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Painkiller (Continued) (<< Page 1)

Things That Make You Go Boom

Painkiller has a surprisingly small number of weapons (6), but they make them count.

The basic weapon you start with is the Painkiller. It's a cross between the hookshot from Zelda, a laser beam, and a lawnmower.

Primary fire sets the blades of the weapon spinning. (Your arm becomes a lawnmower.)

Secondary fire shoots out the blades as a solid projectile that can stick in walls on return to your hand. If it sticks to the wall and you are facing it, a laser connects your arm and the projectile, damaging everything in between.

Next comes the good ole standby: the shotgun. This is no ordinary shotgun, however. The secondary fire on it fires a projectile to freeze enemies with. First you freeze them, then you blow them up!

My favorite weapon is up next: the stake launcher. There is something perversely satisfying about running around behind a zombie, lining it up with a wall, and firing at point blank range thus stapling it to a wall... face first.

Its secondary fire is your basic grenade launcher. Unfortunately, both modes of fire are relatively slow... But fun.

Every first person shooter needs a rocket launcher and machine gun, right? The fourth weapon is a combination of both.

This light rocket launcher / chain gun hybrid is a great tool for clearing rooms of enemies.

The rocket launcher isn't the strongest weapon in the game, and the chain gun eats ammo by the crate, but they are more than adequately suited for blowing up your average monster.

The fifth weapon is a combination of a shuriken launcher and tesla coil. It's interesting and surprisingly effective, but not anywhere near as cool as the stake launcher.

There is one more weapon available to you, but it is usable infrequently and not at all in the highest difficulty level. It is your demon mode.

Upon collecting a set number of your enemies' souls, the world takes on a white cast to it. Satan's minions appear as amorphous red shapes that explode messily when you look at them and fire. It uses no ammunition, yet splats things better than any other weapon in the game.

Enemies & Scenery

Enemies range from murderous monks carrying battleaxes to Lucifer's right-hand demon, Alistair. All are exquisitely modeled and, once properly taken care of, exhibit magnificent ragdoll physics.

The scenery in this game is breathtaking. In the first level, I was caught unawares by some skeletons while I was admiring the masonry in a sepulchre and the full moon shining down on it.

Places of battle range from demon filled monasteries to the aforementioned insane asylums to military bases that are complete with missile silos. No detail has been overlooked. Stone arches all have keystones. Brick buildings have wear and weathering. The opera house has boxes of programs.

Many of the more basic objects in the levels are moveable when enough force (translation: "a rocket") is applied, but sadly many of the larger objects are permanent. Imagine my chagrin when I came across a series of giant cargo planes at the military base that I couldn't blow up. It would have been glorious!

The addition of multiplayer to this game would normally catapult it into the gaming stratusphere to me, but the weapons in Painkiller aren't balanced well enough for my tastes. My suggestion would be to hone your skills playing the more advanced difficulty levels of the single player and then go own somebody in UT or Quake.

Summary
Painkiller is a must for every first person shooter junkie out there. Buy it now. Your eyes, ears, and twitch reflexes will thank you.

Painkiller is available for your PC at Amazon.com.

All images are property of Dreamcatcher and People Can Fly. Article © 2004 MillionairePlayboy.com