Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter
Hooks you almost right away
What the data shows
- In the first 2 hours 1 in 9 reviews are negative (12%); after 5h it's 1 in 18 (6%).
- The opening is criticised less than in 88% of games we track.
- 17% of players who start reach the ending.
- Most players drop off before “Game Master” (Complete the game): only 17% of starters get there.
- Only 66% of owners have even the first achievement — the rest barely played.
When it gets good
Share of positive reviews by how many hours the reviewer had played when writing the review.
before it gets good opening up fully opened up
Based on all 9,118 Steam reviews in every language. Median playtime in a sample of 297 reviews: 6.2h for positive, 5.5h for negative. Almost every game is rated lower in the first 2–3 hours: that window includes refunds and quick first impressions. What matters is how deep the dip is and how fast the game recovers.
Where players quit
Share of players who started the game and reached each story milestone. 100% is the most common achievement (66.2% of owners), so people who bought the game and never launched it don't count.
- Started playing 100%
- Game Master Complete the game. Most players quit here 17% −83
story milestone ending biggest drop-off
Story milestones were labeled by AI from achievement names and descriptions; mistakes are possible.
All achievements (35)
story milestone ending side
- Serious Beginner Complete any level in single player. 100%
- Co-op Beginner Complete any level in co-op. 56%
- Swimming Instructor Drown an enemy. 54%
- Game Master Complete the game. 17%
- Cannon Expert Pierce at least 10 enemies with a single cannonball. 10%
- Look Ma, I won! Win a deathmatch. 6.8%
- Nemesis Frag the same player 10 times during a single round in at least 4 player deathmatch. 6.3%
- Rocket Jumper Perform 100 rocket jumps. 5.9%
- Look, it's a secret Find at least 50 secrets in single player. 5.7%
- Serious Run Complete the game in single player by beating estimated time on each level. 5.3%
- Frag Combo Perform 4 frags with each being no more than 10 seconds apart from the previous frag in at least 4 player deathmatch. 4.4%
- Co-op Hippy Complete The Great Pyramid in co-op with blood option set to hippy. 4.2%
- Fragger Frag a total of 100 players. 4.2%
- Serious Sam Complete the game in single player on serious difficulty. 4.1%
- Royal Frag Combo Frag all players in a single frag combo. 3.6%
- Grudge Frag the same player 5 times in a row in at least 4 player deathmatch. 3.5%
- I am invincible Complete the game in single player without firing a single bullet or shell. 3.5%
- Butcher Frag 100 players with a knife. 3.3%
- Backstabber Frag 100 players with a knife from behind. 3.2%
- Crazy Fragger Frag a total of 500 players. 3.2%
- Deathmatch Duelist Win 25 1-on-1 deathmatches. 3.2%
- Deathmatch Marathon Complete a deathmatch with frag limit set to at least 200. (Frag limit must be reached!) 3.2%
- Deathmatch Veteran Complete 100 deathmatches. 3.2%
- Desperate Fragger Frag 25 players with a knife while having no more than 10 health left. 3.2%
- Metropolis King Complete Metropolis level in single player on serious difficulty without loading. 3.2%
- Perfect Kill Kill all enemies in Karnak in single player. 3.2%
- Serious Co-op Complete a co-op game on serious difficulty and extra enemy strength on 400%. 3.2%
- Swordsman Frag 100 players in a knife-to-knife fight. 3.2%
- 1337 Fragger Frag a total of 1337 players. 3.0%
- Deathmatch Champion Win 1000 deathmatch games. 3.0%
- Deathmatch Marathon Winner Win a deathmatch marathon. 3.0%
- Deathmatch Master Win 100 deathmatch games. 3.0%
- Diverse Fragger Frag 100 different players in deathmatch. 3.0%
- Serious Fragger Frag a total of 1000 players. 3.0%
- Untouchable Win an at least 4 player deathmatch by reaching frag limit of at least 25 without dying. 3.0%