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DreamCatcher tries its hand at FPS gaming once again. Painkiller is the next FPS from the company that brought us the overall well-received Gore and Iron Storm games. Painkiller is FPS simplicity at its best. While other games are adding increasingly more complexity to their games, Painkiller takes the Serious Sam route and makes for some twitch-based fun.
Dreamcatcher knows what kind of game this is. In fact, at least year’s E3 they told attendees to shoot everything that moves. At the most basic level, that’s exactly what you’re doing here. Instead of facing a few enemies who are incredibly smart, you face dozens and dozens of really stupid enemies. If this sounds similar to you it is probably since it’s the same thing Serious Sam did a few years back. Unlike Serious Sam though, Painkiller takes itself more seriously in terms of variety and the technology under the hood.
A twitch-based shooter can get boring very quickly. People Can Fly, the developer, seemingly knows this as they have included little touches along the way that make the game stand out. First off, there are a lot of different enemies in the game. You’ll see everything from ghosts, ninjas, sailors, monks to zombies. The game does have a story but it serves mostly to get you on the next level to shoot some more wacky enemies. After all, you need a reason to move to a military base to an opera house.
There are only five weapons in the game but they are so different that it doesn’t really matter. Plus, each of them has a dual fire, so you really get ten guns.
The replay value is also increased by the collectibles in the game. In each level you will find tarot cards, souls, and gold. The souls allow you to turn into a super powerful person that is practically invincible. The tarot cards can be collected by completing a level’s bonus goal and activated using the found gold. The effects range allow for cool touches like slowing down time.
Painkiller includes the mandatory multiplayer modes but nothing compared to specific games like the Unreal Tournament games or even compared to recent shooters like Far Cry. It’s a lot like the Quake series, except it looks a lot better. Nonetheless, if you really like Painkiller, at least you can play online.
What makes Painkiller different from other similar games are the awesome visuals. The architecture is particularly great. People Can Fly has crafted very different levels with their own unique bits and everything just looks good. Painkiller also sports the now mandatory ragdoll physics. Enemies will fall in all sorts of strange patterns when you kill them. The game includes many different enemies and each of them has their own little nuance shown through their animation. You won’t find the same attention to detail that you would find in other games, but pretty looking nonetheless. The best part of the game is that it doesn’t require a $500 videocard to run.
The soundtrack isn’t bad but it is very generic. It is made up of mostly metal music that sounds almost identical. The sound effects are okay but nothing too great, either. On voice acting Painkiller misses the mark with sub-par voice acting. Good thing story doesn’t play that much of a role.
Painkiller has simple gameplay but it is wrapped in such a cohesive package that you can’t really dislike the game. The levels are extremely varied and they all look great with their own little nuances and differences. If you think FPS games are getting too difficult lately, Painkiller is a great purchase.
* Dreamcatcher has recognized that there in an issue with the game. To fix it visit the official website (Painkillergame.com) and go to updates.
Minimum System Requirements:
Win 98/2000/Me/XP, 1GHz Processor, 256MB RAM, 32MB Video Card, 1.2GB HDD Space
Recommended System Requirements:
Win 98/2000/Me/XP, 3GHz Processor, 512MB RAM, 128MB Video Card, 1.2GB HDD Space -- Jose Liz, PGNx Media
---- Apr 21, 2004
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