Insert generic "If only Steam allowed 'Meh' as a review option"
I had no expectations when it came to this game. I've played some Serious Sam spinoffs: Bogus Detour, Double D, Next Encounter of course, and god forbid Kamikaze Attack. Aside from the Next Encounter (which is obviously the best one), all those games share one thing - they deviate from the series' main formula to try and make something new with an unexplored (for Serious Sam, that is) genre. That was my main thought when I saw the reveal of Shatterverse, the idea of a Serious Sam Roguelike created by BEHAVIOUR ENTERTAINMENT OF ALL didn't give me any skepticism, nor any hype, just a raised eyebrow and a "Where could this possibly go?".. and one of the hardest laughs in my life, but that's besides the point.
What I'm trying to tell is that I had no expectations when launching this game, and just like every other spinoff (aside from Next Encounter) I thought it was just fine. There are some cool things I liked: the movement (Serious Sam 4 Reborn mod made me consider that dashing fits SS gameplay more than sprinting, and imo this game confirmed it for me), the artstyle and enemy design, some fan service here and there, and in my opinion this game doesn't feel like a cash grab people call it. Yes the millennial humor and some design choices can make some people consider it, but I was really surprised that the devs actually took their time to balance the enemy HP to weapon damage ratio almost perfectly similar to how Croteam does it: Kleers die to one Double Barrel shot, Werebulls die to two rockets, Major Arachnoids die to two sniper shots and so on. Basically no spinoff managed to do this part right, even Next Encounter that some consider their favorite SS game to this day, so I was really happy to see one of my most favorite details of Serious Sam's game design in here.
Of course I also had things I didn't really like, like the lack of randomness for a roguelike. The only 'randomness' you can find is in the weapon stats, some pick-up placements, and level order, aside from that after some runs you can expect what enemies you will meet in each arena, which imo is a strange decision. Besides that, the dialogue is just never ending, for people who have shown care for the classics through their small references along with weapon and enemy designs, they really decided to follow the Serious Sam 4 route of both the humor, and never-shutting-up.
If you actually read through all this, you might think "Well if you put a positive review, why did you refund it then?". Before the release I, as many others, took part in the public playtests. I gave some feedback, some of it was even heard and implemented in the game, but in the end every playtest felt absolutely the same. I had about 14 hours, and when launching the game after the release I just got tired of playing the same game from the beginning for 4 different times. At this point, the public playtests felt more like gifting people the game for free and enough time to play through it and get deja vu.
Despite all that, I wouldn't say I regret the hours I put into this game, I actually expect to come back to it in the future. Like I've said - it's fine, just like every other Serious Sam spinoff that wanted to experiment with different genres instead of following the trusty formula and making "SERIOUS SAM: THE NEW BUT SIMILAR ENCOUNTER, NOW FROM DEVELOPERS YOU'VE NEVER HEARD OF". This game is an experiment and, in my opinion, a time killer you come to when you don't know what you want to play in your 400+ game library. I would recommend buying it when it's on discount, playing through some arenas, and decide whether you dig this experiment or not, just launch the game with a thought in mind that in the end this is just an experiment, just like other Serious Sam spinoffs.
