Serum

About

Serum is a single player survival role playing game. It was developed by Game Island and was released on May 23, 2024. It received neutral reviews from players.

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

Skip User Reviews

52%

Audience ScoreBased on 182 reviews

story16 positive mentions

optimization12 negative mentions

The game features a unique and immersive gameplay experience, with a compelling storyline and stunning graphics.
The serum mechanic adds an interesting layer of urgency and strategy to the survival crafting genre, encouraging exploration and resource management.
The developers are responsive to feedback and actively working on updates, showing promise for future improvements.

The game suffers from significant performance issues, including frequent frame rate drops and lag, making it difficult to play smoothly.
Many core mechanics, such as combat and inventory management, are poorly executed and can be frustrating, leading to a lack of engagement.
As an early access title, the game feels incomplete, with bugs, missing features, and a lack of clear direction in quests and navigation.

story
80 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
76%
4%
The game's story has a strong premise and immersive atmosphere, but it suffers from incomplete content and a rigid quest system that can lead to confusion and frustration. Many players feel that the narrative lacks depth and character development, often feeling like an afterthought, especially in its current early access state. While some aspects of the storytelling, such as environmental details and voiceovers, are appreciated, the overall execution leaves much to be desired, prompting recommendations to wait for further updates before diving in.
- “The storyline 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.”
- “The game's visuals are stunning, and the atmosphere is genuinely creepy at times, enhancing the immersive experience.”
- “As a fan of survival and crafting games, I enjoyed Serum for its story, learning curve, exploration, and core mechanics.”
- “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.”
- “See original review below, so 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.”
- “Would be willing to just chalk it up to early access issues if there wasn't an end to the story or it needed some development, but the problem feels deeper than that - it honestly feels like there's no real story to begin with, which is a bad sign.”
gameplay
64 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
28%
59%
13%
The gameplay is praised for its innovative time-based mechanics and engaging core loop reminiscent of survival games like Subnautica, offering a unique alchemist experience. However, it suffers from inconsistent mechanics, poor optimization, and a lack of effective tutorials, leading to frustration with inventory management and combat. While the game shows promise and has a solid foundation, many players feel it is currently incomplete and in need of significant improvements.
- “Great concept and unique gameplay that you have never seen before in an alchemist game like this.”
- “The gameplay loop is very Subnautica in terms of being time-limited away from base, and you collect and craft to expand that.”
- “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.”
- “Game is held back very hard by inconsistent mechanics, annoying audio, and poor optimization.”
- “But some of the core mechanics are so flawed that I just cannot recommend a buy at this time.”
- “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
36 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
8%
59%
33%
Overall, the game's optimization is widely criticized, with many players experiencing significant stuttering and inconsistent performance across various hardware setups. While some users report acceptable performance with high-end systems, the general consensus is that the game requires substantial optimization, bug fixes, and quality-of-life improvements to enhance the overall experience. Many reviewers note that the game feels unfinished, typical of early access titles, which contributes to the performance issues.
- “Performance is okay; I have 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.”
- “Performance is acceptable for me, but I have a 13900K and 4090, so it's not typical.”
- “Game is held back very hard by inconsistent mechanics, annoying audio, and poor optimization.”
- “This game would definitely be a lot more satisfying to complete if the combat actually made you think and the optimization wasn't terrible.”
- “Performance is still not great and no matter the settings there was always some level of stuttering.”
graphics
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
35%
15%
The graphics of the game receive high praise for their stunning visuals and immersive atmosphere, contributing to a genuinely creepy experience. However, some users report performance issues, including frame rate drops and screen flickering, which detract from the overall visual quality. While the art style is appreciated, there are calls for further optimization before the game is fully released.
- “Graphics: 10/10”
- “Graphics and sound are done really well.”
- “[b]- immersive environment and story:[/b] the game's visuals are stunning, and the atmosphere is genuinely creepy at times, enhancing the immersive experience.”
- “Had to turn recommended graphic settings way down to get decent frame rate.”
- “The graphics are pretty lower than my expectations.”
- “No matter what graphics settings I use, the screen flickers almost constantly, a bit like cheap LED lightbulbs, giving me a massive headache.”
stability
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is plagued by numerous bugs, particularly with the serum system, which often fails to apply effects correctly and consumes resources unnecessarily. While some players find it comparable to other early access titles, the overall stability issues significantly detract from the experience, leading to frustration with gameplay mechanics and quality of life features.
- “A buggy mess.”
- “[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.”
- “They are attached to hotkeys when you do get them, but it is buggy at best if they will work.”
grinding
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessively tedious and frustrating, particularly criticizing the cumbersome inventory management and the lack of intuitive crafting mechanics. While some enjoy the grind, many feel it detracts from the overall experience and highlights the need for significant optimization and quality-of-life improvements.
- “Tedious and frustrating doesn't even begin to cover it.”
- “- 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.”
- “- Fails at being a fun crafting game; it looks like there's an idea for a neat tech/serum tree, but items are tedious to store, and breakdown/use is confusing and not intuitive to begin with.”
atmosphere
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's atmosphere is highly praised for its stunning visuals and genuinely creepy elements, which significantly enhance the immersive experience. Reviewers note that while the atmosphere and mystery are compelling, the steep difficulty curve may require players to frequently return to base, impacting overall progress.
- “The game's visuals are stunning, and the atmosphere is genuinely creepy at times, enhancing the immersive experience.”
- “The atmosphere and mystery are great, creating an engaging environment that keeps you on your toes.”
- “Great concept, great atmosphere, great immersion, great mechanics.”
music
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
25%
50%
The game's music and voice acting are generally praised for keeping players engaged, though some users find certain tracks annoying. Overall, the soundtrack contributes positively to the gaming experience, despite mixed opinions on specific pieces.
- “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.”