Serious Sam 4 is probably going to be the ugliest game you'll play that recommends an 8-core CPU. That's right, the upcoming title recommends you have an 8-core CPU to run the game as smoothly as possible.

Serious Sam will eventually be available on consoles, but Google's Stadia will have timed-exclusivity until sometime next year. The game was initially planned for an August launch but was pushed back – as many titles this year were. Of course, the developer used the extra time to polish up the game and bring us the best version it can.

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This iteration of Serious Sam introduces a new mode called "Legion," which will see 10,000 enemies on screen at once. That's such an absurdly high number, you could be forgiven for thinking we're exaggerating. With that mode on, your processor is going to have to be seriously sturdy if it wants to keep track of everything that's happening.

Of course, you can still play the game even if you don't have 8 processors crunching numbers. The much more reasonable minimum requirements call for a 4-core CPU and 8GB of RAM. That kind of equipment will probably mean that the legions will be scaled down, but we still expect that it'll be pushing your rig to its limits. Serious Sam 4 will feature up to four-player co-op to take on the invading aliens, as well as side missions and modified difficulties to keep things interesting.

This year has seen its fair share of equipment-punishing games. From Microsoft Flight Simulator going beyond the capabilities of all GPUs on the planet, to Doom Eternal getting pushed past 1,000 frames per second on a liquid nitrogen-cooled PC, to Crysis's Can It Run Crysis mode. Serious Sam is pushing the envelope of what is possible for "consumer-grade" stock processors. That kind of number-crunching power is usually reserved for businesses, artists, and dare we say, game developers.

Regardless, we—like you—are just excited to see what 10,000 enemies look like on screen. Serious Sam is going to be one wild ride.

Source: Steam

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