Serum

About

In "Serum," players must survive in a post-apocalyptic world filled with mutated creatures and toxic fog. With a timer on their arm counting down every second, they must explore different biomes, find clues about past events, and brew serums for unique abilities to survive. Players can also search for shelter and modify weapons for greater effectiveness in this race against time.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

55%

Audience ScoreBased on 244 reviews

story24 positive mentions

optimization18 negative mentions

The game has a unique concept with an interesting serum mechanic that adds urgency to gameplay.
The atmosphere and visuals are praised, creating an immersive experience for players.
Many players appreciate the potential for the game to improve with future updates, expressing hope for its development.

The game suffers from significant optimization issues, leading to poor performance and low frame rates even on high-end hardware.
Combat mechanics are criticized for being clunky and unresponsive, with issues like hitbox registration and lack of impactful feedback.
Inventory management is tedious, requiring players to move items one at a time without a 'store all' option, which detracts from the overall experience.

story
96 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
72%
3%
The game's story has a compelling premise and atmospheric elements, but it suffers from execution issues, including confusing tutorials and an incomplete narrative. Players appreciate the exploration and crafting mechanics tied to the story, yet many feel the quest system is rigid and the overall storytelling lacks depth and character development. While some reviewers express hope for future updates to enhance the story, others recommend waiting until the game is fully developed before diving in.
- “The story line is fantastic, but there are times during play that you will have to find your own path, as the game does not directly point you in the direction of the next area of interest, you will likely have to double back on your path, or explore areas that don't appear to lead anywhere.”
- “I love the idea of the game - the setting and the story are interesting.”
- “As a fan of survival and crafting games, I enjoyed 'Serum' for its story, learning curve, exploration, and core mechanics.”
- “The main storyline is unfinished; I had a quest to go to a certain area, but you have to finish the first two areas first.”
- “See original review below: after slogging through to the two trolleys, the game just ends, saying 'you have completed all content, congratulations,' like they ran out of money or didn't even bother to finish the story. It's like they wrote chapter 1 and didn't finish the book.”
- “The whole story seems like an afterthought, and there is no building of the characters, which is a shame because it feels like a neat core concept that could be a fun addition to the genre.”
gameplay
78 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
57%
10%
The gameplay in this early access survival game features a unique time-based mechanic that adds urgency and encourages exploration, though it is marred by inconsistent mechanics and a lack of polish. Players appreciate the core loop of gathering resources and crafting, but many find combat bland and the inventory system frustrating, with significant room for improvement in tutorials and overall quality of life. While the game shows promise and has a solid atmosphere, it currently struggles with bugs and optimization issues, making it difficult to recommend to casual gamers.
- “Though still a work in progress being an early access game, what has been produced is rather solid with good atmosphere and progression not leaning too far into unfair situations or too easy encounters. The countdown mechanic really keeps you on your toes and has you keep moving, trying to make it to your objective and back to resupply. Being able to handle your wilderness gauge is key to such a struggle.”
- “I really like this system and the core gameplay loop of venturing out, gathering materials for base and weapon upgrades, and dragging them back to camp while also advancing your story quest while out and about works really well.”
- “The timer mechanic feels well done, giving players an incentive to return home eventually as well as making time a manageable resource.”
- “Combat is very bland with the blocking, heavy attack, and regular attack mechanic, not to mention no area effects such as explosives or triggerable elements on the map.”
- “Game is held back very hard by inconsistent mechanics, annoying audio, and poor optimization.”
- “Cutting my move speed down 95% so I couldn't get to a chest to unload what had made me encumbered to begin with, coupled with no idea how to do it from inventory, and no meaningful tutorial explaining the mechanic is just chef's kiss level of annoyance.”
optimization
46 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
7%
54%
39%
The optimization of the game is widely criticized, with many users reporting significant performance issues, including stuttering and low frame rates even on high-end hardware. While some players find the performance acceptable under certain conditions, the overall consensus is that the game requires substantial optimization improvements, especially given its early access status. Many believe that enhancing optimization could greatly enhance the gameplay experience.
