There have been many releases of Serious Sam games over the years. Here is the current list of all main titles on Steam with commonly used abbreviations next to them.

Before diving deep into this guide, it is recommended that you check the store pages of all the games that you are interested in and read their descriptions to get the gist of what you're getting yourself into.

Games marked with ⭐ are the ones this guide will be focusing on.

• ⭐Serious Sam Classic: The First Encounter (TFE / SSC / SD TFE / SS1)
  
• ⭐Serious Sam Classic: The Second Encounter (TSE / SSC / SD TSE / SS1)
  
• ⭐Serious Sam Classics: Revolution (SSC / Rev / SSR)
  
• Serious Sam 2 (SS2)
  
• ⭐Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter (HD TFE / SSHD / SS1)
  
• ⭐Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter (HD TSE / SSHD / SS1)
  
• ⭐Serious Sam 3: BFE (BFE / SS3)
  
• ⭐Serious Sam VR: The First Encounter (VR TFE / SSVR)
  
• ⭐Serious Sam VR: The Second Encounter (VR TSE / SSVR)
  
• ⭐Serious Sam 3 VR: BFE (VR BFE / SSVR)
  
• Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope (TLH / SSVR)
  
• ⭐Serious Sam Fusion 2017 (Fusion / SS2017)
  
• Serious Sam 4 (SS4)
  
• Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem (SM)

All games can be categorized in five groups:

1. Standalone games
   
2. Classic games
   
3. HD remakes
   
4. VR ports
   
5. Remasters

• Serious Sam 2
  
• Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope
  
• Serious Sam 4
  
• Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem*

These games have only seen a single release in their history. They are completely new installments in the franchise and can be bought on their own if you wish to play them. This guide will not be focusing on them.

* SM is more of a standalone DLC for SS4, rather than its own new game and it takes place in the middle of SS4 story-wise.

• Serious Sam Classic: The First Encounter
  
• Serious Sam Classic: The Second Encounter*

These games were the first Serious Sam games to ever be released. Both games are commonly known by their abbreviations: "TFE" and "TSE".

* TSE, despite being the second game, is not "Serious Sam 2", which is a common misconception. SS2 is its own separate game entirely and both encounters together are known as "Serious Sam 1" instead.

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The First Encounter is the first Serious Sam game to ever be released. Despite being built entirely from scratch on its own engine, the game features very vibrant and expansive environments, something rarely seen in FPS games of the era.

If this is your first exposure to the series, TFE might be the best game to start with.
Many fans of the series consider this game to be the prettiest of the two encounters because of the unique level design and massive pieces of Egyptian architecture.

The game still works perfectly fine under modern operating systems, including Linux (through Proton).

TIP: If you buy this game on its own, you will also receive The Second Encounter and Revolution for free.

The game and its engine have been designed specifically for old hardware, so computers with integrated graphics chips (such as Intel HD Graphics) may not be able to run this game very well.

A lot of Serious Sam modders and newer fans prefer HD remakes of both encounters.
If HD does not interest you, you may want to look at Serious Sam Classics: Revolution instead.

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The Second Encounter is a direct sequel to The First Encounter story-wise, now taking place in three new locations: Central America, Mesopotamia and Medieval Europe. Each location acts as its own "episode" with a unique boss battle at the end of each one.

The game is built on the same engine as The First Encounter, albeit with some improvements.

If you've liked TFE, there's no telling whether you'll like TSE more or less. It's better to treat TSE as some sort of a "expansion pack" for TFE, rather than a full sequel.

TSE is a favorite among older fans thanks to its higher variety of content. Even after many years, and the release of HD TSE, the game still retains its own unique charm.

The game still works perfectly fine under modern operating systems, including Linux (through Proton).

It's a go-to game for modders of classic Serious Sam games because of its features. As a result, it has very special user-made projects that even games in other categories don't have. If you know where to look for them, that is.

TIP: If you buy this game on its own, you will also receive The First Encounter and Revolution for free.

The game and its engine have been designed specifically for old hardware, so computers with integrated graphics chips (such as Intel HD Graphics) may not be able to run this game very well.

A lot of Serious Sam modders and newer fans prefer HD remakes of both encounters.
If HD does not interest you, you may want to look at Serious Sam Classics: Revolution instead.

• Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter
  
• Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter
  
• Serious Sam 3: BFE

HD TFE and HD TSE are remakes of classic TFE and TSE games on a new engine, featuring immense graphical overhaul and tons of new features. But without wacky gravity using six degrees of freedom :(

Despite the existence of these superior HD remakes of classic games (according to the developers), these versions are commonly known as "HD TFE" and "HD TSE", whilst the classic versions are simply known as "TFE" and "TSE" (and rarely "SD TFE" and "SD TSE").

