8 / 10
24 May 2004 at 12:30
Review by: owtlawz
Harking back to an age of simpler games, first-person shooter Painkiller does away with many of the "advances" and complexities the genre's introduced over the past 10 years or so. Meaty weapons, fast action, and overwhelming odds bring a Doom-like vibe to its high body count. And thanks in no small part to the excellent physics engine, Painkiller is an intense and visceral game.
The game starts with a high-quality cutscene outlining the backstory. The hero, killed in a car crash with his girlfriend, is spending an extended period of time in purgatory, atoning for an unknown sin by doing the Lord's work. Thankfully, this doesn't involve throwing village fêtes and hearing confession. Instead, players use a more direct, unsubtle approach to fighting the forces of Lucifer. They'll be preaching the good word with the business end of a shotgun rather than a bible.
Straightforwardness is one of Painkiller's biggest strengths. Each level takes place in a different area -- opera house, lunatic asylum, graveyard, etc. -- and consists of a number of short sections. Completing a section simply requires killing all the enemies and moving on, earning a health refill and an auto-save (yes, you can save anywhere too). Typically, sections last between 30 seconds and two minutes, and consist of tens or hundreds of enemies.
After completing a level, players receive a score based on their progress. They can then compare the number of kills, pickups, secrets, and souls collected to the level's maximum. Each level also has a secondary goal associated with it; for example, collect all the gold coins or finish the level using only one specific weapon. Do this and you’ll be rewarded with a tarot card that can be traded in for a special bonus, like enemy damage reduction or a speed boost.
How weapons "handle" is crucial to action-heavy games like Painkiller, and while its selection is small, each weapon is well thought out. They all have primary and secondary firing modes that feel like two different weapons strapped together. The stake launcher, for example, is paired with a grenade launcher -- firing a grenade and staking it in mid-air results in attaching the grenade directly to a foe! Recoil, sound effects, and graphical details conspire to give each gun a real, solid feel.
The utilized Havoc physics engine provides phenomenal rag-doll effects for the bodies and destructible objects. Cutting through a group of enemies with the shotgun, sending limbs flailing and corpses flying, is tremendously satisfying. Most of Painkiller's hellish creatures have a strong -- not to mention gratifying -- tendency of becoming dismembered when shot.
Dead monsters don't hang around for long -- they evaporate into souls that can be collected for a small health boost. Although you won't be stacking up the stiffs, thanks to the ample gore effects, Painkiller's violence has a very visceral feel. Collect enough souls, incidentally, and the player's rewarded with a 20-second "god mode," making them invulnerable and extremely powerful. It's a real thrill to go from frantic backpedaling to all-out offense.
The whole package, like Serious Sam before it, uses a ton of old tricks. There are hidden secrets on each level, boss monsters with health gauges, holy items to collect... it's been a while since an FPS with such retro atmosphere hit the market.
Graphically, however, Painkiller is the total opposite of "retro." Although not up to the stupendously high standard set last month by Far Cry, it's not far off. The game is so fast-paced that close inspection of level detail is rare, but it's consistently excellent. Monster models are even better: full of variety and well animated, they're a pleasure to blow away. In one memorable section, we were working our way up a narrow staircase, wasting obstructing ninjas in the process, and actually dodging the bodies as they rolled down the steps.
Souring Painkiller's pleasant flavor are some serious issues with what appears to be its copy-protection scheme. Several machines we tested failed to load the game at all; incompatibilities with other software installed or specific CD drives are the reasons why. Dreamcatcher promises a patch soon, but this situation should never have arisen. We'd advise all potential purchasers to either wait until the problem's resolved or be sure the product can be returned.
Multiplayer options are a little sparse. There's no cooperative mode -- which was tremendous fun in Serious Sam -- but there's a decent selection of deathmatch options. If not for the graphics, old-school gamers might have flashbacks to their marathon QuakeWorld sessions due to the gameplay similarities. Initially refreshing, most will find the structured modes of Unreal Tournament or similar games longer lasting.
Painkiller is relentlessly linear, totally brainless, and relies heavily on the theory that blowing things up with rag-doll physics is a blast. It's hard to see how the game could have been improved based on these goals. It doesn't pretend to be anything other than a straightforward, classic-style, action-fest, and in that category, it succeeds with ease. Painkiller is a game you'll want in your medicine cabinet.
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