Croteam has released a sizable 2025 update for Serious Sam 2 on PC to mark the game’s 20th anniversary, and it actually fixes and polishes a lot of stuff players have been grumbling about for years. The headline move is integrating the community-made SS2 Renovation Mod into the base game. Still, the patch also brings UI and control changes, graphical tweaks, multiplayer adjustments, and numerous bug fixes.
The update arrives via a Steam announcement and, yes, it’s a proper one; you can read the developer note in full on Steam as the patch rolls out. The Renovation Mod being folded into the official build means the game now ships with a global cosmetic overhaul that reworks the interface to feel more like the Serious Sam Xbox release, tweaks weapon visuals, and makes enemy gibbing more satisfying.
Other changes are more practical. Controller and keyboard/mouse bindings have been separated into their own menus, allowing each control scheme to be mapped independently. HUD icons have been redrawn at higher resolution, fonts have been improved, in-game movies now play full screen, and the default resolution has been updated to 720p. There are also various multiplayer tweaks and bug fixes listed in Croteam’s announcement. It is worth noting that the patch landed as a proper developer update rather than a small hotfix. That matters because when a studio goes back into an old game, it can either tidy things up or accidentally break things. You only need one disastrous follow-up to ruin the mood.
Croteam has done this before. SS2 received a substantial update for its 15th anniversary five years ago, so this 20th anniversary touch-up continues that pattern of returning to older titles to tidy and modernize them for current hardware and players. Some of those improvements are small and quietly useful; others nudge the experience closer to what fans have been modding toward for years. Players interested in the specific developer notes should check the Steam announcement.
Serious Sam 2 – 20th Annviersary Update
It’s hard to believe, but it’s been 20 years since one of our boldest and most colorful adventures – Serious Sam 2! A game that’s been both loved and debated, but never ignored, packed with wild ideas, vibrant worlds, and tons of personality that made it truly one of a kind.
To celebrate this milestone, we’re rolling out a special Anniversary Update, packed with ways to show off your undying love for Sam 2 and to keep those Serious vibes alive for years to come!
Community Items
- 14 Trading Cards
- 10 Emoticons
- 6 Profile Backgrounds
- 3 Animated Profile Backgrounds
- 1 Mini Profile Background
- 3 Avatar Frames (including 2 animated)
- 3 Animated Avatars
We’ve also bundled in the Renovation Mod : an extensive community project that has now become an official part of the game.
And that’s not all – we’ve made a number of quality-of-life improvements to modernize the experience:
Full List of Changes
UI and Visual
- Redrawing of HUD icons and other menu images in HD, as close as possible to the original 2005 release, to preserve the game’s individuality.
- Updated fonts across multiple titles for improved clarity and scaling on all screen resolutions.
- Menu entries have been aligned.
- Increased multiplayer player list font size for better visibility.
- Added “Show Radar” profile option to the Game Options menu.
- Changed puppet radar profile option to use 5 positions (Right Top, Right Middle, Right Bottom, Center Bottom, Left Middle). Updated menus accordingly.
- Added on-screen messages for “Sprint always: ON/OFF.”
- Adjusted weapon positioning on the screen.
- Updated materials for Rocket Launcher, Klodovik, Serious Bomb, and Beam Gun.
- Fixed incorrect animation playback for Beam Gun.
- Updated Colt reloading animation to prevent clipping during dual reloads.
- Updated screens for Rocket Launcher and Grenade Launcher.
- Fixed combo weapons and “Enable Sprinting” options not syncing with active game settings.
- Added a link to the Advanced Controls menu in the Options menu.
- Fixed controller axis textures not showing on first open.
- Reduced weapon sway while sprinting (from 200% of walking sway to 150%).
- Changed default resolution to 1280×720 for better compatibility across systems.
- Movies now play in full screen.
- Updated boot-up video.
Audio
- Added “Menu Music” toggle in Audio Options (uses
men_fMusicVolume). - Menu music no longer plays while in-game.
- Fixed menu music not restarting when leaving Video Options.
- Restored original menu sounds.
Gameplay
- Added Single Player Settings link to the in-game menu (only Sprinting and Combo Weapons can be changed). Defaults for Enable Sprinting and Use Combo Weapons changed from FALSE → TRUE.
- Added
sam_fEnemyWithNoFoePurgeTimecvar (default 60 seconds). Enemies are no longer purged unless they had a foe at least once. - Enemy health multiplier on Serious difficulty changed from 1.25 → 1.0.
- Fixed incorrect effects on Zap Gun, Colts, Klodovik, Cannon, Serious Bomb, and Beam Gun when using Serious Damage power-up.
- Adjusted fire rate and damage for the Uzi and Minigun.
- Reverted Deathmatch stats for Uzis and Minigun to original values.
- Beam Gun can now only be found in secret locations.
- Rebalanced Beam Gun stats.
- Adjusted 3rd-person camera (close) pitch range to -90° to +70°.
- Fixed Witch enemy not doing damage with melee attacks.
Levels
- Jungle: Increased visibility distance for secret cave.
- Riverdance: Secret raft now moves when rope is cut.
- M’Keke Village: Slightly reduced bloom brightness.
