Painkiller: Hell Wars

Added February 27th, 2004 by Joel Kownacki

When I first heard about Painkiller on a PC gaming site, I figured it would be just like every other standard first person shooter currently out. I eventually saw some video and screen shots of the game and started to become more interested. Even in a very early build video I could tell that it was shaping up to be a worthwhile title. Later on I found out that not only would it be coming out for the PC, but also for our beloved Xbox. Just recently I got to sit down and play Painkiller. Three levels in all, each one completely different in the way the level looks and what type of enemies there are. This is what you can expect from this none stop action FPS that will be coming out for later this year for Xbox with full Live support.

You play as Daniel Garner, a regular guy who has just been killed in a horrific car accident. Trapped in a dark and unsafe world between heaven and hell, you struggle to uncover the reasons why you’ve been denied entry into heaven. Awaiting your purification, you must fight through an endless number of demon soldiers as you attempt to stop an imminent unholy war. Now, the demo that I played didn’t have any traces of the story in it, but I am sure that will change with cut scenes as you progress from level to level.

In the playable version there were a total of 4 different weapons. Each of them display great looking effects and give you different ways to tear your enemies apart. The graphics in Painkiller are truly “Next Gen” material. The textures are very sharp and bump-mapped just like Halo. Enemies look very life like, even though they are supposed to be dead. The rags and cloth that the dead have on actually move with each step. Lighting is another strong point in this early build's overall visual effect. It sets the mood perfectly and casts shadows onto textures realistically. The way Painkiller uses the Havok physics engine is truly remarkable. Using the stake gun to pin enemies into the wall has a wow factor like no other as you will see in some of the screen shots. Boss battles are something new to me in FPS genre. At the end of this demo you fight a titan that is 100 times bigger then you. Huge slabs of stone fall all over the place as the boss smashes through them. Again, something I have never seen before in a game.

People Can Fly and Dreamcatcher are doing an extremely good job with this game so far. The overall polish of this early version rivals a lot of finished games out on the market. Make sure you put Painkiller on your must buy list. Check TalkXbox over the coming months for more info and screens of this bloody good first person shooter.