Serious Sam II shoots into stores

2K Games today announced that Serious Sam II is now available in retail stores for the PC and Xbox. The game is rated M for Mature and sells for $29.99 on the PC and for $39.99 on the Xbox.

The first-person shooter was developed by Croteam, the Croatian studio that also developed Serious Sam: The First Encounter and Serious Sam: The Second Encounter. Unlike its predecessors, Croteam built the latest Serious Sam on a brand-new engine, the Serious Engine 2. When the game was announced last April, Roman Ribaric, CEO of Croteam, said, "Our second-generation Serious Engine allows us to create characters with over 100 times more detail than the last game."

40 new levels continue the tradition of colorful, vibrant environments, spanning futuristic metropolises, jungles, and swamps. Croteam has added 45 enemies, each with its own blend of humor, to blast away. Gamers will also be able to jump into vehicles and onto the backs of various mounts.

In addition to some seriously revamped graphics, gamers can expect a healthy dose of multiplayer action. The PC version brings new meaning to cooperative gameplay by letting an impressive 16 players simultaneously take on all the game can throw at them via local area network or Internet. The Xbox co-op mode supports up to four players over Xbox Live.

2K Games has also released the first patch for the game, as well as the game's demo. The file fixes some basic issues with the game, mostly concentrating on Internet connectivity and keyboard setup. Head over to GameSpot's downloads section for both the patch and the Serious Sam II PC demo.

For more on Serious Sam II, check back with GameSpot later today for a full review.