[Review] Painkiller: Hell & Damnation

[Ten19]

Title: Painkiller: Hell & Damnation
Platform: PC: October 31, 2012. Xbox 360 & Playstation 3: January 22, 2013
Developer: The Farm 51
Publisher: Nordic Games
ESRB: Mature
MSRP: $19.99 Steam / $29.99 PS3 / $29.99 XB360
Editor: John "Ten19" Sampson

What's Hot: The original Painkiller core experience is back and looks fantastic in the Unreal 3 Engine.

What's Not: Interface, engine and game design issues that hindered the original also survived the transition. New co-op mode feels slapped together.

Originally released in 2004, Painkiller harkened back to a classic era of first person shooters where you didn't need to reload and the focus was on the unique guns and interesting levels in which to kill mass quantities of enemies. Having been a huge fan of the first few generations of FPS games in DOOM and Quake, the original Painkiller scratched a very specific itch for me and I enjoyed the hell out of it. The Farm 51, a studio comprised of some original Painkiller developers, have taken on the task of rebuilding Painkiller and bringing it into the modern gaming era, complete with HD graphics, achievements and co-op.

This is what I want Quake 5 to look like. Do you hear me, id?!

Given that Hell & Damnation is a remake of the original, let's examine what makes a Painkiller game tick. Each map is essentially a linear series of arenas that only allow progress to the next section once you've killed everything. Killing said everything is done through an increasingly wide variety of weapons, including guns that shoot stakes, discs, rockets, and even shurikens and lightning, none of which need reloading (though some take a moment to load the next shot). Almost all of the guns are disturbingly satisfying to use on enemies as they react quite viscerally to your firepower: getting pinned to walls with stakes, blowing back dramatically from explosions and comically falling apart when being sliced uponst. While there are upwards of thirty different types of bad guys you can communicate with violently, most of them are just stake/disc/rocket fodder, but a few are tougher and have shields. Oh and yes, there are gigantically huge bosses to fight, so I hope you like looking up and running backwards!

However, there's an extra layer of replayability that kept me coming back. Each map has 1-2 specific goals, such as killing a number of enemies, finding every hidden item, and so on. They're achievements in a time before achievements! (though they're connected to achievements now, naturally). Completing these goals rewards you with Tarot cards, items that you equip before each map that grant you passive or active effects (such as doing more damage, temporarily being invulnerable, etc). Equipping these cards costs gold, a currency you can pick up throughout the maps by happily shattering urns, chests and demon faces. So, there is an impetus for going back and re-doing maps to earn tarot cards, something the OCD in me could not resist.

The ushers in this auditorium are incredibly rude.

How is this all tied together? Ehh... it's not... well, not really. There was a story in DOOM and Quake too, but... okay, yes there was a story in the original Painkiller, and they actually tried with in-engine cutscenes and voiceovers, but it didn't really work, and no one cared because, let's be honest, we just wanted to kill more demons. The map locations, while they're exceptionally varied and look great, make little or no attempt to actually have a connection between them. One moment you're in Hell's carnival, the next you're in a library. Sure, why not, let's just keep shooting. Hell & Damnation takes an interesting approach to the story here and in this respect acts like a sequel and continues the story from the original Painkiller series. Aside from a baffling live-action opening cinematic, H&D continues the trend of cringe-worthy in-game cutscenes and voiceovers (featuring Jon St. John sounding like Jon St. John as the protagonist). The writing and acting here is even worse than the first, and you'll invariably be skipping them to get to the killing.


So what's really changed from the original Painkiller? Well, they rebuilt the game using the Unreal 3 Engine, and it looks fantastic. Aside from the occasional lighting bugaboo, Painkiller has never looked better. The game controls mostly the same and has a good feel to it. However, I am perplexed that in rebuilding the game, they brought along some questionable interface and design flaws. Just like in the original, there are parts of the interface where text is too long for the field it's in, and it bursts out of its boxy prison, spilling out of the window and looking rather sloppy. Also, there are many design choices that could have been fixed in this remake, such as running around an entire area for 10 minutes to find the ONE GUY you haven't killed so you can progress. And when you do find him he's naturally busying himself by running into a wall with an oblivious fervor.

Being able to violently kill creepy clowns is always a plus.

With the Hell & Damnation remake (I see what they did there), also comes a co-op mode for the campaign. It sounds like an interesting idea, but in practice it seems pretty hastily implemented. There's no way to communicate via text, and there's no way to tell if your partner is dead or not, aside from realizing they're not behind you while you're getting your face removed. They sort of tried, as ammo pick-ups are shared, there's no friendly fire, and if one of you dies, they can return by grabbing a soul, but it's somehow not as rewarding to play as you'd expect. Perhaps if they put more polish into the mode and made it more engaging, I could see it working.

Hell & Damnation does also feature competitive multiplayer such as Deathmatch, CTF and Survival, but I was unable to get in on a session during the review. After launch I'll take it for a spin and update the review with more information, but I'm fairly confident the results won't impact my final score for the game.

Yup, he's big. So is his health bar.

In the end, I'm not entirely sure I can recommend Hell & Damnation to veteran players of the original. If you're nostalgic and can't get the game to work on modern computers, this will fill that niche perfectly. If you've never managed to play Painkiller before then this might be worth money just to experience the satisfying shooting, but I recommend playing it on the Normal to harder difficulties for the true experience.


Score: 4 out of 5 CoGs


John says, "Despite some roughness brought over from the original, the cathartic and manic fun of the original Painkiller single-player experience is intact, all the while looking and feeling fantastic. Recommended if you haven't played the original, or if you really, really miss playing it."

*Note - Review based upon the PC Steam version of game. Screenshots provided by publisher.

[Lint of Death]

I give this review an A+++++++++ Will Read Eventually

[Ravenlock]

I'm told the stake thrower no longer pins enemies to walls.

This makes it very difficult to get excited about playing it.

[Ten19]

Originally Posted by Ravenlock

I'm told the stake thrower no longer pins enemies to walls.

This makes it very difficult to get excited about playing it.

Whoever told you that is incorrect. I pinned many an enemy to walls when playing H&D!

[Ravenlock]

Oh! Okay, nevermind. My enthusiasm is back.

[Wasson_]

Wow it looks pretty damn good.

but...I always hated how each level just had a million of 1/2 enemies as opposed to having a flushed-out cast of enemies like Quake or Doom. I feel the game would have benefited strongly from having it's enemies work differently. Level design could be really weak at times too. I mean, they might look good, but certain levels would have gigantic spans and not at all utilize them.

[Wilkz07]

painkiller was a good time. thought it was odd to see 360 version listed as i thought it was cancelled... not coming out until next year? lol. will get steam version.

[Reverant]

My trajectory of excitement followed the same path as Ravenlock's. This game is now pinned to the "super interested" area of my brain with a large stake.

[Stmfuller]

I hope this is a $5 steam special. Don't think I'll be buying it at full price.

[RandoM51]

Originally Posted by Stmfuller

I hope this is a $5 steam special. Don't think I'll be buying it at full price.

Just a matter of time and when it is I'll be all over it. I still have the original installed, good fun now and then when you just want to kill waves of enemies.

[Ravenlock]

Yeah, I can't imagine actually wanting to play through this front to back, but when I just want to take apart a bunch of enemies in a satisfying shooter, Serious Sam and Painkiller are the games to play.

[Ten19]

Giant Bomb has a Quick Look of H&D posted if anyone's still curious: