When comparing Starcraft vs Serious Sam HD, the Slant community recommends Starcraft for most people. In the question“What are the best LAN party PC games?” Starcraft is ranked 9th while Serious Sam HD is ranked 45th. The most important reason people chose Starcraft is:
There are three selectable races in the game, Terrans, Protoss and the Zerg. The Terrans being human, while the other two are alien races. What makes the game stand out is that each race feels exceptionally different from one another, each with their own personalities. This makes for a different experience depending on what race has been chosen to play with.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Tons of personality that keeps the story and gameplay interesting and entertaining
There are three selectable races in the game, Terrans, Protoss and the Zerg. The Terrans being human, while the other two are alien races. What makes the game stand out is that each race feels exceptionally different from one another, each with their own personalities. This makes for a different experience depending on what race has been chosen to play with.
Pro Built-in offline LAN support
Being an older game, Starcraft suports offline LAN due to not as many people having internet back when it was released. This is something that many games (including Starcraft 2) regrettably do not feature anymore.
Pro Well balanced race selection keeps the gameplay fair
The game is fairly well balanced, so nobody gets an advantage by choosing a certain race. While each race will have their own unique abilities, the balancing of these abilities allows the game to play even handed, with no real advantage to any race.
Pro This game can be downloaded for free
Blizzard is now offering the original Starcraft (titled Starcraft Anthology) as a free download.
Pro Highly specialized units that are easy to learn but hard to master
This helps keep the game challenging and interesting even at a high level of proficiency.
Pro Beautiful game design with open landscapes
This is the remastered version of the original title. The result is beautiful, vibrant colors and stunning vistas.
Pro Fast-paced classical "shoot everything that moves" FPS
This is not a thinking man’s game. Much of the gameplay takes place in large arenas where you face waves of enemies. The objectives are simple: If it moves, you shoot it. Oh, and don’t die.
Pro Drop-in co-op at any point in the game
You can join games at any point in their progress, which cuts down on waiting time.
Pro Diverse enemies
The enemies in Serious Sam can be diverse in looks, attacks, and defense strategies, which gives the game a new tactical approach each time.
Pro Beautiful gameplay
Cons
Con Old and outdated
With the original release dating back to 1998, the game is quite old now and its graphics are not on par with current game offerings.
Con Lacks widescreen support
Starcraft is only available in a 4:3 resolution. However, a hack to make it work in widescreen can be found here.
Con Can get Repetitive/Frustrating
Serious Sam's whole design has to do with taking on wave after wave of enemies as you progress through the world, with no real story. The slaughterfest can get boring and repetitive, especially in single-player. It's fairly important to bring along friends who will not only stick with you, but make light of the fact you're going to die over and over again. People who can't stand dying (aka rage-quitters) should avoid this game.