Serious Sam Double D
A side-scrolling shooter with a vertical weapon-stacking mechanic.
Serious Sam Double D is a side-scrolling shooter released in 2011. It was developed by Mommy's Best Games and published by Devolver Digital as part of the Serious Sam Indie Series, a set of spin-offs meant to build hype for *Serious Sam 3: BFE*. The game follows Sam "Serious" Stone as he travels through different historical eras, fighting the hordes of his enemy Mental and destroying its teleportation beacons. Its defining feature is the "gun stacker," which lets players build vertical stacks of up to six weapons and fire them all at once.
The game was announced in March 2011. Devolver Digital asked for a "Contra on acid," and designer Nathan Fouts based the game on his studio's first release, *Weapon of Choice*. *Double D* launched for Windows in August 2011. An expanded version, *Serious Sam Double D XXL*, was co-released by Mastertronic for the Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade in February 2013. It added more content and a local cooperative multiplayer mode. This version was later ported back to Windows and released in October 2013 as a free update for the original game.
Both versions received mixed reviews. The gun stacker was praised, but critics noted a lack of depth. The sound design was well received. Opinions were divided on the writing, level design, music, and visual style. Repetitiveness and technical issues were common criticisms.
In gameplay, *Serious Sam Double D* is a 2D side-scrolling shooter with run-and-gun, platforming, and exploration elements. It can be played as a twin-stick shooter with a gamepad or with a keyboard and mouse. The main goal is to lead Sam through confined levels, most of which have a primary route to the right, though some have branching paths and puzzles. Enemies come from all sides and use different behaviors: melee attacks, ranged weapons, or suicide bombing. Sam starts with one machine pistol but can collect up to four weapons of each of eight types. Using collectible connectors, the player can stack up to six weapons vertically and fire them together. Eight stacks can be saved and swapped at any time. Each gun uses its own ammo type, and explosive projectiles can hurt Sam. A portable jump pad can be thrown repeatedly, sticking to surfaces including walls, and both Sam and enemies bounce off it. Wall jumps are possible with it, and Sam can adjust his direction in mid-air.
Quick Facts
- Title
- Serious Sam Double D
- Developer
- Mommy's Best Games
- Publisher
- Devolver DigitalDevolver Digital co-published the Xbox 360 version with Mastertronic.
- Series
- Serious Sam
- Engine
- XNA
- Platforms
- Windows, Xbox 360
- Genre
- Side-scrolling shooter
- Modes
- Single-player, multiplayer (XXL)
- Designer
- Nathan Fouts
- Programmer
- Nathan Fouts · Richard Rosenthal
- Writer
- AJ Johnson
- Composer
- Hamdija Ajanovic
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Serious Sam Double D was developed by Mommy's Best Games, an indie studio founded by Nathan Fouts. Devolver Digital contacted Fouts after seeing his first game, Weapon of Choice, and requested a "Contra on acid" for the Serious Sam Indie Series. Fouts modeled Double D after Weapon of Choice, reusing and improving its development tools and XNA-based engine. The gun stacker was conceived because Fouts wanted to include irregular guns but constrained himself to those from previous Serious Sam games; the number of stackable guns was reduced from twelve to six for balance. The jump pad was added to adapt the circle strafing technique from 3D Serious Sam games. Levels requiring the player to pile enemy corpses were inspired by game covers depicting protagonists standing on such piles. The game was announced in March 2011, shown at PAX East and E3 2011, and released for Windows on August 30, 2011. A free demo was made available in October 2011. The expanded version, Serious Sam Double D XXL, was co-released by Mastertronic for Xbox 360 in February 2013, adding more content and local cooperative multiplayer, and was ported back to Windows as a free update in October 2013.
Reader's Guide
Serious Sam Double D received mixed reviews. The gun stacker was well received, though a lack of depth was noted. The sound design was praised. Conflicting opinions were raised regarding the game's writing, level design, music, and visual style. Its repetitiveness and technical issues were criticized. The game is played as a twin-stick shooter with a gamepad or keyboard-mouse controls. The player navigates 2D levels, fights enemies from Mental's horde, and destroys teleportation beacons. Enemies appear from all sides, and their corpses persist as platforms. The gun stacker allows up to six weapons to be stacked vertically and fired simultaneously; eight stacks can be configured and swapped. The XXL version added weapon upgrades purchasable from shops, a local cooperative mode with a second player character Dan "Huff" Huffington, and three auto-running vehicle levels. The game was cracked within five hours of release, which Fouts described as flattering. Fouts held a postmortem at the March 2012 Game Developers Conference.
Did You Know?
- The ability to stack chainsaws was added in response to a comment by user greyson97 on a Joystiq article.
- The game was cracked by the Theta group within five hours of release.
- The subtitle "Double D" characterizes that the game is in 2D, as opposed to previous entries in the series.
- Voice-over was added for all characters in the XXL version, with John Dick reprising his role as Sam.
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