- Road to Ursul: Fixed broken rolling ball trap.
- Giant Junkyard: Dynamite auto-destruct timer increased from 180s → 1800s.
- Hong-Pong: Fixed ammo multiplier in one chapter.
- Chanolin Temple: Fixed issues with Rhino spawners getting stuck in the central building when no multiplier is used.
- Cockaleeki (DM): Force field entities properly connected.
- Fixed missing collision on some houses and floors.
Controls
- Created a new controller buttons menu, fully separating controller bindings from keyboard + mouse controls.
- Added proper gamepad button textures for Netricsa HUD elements when using A, B, X, Y, Black, or White buttons.
- Re-implemented “Enter Name” gadget for controller users (used in Change Name and popup text menus).
- Added new “Standard A” controller button preset.
- Renamed “Dead Zone” to “Dead Zone (Controller)” and made it functional.
- Changed Use command behavior to handle both Use and Show Waypoints. Removed “Show Waypoints” option.
- Fixed loss of Mouse Look bindings when bound to other keys.
- Fixed controller button presets missing default binding for grenades.
- Added Mouse Smoothing option to Advanced Controls.
- Fixed sprint toggle breaking when bound to B and exiting menus.
- Strafe sprinting range now matches keyboard limits.
- Fixed repeated error message for unreadable gamepads (now shows only once).
- Added D-Pad button textures in Netricsa; fixed textures not updating when switching input devices.
- Fixed issue where flip fire buttons incorrectly applied to controllers.
Multiplayer
- Changed network session max player default from 4 → 2.
- Improved network options selection: added ability to set custom values, increased defaults (except 56k Modem), and added a new network options menu.
- Added logic to apply custom BPS values to the cvar when the type is set to “custom.”
- Updated
cli_iMaxBPSOutandcli_iMaxBPSto new defaults if users are still on legacy pairs. - Profile options for multiplayer sessions are now applied before starting the session.
- Network settings menu now defaults to saved profile options when starting a server.
Other
- Fixed incorrect sounds for Mental Mate, Groovy Gregory, and Dancing Denzel (“Oof” replaced).
- Added destruction configurations for alternative multiplayer characters.
- Fixed collisions and missing effects for Tank General and Tank Monster.
- Fixed current Mouse Smoothing option not being applied when opening Profile menu.
- Fixed ghost + turbo cheats causing excessive downward speed.
- Fixed weapon switching bug when changing from Serious Bomb to last left-hand weapon.
- Fixed corrupted profile issues.
- Added protection against old single-player enemy max multiplier defaulting to 1 instead of 100.
- Possible fix for older saves not loading due to world changes.
- Added automatic aspect ratio setting based on current resolution when applying video options.
Renovation
The Renovation Mod has been updated to version 1.0 and is now an official part of the game! For best results, we recommend removing any previous version of the mod before playing.
Highlights:
- Interface was remade to be closer to Serious Sam Xbox.
- Reworked and improved weapons’ visuals and animations.
- Tons of reworked visual effects.
- Enemies gib in a much more satisfying way, with pools of blood left on the ground.
- Weapon shots leave bullet holes on various surfaces.
- Fixed ragdolls.
- Updated visuals for enemies, such as Kamikaze, T-Mech e.t.c.
- A lot of other improvements and changes.
v1.0:
- New Renovation Options menu added, allowing toggles for: LOD Bias, Ragdoll Deaths, Debris, Max Debris, Uzi Screens, and Uzi Reloading.
- Previously unheard and unpublished Serious Sam 2 music by Damjan Mravunac added to Wheels of Fortune and Command Center levels, plus six boss fights (original boss tracks restored!).
- Updated appearance of all NPCs (except Chiefs and Shamans).
- NPCs now open their mouths when greeting the player.
- Redrawn HUD icons and menu images in HD, faithful to the 2005 release.
- Improved models for Machine Gun and Plasma Gun turrets.
- Fixed incorrect effects on multiple weapons when using Serious Damage power-up.
- Adjusted monster and NPC weights to prevent rolling on surfaces with ragdolls disabled.
- Optimized level loading times.
- Removed the “Renovation” episode to avoid confusion for new players.
- Fixed NPCs entering A-pose after death.
- Fixed disappearing bomb on Kamikaze heads at certain angles.
- Updated Colt reload animation to prevent crossing when dual-wielding.
- Updated Grenade Launcher screen.
- Updated Beam Gun, Flamethrower, and Serious Score power-up meshes and textures.
- Updated treasure chest visuals.
- Changed sound effect for picking up Serious Speed power-up.
- Various minor cosmetic updates.
InSamnity! 2
- Fixed “Give All” cheat not granting weapon ammo.
- Fixed network options menu not applying values correctly.
- Fixed integer select box mismatch with Sam 2 menus causing errors.
- Fixed crashes on Dunes and The Alley of the Sphinxes caused by outdated Beam Gun items.
- Fixed profile naming and renaming issues.
- Fixed incorrect life calculation sounds when not playing with lives enabled.
- Fixed controller menu not showing axis textures on first open.
- Fixed missing sitting animations for players.
- Re-implemented “Enter Name” gadget for controller users (in Change Name and popup text menus).
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