2K Games today announced that it will be publishing Serious Sam II for the Xbox and PC this fall. Previously, the game had been set for release in 2004, but it was later slapped with the nebulous "to be announced" ship date.

　　The first-person shooter was to be published by Gathering, Take-Two Interactive's former PC-game-centric subbrand. However, in January, Take-Two folded almost all its brands into 2K Games. Since then, 2K Games has been busy scooping up top-tier PC titles, including Civilization IV and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, as well as developing 2K Sports, made up of Sega and Microsoft's former sports-game development studios.

　　Serious Sam II is being developed by Croatian studio Croteam, who also worked on the previous Serious Sam games, including Serious Sam: The First Encounter, GameSpot's 2001 Game of the Year.

　　Serious Sam II, not to be confused with the original's semisequel Serious Sam: The Second Encounter, is being built on a brand-new engine. "Our second-generation Serious engine allows us to create characters with over 100 times more detail than the last game," added Roman Ribaric, CEO of Croteam.

　　The game will once again sport the colorful environments, over-the-top action, and zippy one-liners that have become a trademark of the Serious Sam series. A playable version of the game is expected to be on display at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo.

　　For more information on the game, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.