Serious Sam 3: BFE isn't a remake of any previous game. The reason why it's grouped with HD remakes is because it was released in the same time period as HD TFE and HD TSE. It is running on its own distinct engine version, which is a slightly newer iteration of the HD engine.

TIP: If you have a slower computer, it's better to play these games through Fusion, as it is more optimized.

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HD TFE is a remake of the classic TFE game on a new engine, which is a vastly improved version of the Serious Sam 2 engine.

It's a full remake of the original game with updated graphics and gameplay that has been designed for modern hardware.

If you've liked classic TFE, playing HD TFE might feel very refreshing. And despite being a direct port of all level geometry, the levels look more aesthetically pleasing thanks to better graphics.

Some fans deem HD remakes a downgrade compared to their original versions, mostly due to the fact that the levels are not remade from scratch but rather ported over from the old engine with a fresh coat of paint.

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HD TSE is a remake of the classic TSE game on a new engine, which is a vastly improved version of the Serious Sam 2 engine.

It also has a DLC that introduces a new short campaign called "Legend of the Beast" that takes place in-between The First Encounter. This campaign does not officially exist for classic games.

It's a full remake of the original game with updated graphics and gameplay that has been designed for modern hardware.

Many fans agree that the HD remake of The Second Encounter is a major downgrade compared to its original version, mostly due to the "ugliness" of the realism that doesn't mix well with the style of the classic game. And a lot of places in HD TSE look objectively worse aesthetically, which completely defeats the purpose of the HD remake.

TFE has received a much better facelift with its remake, compared to TSE.

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SS3:BFE is a direct prequel to The First Encounter story-wise. It has a unique realistic military shooter style that has never been seen in any Serious Sam game before it.

The game takes place in 2100's Egypt that's been turned into a complete war zone due to the invasion of alien species.
This game is also the reason why there are so many "not Egypt again" jokes in the community, even if some parts of it may look more aesthetically pleasing compared to HD TFE.

It's the same Serious Sam formula, but in a new, realistic-oriented environment with some new weapon types and mechanics that don't exist in other games (other than SS4, maybe).

The story of this game is much more grim compared to TFE and TSE and there's a higher emphasis on it with plenty of cutscenes and character dialogue (and the same wacky one-liners).

BFE has a DLC that introduces a new short campaign called "Jewel of the Nile", if you want to play more.

Its realistic and futuristic/militaristic style may be a major turn-off for players that are used to TFE, TSE or especially SS2.

Aesthetically and story-wise, there's a huge divide in the community where it's either the most liked or the most hated game in the series. Just like with Serious Sam 2.

It also features plenty of dark and horror-esque locations with a flashlight, which are just not fun to go through, if not scary, because of the enemies jumping directly in your face from random dark corners.

• Serious Sam VR: The First Encounter
  
• Serious Sam VR: The Second Encounter
  
• Serious Sam 3 VR: BFE

These games feature virtual reality as the primary input source with its own gameplay quirks but content-wise remain exactly the same as the original HD remakes.

The reason why these games exist separately from their original versions is because all of these games run on the same improved version of the engine used in the original release of The Talos Principle (which is newer than 2011's SS3:BFE).

If you like playing games in VR more than on desktop, you might enjoy these ports more than the originals. Plus you get to shoot two different weapons at the same time compared to the HD remakes!

NOTE: If you play through Fusion, you will be able to play with other Fusion players in both VR and on desktop.

These games have been primarily designed for keyboard & mouse, so it might be a pretty lackluster VR experience. Some sections on levels might have been downgraded even further to make them easier to pass in VR.

Also, these VR ports come with the same downsides as the original HD remakes in terms of visuals and gameplay mechanics, if you didn't like how it has been changed since classic versions.

NOTE: If you play multiplayer through these ports, you will only be able to play with other VR players in the same game.

• Serious Sam Classics: Revolution
  
• Serious Sam Fusion 2017

The games listed here are free* upgrades to the previous games, rebuilt from the ground up on the newest iterations of their engines. The perfect choice for casual players that are looking for custom content to play.

* if you already own all of the original games.

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Revolution (or "SSR") is a remaster of the original classic encounters (TFE and TSE) and a Seriously Warped Deathmatch mod (that was bundled with TSE) that adds some new features and has its own spin-off campaign called "Bright Island".

Revolution is integrated into the Steam ecosystem, which introduces new functionality such as Steam Workshop, leaderboards, multiplayer server hosting and Steam Cloud saving. Such features are absent from the original TFE and TSE.

If you buy Revolution on its own, you will also receive original The First Encounter and The Second Encounter games for free.

If you simply want to experience the classic versions of the games, it's better to play the original TFE & TSE games instead of Revolution.

