About twenty years ago, players were sent to purgatory to fight off the armies of hell in Painkiller, a game that surprisingly went under my radar that long ago, well, seeing that it was released only on PC, no wonder. Now players are being sent back in Ashnar Studios and 3D Realm’s reboot, Painkiller. I would like to thank Ashnar, 3D Realm, and Saber for providing a review code for the game.
In Painkiller, players can take on the role of one of four characters who are stuck in purgatory and tasked with facing down the army being gathered by Azazel.
Now, onto the game itself! When it comes to the controls for Painkiller, it’s a bit different than some other FPS games I’ve played in the past. I have hit some buttons by accident out of instinct that do not do what I would have wanted. One of the main control mechanics I find a bit annoying is the Slide. I have yet to find any real use for it.
The sound design could use some work. It’s good, don’t get me wrong, it’s just the mixing and volume that need work. No matter how I set it, the dialogue is still low compared to the sound and music, which does not seem to be optimized for headphone use.
When it comes to gameplay, Painkiller reminds me a lot of a combination of DOOM and Warhammer: Vermintide. You can play online or Solo with bots (which is how I played this). Playing with bots is actually not that bad, as the AI is very responsive to what’s happening around you. If you need healing, they drop heals, ammo, they drop ammo. I love that when a wave of enemies comes, the music gets heavier (like I said, DOOM). Finding gold and treasure chests on the levels helps you earn more, so you can buy upgrades for your weapons, as well as tarot cards that help you on each level.
From my solo playthrough, I had a lot of fun, and I can see some replayability. I hope that post-launch, there will be more content for solo players. Overall, I enjoyed Painkiller. The fast-paced gameplay, awesome enemy design, soundtrack, and weapons/modifications make the game worth playing for hours. Unfortunately, the sound design really could use some work to help make the experience better. On my scale of 1-10, Painkiller is a 9/10!
Painkiller is out now for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. For those who want to play online, there is crossover gameplay available.
