Serious Sam
Serious Sam: The First Encounter's gameplay consists almost entirely of the player attempting to defeat dozens of enemies at a time in wide open arena-like areas and thus is relatively simple. The game's story establishes the reasons and methods for how the player travels from chapter to chapter through the game's menu system, a brain implant called NETRISCA that also provides hints, descriptions of enemy types, and information on weapons the player collects. Enemies spawn frequently and attack in large waves from across the game map, and the player is meant to dodge their projectiles and physical attacks by jumping and strafing rather than by taking cover. Health and armor are non-regenerative on all difficulty levels except for the easiest and instead are replenished with health and armor packs which are littered throughout the game. Available health and armor integrity are represented by percentage numbers on the screen. The combat is high-paced and frenetic, with each level consisting of a series of elaborate arenas, in which the player will defeat a set number of re-spawning enemies before proceeding to the next. Enemies range from "Beheaded", which are normal soldiers armed with rocket launchers and energy weapons, to "Beheaded Kamikazes" who charge at the player while screaming loudly until they explode, to more powerful alien foes such as charging bulls, alien robots with rockets and miniguns, and creatures made of lava that can split themselves into smaller enemies upon death.
The player can carry a number of weapons such as twin revolvers with unlimited ammo, shotguns, a minigun, a rocket launcher, a quad laser gun, and a cannon that can kill multiple enemies at a time. Ammunition is scattered across levels that the player must pick up to reload, but players can also explore the level's environments to find secret items including more health, ammo, and weapons that they might otherwise only find later in the game. Unfortunately, some items are planted as bait for traps and may trigger a spawn of more enemies when the player collects them.