See also:
- Angst? What Angst?: Sam barely seems to register the early-game death of his squadmates as well as the frequent deaths of all the various allies he's supposed to meet up with. He doesn't even give the perfunctory "shit that sucks" that most other FPS protagonists give out after such events. It also retcons his previous backstory, where it was implied he was suicidal (it was his ship that more or less brought Mental down on the human race).
- Contested Sequel: One half of the fanbase prefer the cartoonish style of the second game mentioned above, while others prefer the new realistic art style. The modern video game elements such as sprinting, aiming and reloading included in the game have also divided fans; half of the fans are okay with it and feel it makes the game more interesting, while the other half feel it's out of place in a Serious Sam game and that it ruins the experience.
- Demonic Spiders:
- Technopolip-possessed Apache Helicopters are immune to bullets, and some of them are encountered before getting the Devastator or Cannon, which is annoying since they tend to move out of the way of your rockets all the time. That, combined with their powerful hitscan machine gun, makes them incredibly frustrating enemies on higher difficulties. The Fusion version of BFE tones them down by greatly reducing their accuracy and making them merely more resistant to non-explosive ammo instead of completely immune.
- Adult Arachnoids are a huge problem on higher difficulties, since they deal more damage compared to Arachnoids from the previous games, they tend to evade incoming rockets rather than stand still, and are less likely to flinch after taking damage.
- The Witch-Brides, Superpowered Mooks with telekinesis and invulnerable, damage absorbing barriers. Their telekinetic attacks do little damage, but they constantly teleport around and are invulnerable unless they're attacking, meaning they take far longer to die than they have a right to. What makes them so annoying is their 'choke' attack; they lift Sam up into the air, stun him, and inflict minor damage; this basically means every single enemy in the area will instantly start ganging up on you until the attack is over while you are completely unable to defend yourself. On any difficulty above Normal, getting hit by this attack is basically instant death.
- Goddamned Bats:
- The Cave Demons, cat-sized predators who leap around and lunge at Sam in dark areas. Easy to fall, and huge areas of them can be cleared with C4, but annoying as hell as they tend to avoid getting in player's sight. Moreover, most of them are located in areas with pillars they hide behind.
- On Serious and Mental difficulties, the Cloned Soldiers (weak, inferior, cannon fodder versions of human troops) become this as well. They only take a few shots to kill, but there's tons of them, they have hitscan weaponry, they hide behind corners, and can slowly cut down your health while other monster classes rush you.
- The Kleer Skeletons step into Demonic Spiders territory during the early game, when they deal a disproportionately large amount of damage compared to everything else. The takedown move would be a great way to get rid of them if they didn't hunt in packs, since said move immobilizes you, so you'd better get used to that Sledgehammer's timing and spacing pretty quickly. Towards the end of the game, they come in big enough packs that a Sledgehammer isn't going to cut it. You'll find yourself breaking out heavy weapons like the Rocket Launcher and Devastator just to kill them before they can get to grips.
- Mood Whiplash: Play through the story mode (or just watch the cutscenes on Youtube if you're strapped for time). Now, watch any of the promotional material, or for maximum effect the trailer explaining where Headless Kamikaze come from
. - Most Wonderful Sound: The sound of a Witch-Bride dying.
- Nightmare Fuel: The Cave Demons (aka "space monkeys") are introduced in an underground level, and every time you encounter them in such enclosed, dark spaces with only your torchlight to give some visibility, chills down your spine are guaranteed as you try to spot them, jumping from column to column, before they lunge at you and then retreat into the shadows.
- Nightmare Retardant: The Cave Demons are a bit silly when encountered in exterior, naturally-lighted areas - from afar, they look like they are goofing around in colonnades. They also lose much of their effectiveness if you just blow up the columns, depriving them of movement space; some may end up just clinging to a wall, open to your attacks.
- Scrappy Mechanic: Every time Sam goes inside a ruin or a dark area, his movement speed is reduced by half, making exploration and fighting a massive chore.
- Slow-Paced Beginning: The game starts you out very slowly. You have to use a Sledgehammer at first, don't even get a Pistol until some way into the first level, and only get the serious firepower and battles after quite a while. Besides the weapon starvation, the first five levels all take place in largely the same location: The streets of Cairo, which can get visually monotonous.
- So Okay, It's Average: This installment in the Serious Sam franchise is generally considered by fans to be okay at best, and inferior to the first two games at worst.
- That One Achievement: "Queen Hatshepsut", which requires completing the final level in single player on Serious difficulty without dying or reloading. The level itself is quite difficult and par time of this level is 80 minutes, and if you're used to modern military games, it becomes even harder to put aside the customs.