- “Decent game with acceptable performance.”
- “Performance is okay; got a 3060 Ti, Ryzen 5 5600X, 32GB RAM, and with DLSS quality, it runs smoothly at 60 FPS.”
- “Game is enjoyable and really grindy, but it could be a lot better; it definitely needs a lot of optimization, bug fixes, and quality of life improvements.”
- “The game optimization is a disaster.”
- “Performance is still not great and no matter the settings there was always some level of stuttering.”
- “Game is held back very hard by inconsistent mechanics, annoying audio, and poor optimization.”
graphics
30 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
57%
10%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many players finding them underwhelming and not on par with expectations for a 2024 title. While some appreciate the art style and immersive atmosphere, issues such as poor optimization, framerate problems, and screen flickering detract from the overall experience. Overall, the visuals are described as decent but in need of further refinement and optimization.
- “Honestly, I love a lot about the art style and the concepts in this game.”
- “Graphics: 10/10”
- “The game's visuals are stunning, and the atmosphere is genuinely creepy at times, enhancing the immersive experience.”
- “The graphics are lackluster, despite being very demanding (not optimized well, but it's early access, so excusable).”
- “Also, I'm having a problem I don't see anywhere in discussions: no matter what graphics settings I use, the screen flickers almost constantly, a bit like cheap LED lightbulbs, giving me a massive headache.”
- “Had to turn recommended graphic settings way down to get decent frame rate.”
grinding
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, particularly due to issues with farming mechanics and inventory management. Many report bugs that disrupt farming, which is essential for upgrades, and express that the crafting system lacks intuitiveness. Overall, while the game has enjoyable elements, it suffers from significant optimization and quality-of-life issues that hinder the grinding experience.
- “Tedious and frustrating doesn't even begin to cover it.”
- “- bugs my entire farm did not work, it kept deleting any plants I put in it which was insanely annoying and basically broke the entire game for me because farming is a vital mechanic.”
- “- inventory management sucks, moving things from your inventory to storage is tedious as you have to re-select an item once the previous stack has been moved over one item at a time.”
stability
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is reported to be quite buggy, with various glitches affecting gameplay, particularly with the serum system, which can consume resources without providing the intended benefits. While players find it generally playable, the stability issues are a significant source of frustration, leading to calls for improvements from the developers. Overall, the game's stability is comparable to other early access titles, but it still requires attention to enhance the user experience.
- “A buggy mess.”
- “Devs, for god's sake, fix the buggy absorber.”
- “[b]- serum system glitches:[/b] when overlapping serums with long-lasting effects, the system sometimes fails to apply the expected benefits, consuming resources without delivering results, which is frustrating.”
atmosphere
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's atmosphere is highly praised for its immersive and visually stunning environment, which effectively enhances the overall experience with a mix of creepiness and mystery. Players appreciate the solid progression mechanics and the tension created by the countdown feature, although they note that the difficulty spikes can lead to frequent backtracking. Overall, the atmosphere contributes significantly to the game's appeal, making it a compelling early access title.
- “The game's visuals are stunning, and the atmosphere is genuinely creepy at times, enhancing the immersive experience.”
- “Great concept, great atmosphere, great immersion, great mechanics.”
- “Though still a work in progress being an early access game, what has been produced is rather solid with good atmosphere and progression not leaning too far into unfair situations or too easy encounters.”
music
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
25%
50%
The game's music and voice acting are generally praised for enhancing the overall experience, keeping players engaged. However, some users find certain tracks annoying, indicating a mixed reception regarding the music selection.
- “I wanted to say that this game is awesome; the voice acting and soundtrack are enough to keep you interested.”
- “I'm not a fan of some of the music, which I find annoying.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users find humor in the game's quirky design, particularly the frustration of navigating menus with invisible buttons, which adds a comedic element to the experience. This absurdity highlights the game's playful approach to user interface challenges.
- “It's always funny to click through menus with invisible buttons because you can't even use your arrows on the keyboard to navigate to the resolution settings.”

Buy Serum

2h Median play time

2h Average play time

1-2h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 4 analyzed playthroughs

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