The frantic, satanical, heavy metal first-person shooter Painkiller is being revived by Saber’s publishing arm 3D Realms and developer Anshar Studios.
Set in Purgatory, four playable characters star – Ink, Void, Sol and Roch – who have unique perks that can be further boosted by collecting tarot cards. There we were thinking poker was vogue.
The new characters are to facilitate an online co-op mode, with bots filling in when playing offline. It sounds very similar to Saber’s own upcoming Turok reboot.
Weapons will include a mixture of new and old, with the original Painkiller being a cult classic – a sort of retro throwback shooter before the concept became big. The series is known for its fast pace, with a focus on dashing around gothic environs while gunning down hordes of nasties.
With DOOM: The Dark Age focusing on ‘standing your ground’ instead of shooting while evading, this may be a worthy alterative to anyone looking for something like 2016’s DOOM.
Painkiller is planned for release later this year on PS5, Xbox Series and PC.