Revolution had a pretty nuanced development history. It was developed by a handful of fans on behalf of Croteam and was initially released in Early Access. A couple of years later the development had halted, leaving many unresolved issues in the game. After a few more years, all the work got transferred to Croteam, which hastily "released" it out of Early Access with the long anticipated Bright Island campaign.

Many players complain about poor optimization of the engine and longer level loading times, despite being ever-so-slightly different from the original versions. And in some cases multiplayer becomes unplayable due to serious desynchonizations between client states, primarily because of model replacements from Steam Workshop.

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Fusion is a remaster of three different games at the same time: HD TFE, HD TSE, SS3:BFE, including VR ports and DLCs for each of the games. It acts as a central hub for all games, meaning that you can switch between them without quitting the game, even in multiplayer.

Fusion exists as its own product, however it cannot be bought. To gain access to it, you have to own any of the games that Fusion supports. The games you buy will grant you free DLCs for it, each of them representing separate games and their DLCs that you can selectively toggle to download specific content for Fusion.

Buying only one of the games will only grant you access to that specific game in Fusion.
This also applies to "flat" HD remakes and their VR ports. For example, if you only buy VR TFE without HD TFE, you will only be able to play TFE in VR mode.

Fusion is basically a free update to multiple games that even allows desktop users to play with VR users in multiplayer.

It is a brand new place for all kinds of custom content using Steam Workshop. All user-made mods can mix and match content from all the games. And, thanks to the new engine, it includes many new flexible features that allow for more creative freedom.

If you have a slower computer, it's better to play through Fusion instead of the original games, as it is more optimized.

If you have a slower computer, Fusion may be harder to run, despite not introducing any graphical upgrades to the games.

The original HD encounters and SS3:BFE are still available and work perfectly fine. Before Fusion got released, all custom content was made for the individual games, which may contain some hidden gems that haven't been ported onto Fusion.

At the end of the day, it doesn't matter that much which game you play if you're simply looking for a one-off singleplayer experience. Every version has its own unique feel and charm.

Also, the franchise is known for its frequent and huge discounts during Steam sales and special occasions, going as low as 90% off! So you may wanna wait until the next sale and get all the games for very cheap.

If this guide seems like too much for you, let me give you some quick recommendations depending on your needs.

Then it's best to play each game in the order they were released.

NOTE: This means that you have to get all games at once. That way, you can experience the franchise just like all the fans who were there from the very beginning.

The release order is as follows:

1. Classic TFE (2001)
   
2. Classic TSE (2002)
   
3. SS2 (2005)
   
4. HD TFE (2009)
   
5. HD TSE (2010)
   
6. SS3:BFE (2011)
   
7. VR games (2016-2017) - optional
   
8. Fusion games (2017-2018) - optional
   
9. SSR: Bright Island (2019)
   
10. SS4 (2020)
    
11. SM (2022)

Then classic TFE & TSE are the games for you.

If you don't like the classics, then the original (non-Fusion) HD TFE, HD TSE and SS3:BFE are the games for you.

WARNING! Do not play Revolution if you're looking for "classic" experience. It doesn't include any quality-of-life improvements over the classic games, but rather extra features that really only get in the way. It is only worth playing Revolution after you've completed the original TFE & TSE.

If you're looking for some real quality-of-life improvements for the original classic TFE & TSE games, you might be interested in the Classics Patch project, which adds proper widescreen support and fixes a lot of annoying bugs without changing the original content in any way.
https://psteamcommunity.yuanyoumao.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2828837859

Then HD TFE, HD TSE and SS3:BFE are the games for you.

TIP: If you want a slightly modernized experience with certain balancing changes, play them through Fusion that you get for free from buying those games.

Then Fusion is the game for you, if you like HD remakes. Or Revolution, if you like classics.

WARNING! Many people experience various bugs in both games due to their "beta" nature, in which case you may wanna look towards classic TSE (if you know how to host servers CS 1.6 style) or the original HD remakes.

Then VR TFE, VR TSE and VR BFE are the games for you.

NOTE: I have not personally heard many opinions about whether the VR ports are better played through Fusion or not. However, the original ports have more achievements compared to Fusion with its lesser amount of achievements per game.

Then Fusion workshop is the place for you. Or Revolution for the classics nerds.

TIP: If you need more content for classics, try looking for TFE & TSE mods and maps on external sites. A good place to start is Gro Repository (look it up online), which compiles a large collection of user-made content since the very beginning. It even has mods that are impossible to create for Revolution, just saying.

Other useful places to look are these guides:
https://psteamcommunity.yuanyoumao.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2926306526
https://psteamcommunity.yuanyoumao.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2926311487