2012’s Painkiller: Hell & Damnation was a moderate success on Xbox 360 and PS3, offering relentless satanic shooting at a time when every publisher had a dull military-themed FPS to their name. An infallible experience it wasn’t, however, gaining criticism for mindlessness. Rather than bring Painkiller back from the grave in the form of a remaster, Anshar Studios has instead brought the franchise into the modern era, meaning we’re in for an online co-op focused experience with raucous weapons that would tickle even the Doom Slayer’s fancy.
We’re introduced to an unlikely group of champions, as they’re known, varying from a plague doctor to a tattooed, shaven headed, female. Trapped in purgatory, only by destroying Azazel’s demonic hordes and his trio of Nephilim – which appear as bosses at the end of raids – can this ragtag bunch gain a shot at redemption. Azazel, as it happens, is a fallen angel – and a rather sharp-witted one at that, often taunting your attempts at repelling his forces.
Favouring three player co-op with AI bots filling in when playing solo, this conquest largely boils down to blasting hordes of adversaries, while experimenting with different weapon combos and investing in upgrades to add burning, freezing, and void damage. Only two weapons are available from the outset, along with the titular spinning blade, which ties into the two weapon limit. Additional weapons cost several session’s worth of gold, making it a case of putting in the hours until gaining a complete set of guns. Temporary stat boosting tarot cards are also there to tempt gold from your wallet, coming in handy when playing on the harder difficulties.
The weapons are the stars of the show, even putting the wisecracking cast in the shadows. From the flame spewing hand cannon to the rapidly firing SMG, they’re all intended to destroy hordes of enemies within seconds of them spawning into the gothic battlefields. Unsurprisingly, the shotgun packs the biggest punch, additionally featuring the handy ability to “yeet” enemies from ledges. The rocket launcher meanwhile almost guarantees a high-ranking combo. Borrowing from modern DOOM, each weapon can be ‘mastered’ – although this doesn’t involve much more than simply using their alt-fire modes dozens of times.
It seems the notably skittish, yet dependable, AI bots are blessed with a random assortment of weapons, often seen spewing a mixture of fire and ice attacks.
In addition to packing a hefty punch, our champions are exceedingly nimble, able to get around the environments (floating crumbling paths are Painkiller’s speciality) with speed and grace by sliding long distances and using boost pads to soar high. This keeps the pace swift…until reaching the next regrouping zone, which is when all three players are needed to perform a ritual (read: stand idle for a few seconds) to unlock the next area. Thankfully, bots are programmed to stick to your heels. There’s also a chat radial wheel if you need to tell other online players to hurry up. Players can drop health, ammo, and lures too, with the single item limit forcing you to carefully choose what to carry.
Three raids are on offer, each featuring three stages lasting 15-20 mins and ending with a boss battle. As there’s no gradually unfolding storyline, they can be played in any order, allowing you to jump in and out of quick play sessions, and progress is tracked. While there is variation within stage locations, including marshlands with poisoned swamps and numerous imposing gothic structures, they tend to blur into one another due to minimal use of unique set-pieces.
Stages follow the formula of ushering you from one battle area to the next, with missions including destroying three waves of enemies, filling and delivering blood tanks (again, by killing enemies), and grabbing and throwing ‘soul cages’ into marked areas (while killing enemies). Soul cages – slowly respawning blue canisters – also feature within the game’s equivalent of ‘escort the payload’ as they’re needed to power a carriage, known here as the Ark of Destruction. This is one of the more demanding missions, as enemies can cling onto it, and there’s a need to seek and backtrack to soul cage locations.
Due to the lack of set-pieces, it’s the bosses that end up being the showstoppers, including a colossal festering rat that spews waves of blood, a giant stone Gollum that towers over a small platform, and a dragon that majestically swirls through the sky before crash landing. They’re all well animated and require plenty of firepower to bring down, in addition to throwing a few soul cages and explosive barrels at marked areas.
After beating all nine stages – a task that only takes 4-5 hours, retries notwithstanding – you’re summoned to Azazel’s quarters inside the cathedral-esque hub, and essentially told to come back once you’ve killed more demons and become more powerful. While there is another mode to become invested in, focusing on completing a succession of quick missions in return for gold, the lack of a loot system and meaningful character progression makes for a fleeting experience, with just the harder difficulties and the weapon-centric skill trees to explore.
Painkiller has quite a bit going for it. It’s very easy to get into, its grisly horde slaying ways are cathartic, and it impresses on a technical level thanks to a buttery smooth framerate. If you’re expecting something with the depth of Destiny or the storyline/mission structure of Borderlands though, you’re in for disappointment. This is a surprisingly casual experience that’s likely to grow tedious long before the ten hour mark. If you’re able to keep that in mind, the only thing left to deliberate before becoming knee-deep in the dead is the £30 price point.
Anshar Studios’ Painkiller is out now on PS5, Xbox Series and PC. Published by 3D Realms.