Painkiller tells the tale of Daniel Garner who along with his wife are killed in a horrific car accident involving a rogue truck. Daniel’s wife is cast into the spirit world that is heaven; whereas Daniel on the other hand is thrust into a different plane altogether. This plane is neither reality, heaven or in fact, hell and is troubled by an impending unholy war between the good guys and the dark lord himself. Daniel is given a choice that is to embark on killing four generals from the dark lord’s army to aid the prevention of the war. In completing this task Daniel is promised release from his predicament and unification with his wife beyond the pearly gates of heaven. Well it sounds like a massive task of gargantuan proportions which only gamers will step up for the challenge. That’s right, in Painkiller Hell Wars, players take on the demon busting role of Daniel Garner as he blasts his way through 5 nightmarish chapters.

Gameplay

Painkiller is a first person shooter which ditches any sort of tactical element and complexities in favor of some hardcore no nonsense shooting action. Levels consist of being warped to a location, shooting up the place so that there are no hellish survivors and then moving on to the next area. The process is simplified further by use of an on screen compass, which is displayed at all times and offers a handy pointer which directs you to where you need to go. So, there’s no getting confused or lost as players can simply get stuck into kicking butt.

Painkiller features a whole rogues gallery of beasts, demons, and thugs which come in all shapes and sizes and offer a range of attacking styles, including melee attacks up close and personal as these enemy types usually try and overwhelm you with sheer numbers. Then there are long range attackers that sport heavy weaponry and seem to take much pleasure in eating chunks of your health from afar. Then you have weird and wonderful undead enemies that choke you with gas and other such niceties, allowing for their allies to attack you with swords. When encountering an area full of all sorts of attackers it certainly becomes quite hectic and will keep players on their toes especially as most areas allow for attacks to come from any direction. An impressive feature of Painkiller is the inclusion of Bosses which come in all manner of beings, mostly of the massive variety. These towering beasts are absolutely huge and fill the screen and beyond; they certainly look menacing and can dish out some serious punishment.

Luckily for Daniel he comes equipped and can find an assortment of arms in which to unleash his own personal hell on the demons he has to face throughout the game. Each weapon allows Daniel to maim, dismember and tear apart any victims that get in the way. In fact it often feels like an effortless process as the weapons feel suitably powerful to take on anything the game throws at you. What is more, by collecting souls from the fallen, Daniel can transform into a powerful beast which enables him to see the enemies clearly using some sort of animalistic infra red view. In this form which only lasts a short time, Daniel is able to kill any enemy in a single blow and proves most useful for those moments where the game simply throws everything at you all at once!

Graphics

Painkiller isn’t the best looking shooter on Xbox and features a rather grainy look to it. That said, Painkiller does boast some rather impressive blood and gore effects whereby your enemies can be sliced and diced in a number of gruesome ways. Even after your 100th kill it doesn’t get tiring to see the same body parts flying around the screen or the splattering of much blood. Painkiller features some rag-doll physics which means bodies will fly around semi realistically and in a non-scripted way and add to the general level of fun the game has by the bucket load.

The levels in Painkiller are suitable dark and moody although along with the whole grainy look are very similar with lots of interior locations that don’t really jump out at you, I guess that is reserved for the enemies themselves which come in variety of types but could have been a little more varied. As mentioned earlier, Painkiller isn’t the best looking shooter on Xbox but it does run at a very smooth frame rate, which keeps the action fluid and precise at all times; bar the odd dip when things get overly hectic.

Sound

Painkiller offers a rock soundtrack that is to be expected from such a gothic looking game. There’s lots of wailing guitars and it seems to drive the player along as they play. The gun sound effects are suitably meaty as are the sound of the victims on the receiving end. The voice acting is reasonable and generally the sound compliments the rest of the game as you would expect.

Longevity

Painkiller offers five chapters comprising of about 20 missions which should take gamers who play for hours on end not too long. For the more casual gamer then the game length will probably feel more epic. With the lack of getting lost through seemingly endless corridors and rooms as seen in other similar games, Painkiller is rather straight forward and perhaps it is this which makes the playing experience feel shorter. Painkiller offers a breakdown after each mission which can offer some incentive to play through again, maybe upping the difficulty as you go. It also offers Xbox Live multiplayer for 16 players and offers the usual assortment of modes as well as some unique offerings thrown into the mix. In this respect Painkiller offers little new to online gaming but is a nice inclusion to have.

Overall

Painkiller Hell Wars is a good, no brainer shooter which should appeal to anyone that likes no nonsense gaming. There’s no tactics or strategy which means gamers of all skills can get stuck right into running around gunning down hell spawn. I think this approach works well and of course this is where the roots of first person shooters lie even if its been years since the very first shooter. In this day and age there is a place for the old style shooter and Painkiller is good example of this. Other than perhaps lacking in ambition and being a little repetitive, it’s hard to fault the game too much. Painkiller also ships at a lower than normal price point which again is a good move and will no doubt grab more sales as a result. I recommend Painkiller if you are into pure action shooters that require less thought. For those of you used to hi tech weapons, gadgets and tactical planning then perhaps Painkiller wont appeal to you, although any person who likes shooters in general should be able to appreciate what Painkiller has on offer.