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A great new FPS.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 16
Date: August 04, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Painkiller is a new FPS from Dreamcather Interactive. Painkiller is more strightforward, with a large focus on action instead of puzzles and story.

There story here is pointless. It is based about demons, and is fairly boring. Thankfully, the relentless action more than makes up for it. There are a wide array of guns and weapons. THey include: shotguns, miniguns, and crossbows, as well as the usual assortment of pistols, and heavy assault rifles.

Graphically, Painkiller is great. Blood and gore will stay plastered to the wall. The waepn detail is also very good. There are 19 levels, which are fairly large in size. They are long, but do not offer much exploration. Boss battles are probalby the biggest yet in an FPS. They are huge, and also use strategy.

Painkiller's only real flaw is a lack of innovation. But is you can look past that, there is a lot of fun to be had here. The oline multiplayer levels are well designed, too.

A slaughter

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 6
Date: February 24, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Having played the demo:

+++Good things
+ Original Weapons (a stake gun, how sweet :))
+ A dark and squalid atmosphere (nice marriage between the detailed textures,the fog and the music)
+ A lot of monsters, like the old-fashioned doom-like.

---Bad things
- I would like our avatar to go faster (used to Unreal Tournament) for a fps like this (not a prob with my config, it was not lagging, I play with a p4 2.4ghz, ati radeon9800, 1gig Ram)
- Not that original (very quake1,2-like), seem to lack some story (but that could get more interesting in the full game I guess)
- It's a killing-rush, nothing smart really as in a Half-Life

Therefore I give it a 4 stars.

-1 because it's not that original, and 4 as it is seems very well developped.

Really impressive demo

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 8
Date: February 26, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I tried the recently released 3 level demo of this game and i have to say that it's really impressive. First off, the graphics are simply amazing, this is truly a next gen game. Everything is highly detailed, from the monsters to the gorgeous architecture. This is a very atmospheric game, you actually fell like you're on the places of the game. The particles effect of blood when you kill a monster at a close range are very beliaveble. The physics are out of this world, you have to see to beliave. It's very fun to hit the enemies with the stake gun and see the diferent ways they react to it , like flying away, doing spins on the air, beeing pinned to the ground or wall, very cool. You can interact with almost everything in this game; you push broken parts of the scenario, destroy windows, coffins, and things like that. And now the gameplay, ohhh, fantastic. The gameplay is very smooth and pure action, and the amazing physisc only help it. One thing that adds a lot to the gameplay is that the weapons are so original, especially the stake gun. This game is so fun that i played the 3 levels available on the demo several times. If the demo play this well, i can't wait for the final product. It's a real contender for Halo 2, Doom 3 and Half-Life II.

Feels like an old amature Doom map...

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 9 / 22
Date: February 29, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Beautiful engine? Yes. Real-time physics? Yes. The first time I shot an enemy and he stuck to a wall hunched over I had to run and tell my wife I was so excited... she didn't see the excitement. Really, it's awesome to see. The steak went strait through him and into the wall and he sat there dangling like a rag doll.

Does this game display some of the new graphics advancements we've been hearing about for the last couple years? Yes it does. It displays them in bright vivid detail like I've never seen before. Unfortunately this game feels more like one of those old amateur Doom maps where someone put 10,000 monsters in a single room just so you could put a cheat on and blast them all away with a BFG . There is a constant and full barrage of monsters ALLLLLL the time. The level design is breath-taking, but because you're constantly running (backwards) away from monsters that are relentless in their pursuit of you, you never get a chance to look around and take in the eye candy. Which brings me to the monsters. While I was playing (more like running for minutes on end backwards away from monsters) I felt myself longing for a little more intelligence in the enemies. They always follow directly behind you; they're not smart enough to realize they can cut you off if you're running in a circle. It reminded me of a cat chasing a mouse at the end of a string as you go in circles around the kitchen table. The cat never realizes that if it sits still, the mouse will come around again and it can catch it. Considering the fact that all you seem to do the whole game is run around in circles away from enemies you'd think they'd include a little "cut-off = yes if player_a = running_in_circles, end if" in their A.I.

