Serious Sam 3: BFE similar games & best alternatives

Serious Sam 3: BFE - Trailer
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Serious Sam 3: BFE

PlayStation 3, Linux, PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac, Xbox 360 • 2011

Should you play it?

Serious Sam 3: BFE is a prequel to the original indie fast action FPS and Game of the Year sensation - Serious Sam: The First Encounter!

What works

  • Fast-paced, intense combat
  • Large variety of weapons and enemies
  • Strong co-op multiplayer
  • Good replayability with mods and workshop
  • Nostalgic old-school fps feel

Things to keep in mind

  • Repetitive gameplay and level design
  • Some frustrating enemy mechanics
  • Poor optimization on some systems
  • Limited story and character development
  • Dust and particle effects can obscure vision

What to play next

Top picks

Games that feels the closest overall

  • Serious Sam Classic: The Second Encounter

  • Silica

  • Serious Sam 3 VR: BFE

  • Red Faction Guerrilla Steam Edition

  • Nation Red

  • Chivalry 2

More expressive

Games that feels like Serious Sam 3: BFE but with more self-expression and customization

  • Atlas Fallen: Reign Of Sand

  • Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2

  • Borderlands 3

  • Serious Sam Fusion 2017 (beta)

  • Warhammer: Vermintide 2

  • Borderlands 2

Choose your own criteria ->

From the same developer

From the same developer, ranked by motivational fit.

  • Serious Sam Classic: The Second Encounter

  • Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter

  • Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter

  • Serious Sam Classic: The First Encounter

  • Serious Sam II

Similarity map

How to compare these games

Compare nearby games

Each card is a nearby game on the similarity map, compared with Serious Sam 3: BFE. Swipe sideways to move between games. Titles already listed in What to play next are left out.

  • Cover and title: open that game’s page.
  • What works / keep in mind: the same highlights as the desktop comparison panel.
  • Bars: the main motivational differences versus this game.
How to use the graph

Similarity map

Each dot is a game placed from its motivation profile relative to this page’s game. Direction shows which motivation differs most; distance along that axis shows how large the gap is.

  • Purple star: this page’s game at the centre — everything is relative to it.
  • Direction: each axis is a main motivational difference vs this game (e.g. more / less competitive).
  • Distance on an axis: how large that difference is (ring scales show +/− points).
  • Coloured chips: click to highlight games that mainly differ on that motivation; click again to reset.
  • Dotted line: link between this page’s game and the one selected for comparison.
  • Hover a dot to preview that game in the panel on the right; click to keep that comparison.
  • Scroll or double-click the chart to zoom.

How to read the map This is a polar difference map: direction = which motivation differs, and distance = how much (same units as the sidebar deltas).

Swipe to compare nearby games with Serious Sam 3: BFE. These titles are not in What to play next.

Serious Sam 3: BFE: A very typical example of its motivational profile. Motivations that often define this kind of title include Competition, Status, Fellowship, Domination. Here, the score leans higher than usual among comparable games on Violence. It leans lower than usual among comparable games on Expression, Intimacy.

Last update: 21/08/2026