If you like over the top action and tons of cranked up non-serious humor, then you'll love Serious Sam II ...
Gameplay:
It sticks to the very basics of this genre: Walking / flying / riding, shooting and those combined are about all you need to be skilled in for playing this game. Serious Sam II will unleash massive hordes of enemies coming for you to kick your ass. So, you will have to turn the tide and let them feel the weaponry of Sam Stone.
Graphics:
The graphics are based on the Serious engine II, which is really doing a very good job in rendering the huge variety of environments trough which you will be battling your way. Nearly every Shader Model 3.0 effect is supported (incl. HDR and parallax mapping). With all details at max SSII looks gorgeous!
Many gamers say, that the graphic looks a bit comic like and that the totally new style of this sequel don't looks real... And they are right. But weather
you like the graphic style or not, you have to say that on the technic side it is one of the most modern Engines out there.
Sound:
It won't take you long to realize that you should download the latest patch to prevent synchronizity issues with the sound on multi-core CPUs. But since this problem is fixed the sound really works fine. Features like EAX are supported and on a good soundcard you will get trigger happy with the way SSII sounds.
Some minor critics:
Many people prefer games that are more serious and look less comic like... And if you don't like humor in action games and if you're looking for a realistic gaming experience you definetly won't get what you expect with this game... Furthermore, I must say that some passages in the game are quite numb and just trigger smashing.... Better get a renovation-kit for your left mouse button ;)
Worth playing?
If you like the series and if you like humor and a graphic blended with some comic-style, you can buy this game without thinking twice. And last but not least, the cooperative mode is a blast for every LAN-party!