If there’s one genre that’s been done to death, it’s the roguelike. Ever since Binding of Isaac took off as a premier indie darling in 2011, many others have emulated its success with brilliant ideas, airtight combat, and a pulse-pounding sense of urgency to maintain a strong run make it an exceptionally-addictive kind of game to play. Several hits such as Enter the Gungeon, Rogue Legacy, and far many others have a place in my heart. Will Serious Sam: Tormental manage to do the same?

It’s easy to get a grasp on how a roguelike fares within its first few minutes. The genre is as fast-paced as they come and encourages this high speed to dodge the countless on-screen projectiles at any given second. It was within these first fleeting moments of gameplay that I noticed Serious Sam: Tormental has some fatal flaws that I haven’t seen other roguelike games commit. Those flaws were significantly hampering my gameplay experience from the get-go.

First, and foremost, dodging does not grant invincibility. How this isn’t a given in a roguelike is akin to having falling damage or forced escort missions in your game in 2022. Kiting enemies is a pain in Serious Sam: Tormental without this necessary traversal tool. It barely gives a reason to use the dodge button without it. In addition, whenever you get hit, the game comes to a full stop for an entire second, which is completely immersion-breaking in a boisterous battle. Slowing everything to a stop halts the momentum that roguelike players are so used to.

Past these cardinal sins, Serious Sam: Tormental is a serviceable-enough title. There’s the typical wide variety of weaponry, though it’s limited to very few morsels of ammunition at the disposal of the player. This usually means that they’re left for bosses or life-threatening battles. Gone is the mini-map of most similar games, as you’re on a linear path to the boss with a guaranteed shop room before it. Unfortunately, there’s no variety in these level bosses and no mini-bosses, so you’ll know just what to expect every run.

While there is a tutorial for the basics in gameplay, there’s too much left unsaid for the rest of Serious Sam: Tormental. Run modifying-allies are available to say hi to before any run, but they don’t tell you exactly what they do. Plus, during one particularly-successful run, I walked into a portal that looked identical to one that spawns after clearing a boss, and instantly died. That was it, one hit, and my run was done with no warning indication of any kind.

Serious Sam: Tormental could have been something great, given it was in Early Access for several years. However, it all boils down to a pretty art style in a broken shell of a roguelike. It’s hard to hope for a better future for this title since it had its time to improve in pre-release, and its current state is not much fun at all. If you’re a Serious Sam diehard that can get around some ill-placed roguelike quirks, you could squeak out a good time. All the same, your time would be better spent on any other roguelike on the market.

A PC review copy of Serious Sam: Tormental was provided by Devolver Digital for this review.

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Serious Sam: Tormental

$11.99

5

Score

5.0/10

Pros

• Neat Visuals

Cons

• Poor Combat
• Rough Roguelike Mechanics
• Too Linear/Unrewarding