later that year, the entire studio of twenty-eight people shifted its focus towards the engine and Serious Sam II.
38		seriouszone.com	web.archive.org		Well, "Admir"—the enigmatic spokesperson credited in this interview—doesn't say the studio only comprises those twenty-eight people, do they? The rest of the passage is corroborated.
Despite the latter, shadow maps were chosen over the more complex dynamically generated shadows.
42	c	seriouszone.com	web.archive.org		Sure, yeah.
The feature set eventually extended beyond what Croteam needed for Serious Sam II to entice potential licensees.
47		beyond3d.com	web.archive.org		Yep.
Vehicles were to be the biggest addition over the predecessors, and the game was designed with seven episodes to have a longer playtime than the two prior games combined.
12	c	Wand, Kelly (June 2005). "Son of Sam". Computer Games Magazine. No. 175. theGlobe.com. pp. 44–50. R…	archive.org		Yep.
49	b	gamemecca.net	web.archive.org		Corroborates the vehicles part.
ATI had supported Croteam in the development of the engine's 3D rendering implementation.
59		bit-tech.net	web.archive.org		Yeah.
With no commercial level editor suitable for Serious Engine 2, Croteam chose to create proprietary tooling with Serious Editor 2.
62	a	pc.gamespy.com	web.archive.org		Sure.
Similarly, multiplayer voice chat and some vehicles were dropped late in development, while the final boss level was added "at the last moment".
50	c	gamesplanet.be	web.archive.org		Multiplayer voice chat being dropped.
51	b	gamesplanet.be	web.archive.org		Vehicles dropped and boss level being added "at the last moment".
The company petitioned Guinness World Records to recognise the game for most displayed enemies in a video game, and it commissioned the comic book artist Greg Horn to produce 8,000 signed copies of an original print.
46	b	Danish, Roger (August 2005). "Cover Story: Serious Sam II". Hardcore Gamer. Vol. 1, no. 3. DoubleJu…	archive.org		First part.
71		ign.com	web.archive.org		Greg Horn.
Serious Sam II was released for both platforms in North America on 11 October 2005.
77		2kgames.com	web.archive.org		Yep. Sufficient.
78		gamespot.com	web.archive.org		—
79		ign.com	web.archive.org		—
A PAL version followed on 14 October.
80		eurogamer.net	web.archive.org		Yep.
81		palgn.com.au	web.archive.org		Yep.
Reception
Serious Sam II received "mixed or average reviews", according to the review aggregator website Metacritic, which calculated weighted average ratings of 74/100 for the Windows version and 72/100 for the Xbox release.
85	c	metacritic.com	web.archive.org		Yep.
GameSpy's Sal Accardo further felt that the game lacked the highlight battles and originality of the prior games, adding to its repetitiveness.
6	g	pc.gamespy.com	web.archive.org		Page 1 corroborates the general "repetitiveness".
29	c	pc.gamespy.com	web.archive.org		Page 2 corroborates the comparison with the prior games.
Brett Todd of PC Gamer believed the level design too closely resemble other games of the time, although Van Leuveren called it "incredible".
15	c	Todd, Brett (December 2005). "Serious Sam II". PC Gamer. No. 144. Future Network USA. p. 76.			I don't have access to this, so I will have to assume good faith.
31	d	palgn.com.au	web.archive.org		Yep.
Gillen and Shuman considered them imaginative, of which Gillen welcomed the colourfulness at a time of many "brownish" games.
10	d	gamepro.com	web.archive.org		Mhm.
16	e	eurogamer.net	web.archive.org		Well, Gillen doesn't explicitly say "brownish". He says "You can have it in any colour, sir, as long as it's brown", which is much funnier.
Hopper and D'Aprile furthered this, also positively noting the lighting, textures, and visual effects.
19	d	pc.gamezone.com	web.archive.org		Yep, pretty straightforward.
27	e	g4tv.com	web.archive.org		Mhm.
Leeper found the physics frustrating when he struggled to stack boxes to reach a secret.
18	d	xbox.gamespy.com	web.archive.org		Yep, and pretty amusing. How do you struggle for 10 minutes with crates?!
Tan considered the vehicles unimaginative and poorly implemented, and the Official Xbox Magazine editors criticised their handling.
9	c	cnet.com	web.archive.org		Yep.
11	c	computerandvideogames.com	web.archive.org		Sure, but wouldn't it be more precise to describe how the OXM specifically criticised their handling, i.e., calling them "erratic"?
According to Tim Wapshott of The Times, "the experience is convincingly upbeat thanks to the game's droll sense of humour".
24	b	entertainment.timesonline.co.…	web.archive.org		Simple enough. Yep.
Conversely, Butts considered NETRICSA's comments "genuinely funny" and Helgeson described character dialogues as "loveably cheesy".
34	g	ign.com	web.archive.org		Yep.
90	b	Helgeson, Matt; Miller, Matt (November 2005). "Serious Sam II". Game Informer. No. 151. GameStop. p…	archive.org		Yep.
Leeper commended the use of audio cues, and D'Aprile and Todd described the soundtrack as "forgettable" and "unique", respectively.
8	d	xbox.gamespy.com	web.archive.org		Straightforward "yep".
15	e	Todd, Brett (December 2005). "Serious Sam II". PC Gamer. No. 144. Future Network USA. p. 76.			I don't have access to this, so I will have to assume good faith.
27	g	g4tv.com	web.archive.org		Yep.
Legacy
It was updated in June 2014 to replace the defunct GameSpy networking component with Steam's Steamworks.
96		pcgamer.com	web.archive.org		Yep.
Notes
"Clawdovic" is a reference to the Croatian name of the parrot featured in the Alan Ford comic book.
2	d	hardcoregaming101.net	web.archive.org		Yep.

Close

2d. copyvio

Earwig describes a violation as "unlikely", with the largest similarity being 22.5%, primarily proper nouns or a quote that was used. All good here. nub :) 08:16, 23 March 2026 (UTC)

3a. main topics

After a cursory Google search, I see no main topics that are omitted from this article. Nice job being comprehensive. nub :) 08:16, 23 March 2026 (UTC)

3b. unnecessary detail

Although this article is surprisingly large for its subject, there is no "unnecessary detail." Every sentence communicates a distinct, relevant fact. nub :) 08:16, 23 March 2026 (UTC)

4. neutral

Yep. Neutral as can be. I see no problems here. nub :) 08:16, 23 March 2026 (UTC)

5. stable

Come on, GA criteria. It's an article about an obscure game with the title "Serious Sam II". Not to demean the game, but come on. It's stable. nub :) 08:16, 23 March 2026 (UTC)

6a. illustrated

Yes, it is sufficiently illustrated. It has two images—perhaps the maximum number of images for an article this length and covering this sort of subject. Valid and detailed non-free use rationales are given. nub :) 08:16, 23 March 2026 (UTC)

6b. relevant media

Yes, the media is relevant—the infobox image clearly identifies the subject, and the gameplay image, well, illustrates the gameplay of Serious Sam II. nub :) 08:16, 23 March 2026 (UTC)

Overall

This is an incredibly well-researched and well-put-together article, I must say. I found only marginal problems with it, and they could all be rectified with a snap. Genuinely amazing job. I hope these suggestions can be of help, and I look forward to your response. Thanksya! nub :) 08:16, 23 March 2026 (UTC)