Who'd have thought that this combination would be able to sum up everything we've learned about first-person shooters since DOOM and wrap it into in a tightly wound, intricately crafted, gut busting, giggle inducing, splattering squib of undead guts and shrewd level design and thwacking wooden stakes and clanking doors and scattered explodables and slick water/fire/lighting effects and where-the-hell-is-the-last-secret-area and isn't that end-of-level satanic Gregorian riff one of the sweetest you-can-breathe-now sounds you've ever heard? Let your eyes glaze over.īut when you actually play the game, you'll realize everything you know about the gaming industry can be wrong. See the blandly handsome hero's sneering unshaven mug featured on the box cover as if it were an ad for Gillette's new four-bladed razor. List a few bullet points about advanced physics and polygon counts. Throw in some screenshots of skeletons in dungeons being shot with shotguns. Painkiller was created by People Can Fly, a developer in Warsaw whose claim to fame is the unremarkable X-Com clone called Odium. It's a first-person shooter published by Dreamcatcher, a company whose previous attempt to break into the action genre was the mediocre (and that's being charitable) Gore. Painkiller uses the Havok physics engine (Thief III, Deus Ex: Invisible War) for its interactive 3D environments and details such as moving clothes, rippling water, and crumbling walls.Īt first glance, the prospects for Painkiller do not look promising.

Players will also have at their disposal an arsenal of ranged weapons, all of which feature primary and secondary attacks. With every 100 souls collected, Painkiller can transform into a ghastly creature himself, using its physical strength and ferocity to engage multiple demons at once. Painkiller must fight his way past hordes of undead creatures while freeing whatever is left of their souls. Yet he also hides a secret: a pact with a demon has granted him special powers at the expense of his humanity. Dressed in a black overcoat and wearing sunglasses to protect himself from the harsh glare of sunlight, Painkiller has earned a reputation for his no-nonsense approach to demon hunting. As the mercenary known as Painkiller, players are charged with the task of eliminating the undead in whatever lair, tomb, or residence they may be lurking in. Painkiller is a first-person shooter set in the sinister world of gothic horror.

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