No specific release date was given for today's Devolver Direct livestream for Serious Sam 4, which is due out in August. However, a new gameplay trailer was shown, not only showcasing the familiar Sam-style FPS action, but also an outlandish storyline in which the series' protagonist becomes the captain of a spaceship.

The trailer opens with Serious Sam briefly describing his old "wonderful" life as the commander of the spaceship Surveyor, which landed on a very unpleasant-looking alien world. But instead of exploring an interesting new side to the character, we quickly cut to a scene in which a ridiculous array of weapons are deployed against a ridiculous array of monsters.

I have no idea what the story means, but the gameplay seems to be exactly what one would expect from a "Serious Sam" game. However, "Serious Sam 4" promises to be a much larger game than its predecessor: Croteam announced in May that the new "Legion System" will be able to render hundreds of thousands of enemies simultaneously, which seems perfect for this series This seems to be a perfect fit for this series. New weapons and enemies will also be introduced, as well as many familiar enemies, of course.

I must admit I'm interested in the interstellar exploration angle (in "Serious Sam" lore, humans traveled through the stars, but that's not the focus of the game) and the Doomsday-esque big guy at the end. But what really caught my attention was the logo that appeared right after the trailer on the Devolver Direct livestream, introducing it as "Serious Sam 4: Planet Badass" Devolver had removed this supremely awesome subtitle back in May and I thought that was really sad. Although it doesn't appear in the trailer itself, its appearance in the Devolver Direct livestream makes me hope that someone made the right decision and put this subtitle back in.

(Perhaps just an old asset, but I dare to dream.)

Speaking of Devolver Direct, this year's live stream was another bizarre and bloody descent into mayhem and marketing, interspersed with some fun trailers (including this one) ) were sprinkled throughout. You can watch the whole thing here.