My time machine to return to 2012 will need to have labored. A co-op centric shooter reboot of Painkiller, a 2004 title that initially didn’t function co-op centric gameplay, trying to emulate the likes of Left 4 Lifeless? There’s nonetheless work to be carried out. I must hoard some Counter-Strike skins and ensure Xbox doesn’t shoot itself within the foot to create a considerably more healthy console struggle environment.
That is the newest title from Polish builders Anshar Studios, a studio sometimes concerned in offering help, most notably for groups like Bloober (Silent Hill 2, Layers of Worry), and Larian (Baldur’s Gate III). Aside from that, they’ve additionally dabbled within the likes of CRPGs with Gamedec, and experimented with VR within the type of Indifferent and Telefrag. It’s clear they’ve bought charisma and the variance to match it.
You play as one among 4 people, tasked by Metatron, the Voice of God, to stop Azazel’s invasion of Earth by the use of an countless demon horde. These characters are composed of Ink, a no-nonsense feminine mercenary sort, Roch, a brutish particular person displaying Dwarfish character traits, Void, a surprisingly geeky particular person who appears to play the straight man, and Sol, a devilish minx sort who cosplays as a nun.
Judging from the attention check, Painkiller doesn’t depart loads to hope for. Just like the gothic environments on show, this chilly, virtually cynical portrayal of Hell and the way you work together with it instantly leaves a bitter style in your mouth. With that stated, it’s not like Painkiller’s identify is being inexplicably ripped away from its legacy, a la the Prey reboot, and certainly, an final result just like Prey WAS doable.
For instance, the weapons that made the unique sport well-known have returned and are modernized, just like the titular “Painkiller” and electro-shuriken shooter, and for probably the most half, the weapons really feel nice. Normal additions such because the shotgun and rocket launcher have the suggestions to offer catharsis, though the aforementioned electro-shuriken shooter fails to have the identical oomph as occasions previous. This can be as a result of enemy selection additionally, as all of them are squishy vessels for ultra-gibbing and glossy purple gore, pressed underneath the trendy demand for video video games, so the shortage of a visual physique depend hurts proceedings.
Additionally, no skeleton warriors. Boo!
All 4 characters have a preset perk, their solely defining issue of distinction in gameplay kinds, and all of them are a borderline for co-op synergy. With that stated, synergy is saved for the returning tarot card system, which is executed splendidly within the core gameplay loop. There are 1 or 2 outliers which might be capable of single-handedly win you a run, with bots or in any other case, however the ones that supply baseline buffs are usually felt in precise gameplay.
There’s additionally a scoring system hooked up to common proceedings, one which is basically negligible when it comes to what it rewards, that being easy kills. Certain, there are minuscule bonuses hooked up whenever you kill an enemy with a sure ingredient, however the rewards for it are, frankly, invisible. You by no means actually really feel such as you get extra gold or XP after a match, whether or not you rating 3 million factors or 30 million, which is disappointing.
Ranges themselves are largely linear, sprinkled with gold, small quantities of group banter, and area standoffs. With the latter, you’ll both have to move a barrel-shaped object from one space to the following, or survive towards 3 enemy waves – and it’ll at all times be 3 enemy waves. Respectively, they’re a check of mind and brawn, and for Painkiller itself, a showcase of how to not transplant this kind of gameplay right into a co-op core.
The issue right here is tempo. Painkiller desires to host lots of free-running circulate in its mechanics and stage design, with slides, dashes, and grappling obtainable, in very strict, suffocating doses. In actuality, the rugged and in any other case decrepit portrayal of the visible design and arenas results in an attainable circulate not being doable. You’ll greater than doubtless slide for a second earlier than a bump or outcropping of rocks stops you lifeless.
As a consequence of a totally arbitrary stamina system hooked up to the motion mechanics, and the widely low base velocity of your characters, teamwork is extra pressured than generated naturally. It’s very easy to get swarmed, and the character perks and techniques aren’t there to substantiate a system that does not simply lead to nook tenting. You’ll virtually at all times be a squishy, quippy – unbearingly quippy – hunk of meat with bullets popping out of it.
The writing can be one other bag of worms. Earlier than you’ve even confronted your first demon, characters will probably be drenching each line with such bitter, grotesque flavors of ironic detestability, as if Purgatory is barely displaying Joss Whedon movies. There’s no selection within the dialogue both, so every of the 9 ranges current within the base sport will current you with the very same exposition, and the very same call-outs, and the very same unbearable jokes.
There’s completely no cause for this. Nobody was asking Daniel Garner within the authentic Painkiller to punctuate his later adventures with references to Deuce Bigalow, and what precisely do these one-note personalities add to proceedings? Why does Void “act” like a captivating robotic, regardless of being some nebulous, unknown vessel? If it’s as a result of lack of recent context, why does everybody have a contemporary lexicon?
It sounds nitpicky, however when it’s important to hear the identical factor each single run, with no variance within the arenas, their spawns, their dialogue, or in any other case, it grows into this incessant banter-y beast. It’s not humorous listening to Sol’s dominatrix quips for the a centesimal time; it’s not humorous listening to Azazel act like Barney from How I Met Your Mom. There isn’t a character progress right here, simply pointless jokes whereas historical past and context are all buried behind a totally codex of flavorless historical past, which feels antithetical to what characters and their personalities generate.
As harsh as it’s to say, this co-op perform is the worst a part of Painkiller, which is why you need to deal with your self. Play with bots, create your individual rampage, and end up in a a lot better place than worrying about your teammates. The bot AI is an over-performer when it comes to the problems it faces, and it appears Anshar is conscious of any potential points, which is why it will teleport to any location virtually on demand.
Painkiller Overview | Closing Verdict
When it comes all the way down to it, Painkiller is a shooter set in Hell, stylistically and considerably so. However when in comparison with the competitors, video games like DOOM, Quake, BPM: Bullets Per Minute, Dread Templar, Steel: Hellsinger, Shadows of the Damned, Ultrakill, Warstride Challenges, Killing Flooring, Prodeus, Nightfall, Satan Daggers, Blood, Nightmare Reaper, and even Clive Barker’s Jericho? This can be a graveyard of creativity by comparability, spawned from the corpse of a world that flourished earlier than.
Painkiller was reviewed on Xbox Collection S with a duplicate supplied by the writer over the course of 15 hours of gameplay – all screenshots had been supplied by the writer.