The game sends a constant deluge of enemies, both big and small, and I felt as though my hands were tied behind my back because the weaponry I was given was not apt for the situation. I mean, come on, 50 screaming stupid monsters running after me, at least give me a machine gun with a ton of ammo. What am I doing? Shooting small logs out of a gun. But I won't get into the weapons, since they probably didn't include them all in the demo.

There aren't any puzzles to figure out. Just ballzout start-to-finish action. If your idea of a fun game is running from 50 enemies at once and you enjoy a total lack of strategy, this is probably your game.
My verdict? Leave your brain at the start menu because you won't need it to play this game.

Uninspired, boring game play

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 15
Date: March 17, 2004
Author: Amazon User

ok. Most of us expect some cliches when playing a FPS. It's part of the genre, fair enough, but there is no excuse for unispired level design, creatures, lame enemy A.I. and boring game play. Do the graphics look nice? Sure. Is the sound decent? It's ok. It won't scare the wits out of you like System Shock 2 or Doom, but it'll do. Is it fun? Absloutely not. Most of the attacks can be avoided by side stepping (strafing). The enemy is far from engaging and the levels have a rehashed "boring been there done that" feel to them ...

Even though the game is not OUT YET...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: March 31, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This game is a blast from Quake's past.

I am rather surprised to see so many customer reviews of a game that has not even gone gold yet. Additionally, I am NOT very surprised to see "thinking man" shooter fans bashing a game, which, by design, is a brainless, arcade, and FUN distraction. Thankfully, you cannot compare this game to the "been there, done that" mainstream creativity pit that tactical shooting games have mostly fallen into lately. Comfortable game development often doesn't lead to innovation.

Believe it or not, folks, not ALL of us are blindly in love with mainstream titles like Battlefield, Counter Strike, or America's Army. For us (and quite a few others), there is Painkiller, and the game delivers very well... or so I believe. Like the others that have posted reviews bashing this game, I have only played the fabulous demo at this point. My verdict is this: This is better than Serious Sam and Quake, but right up their ally. That's a good thing.

IS this going to be fun? Well i dont know But i have idea

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 5
Date: April 05, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I downloaded THE DEMO and played it for the first 30 minutes absorbing pleasant physics engine good visuals and STEAK GUN which is just plain fun but that all the fun went away and levels became a drag(...). Why? Because they are big and you cant save!YOu cant? Yes you cant it better be a demo glitch or something or i am not going near this one. Fighting is repatative and tiring all you basicly need is a button to run backwards and a firing button. Yep demo is good at FIRST, game beter get on the right track and have some release dates pushed back or its perfect recepie for disaster.

Lets hope it is not going to suck!

Good game-back to FPS basics

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: April 06, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This review is based on the demo.
Painkiller is an addicting and fun, albeit simple shooter. Watching an enemy fly into the air and then crash to the ground is hilarious (a bit demented but hilarious). Don't expect intelligent AI, think back to Doom or Wolfenstein 3D but with incredible graphics and great sound. An onslaught of enemies with plenty of ammo. Great game for those who just want to kill and blow stuff up without the extra sneaking and hiding. No complex puzzles or "move the chair here...run along the top and jump to the banister while blowing a hole in the wall...crouch and you will find the secret weapon" stuff, just all out in your face action.

Just what I've been looking for!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: April 09, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Painkiller may not be the most innovative game displaying a never before seen factor. However, what it is buit around it has done to perfection. The game is amazing. The best way to describe it would be a mix of Clive Barker's "Undying", and "Serious Sam I or II".
The graphics are top of the line (comparable to suck games a UT 2K4, Farcry and even H-L 2, which by the way I have had the pleasure of "seeing". 10/10
The sound while not being "Halo" perfect is certainly far from mediocre and can draw you into the game. It has the perfect pace and beat at perfect times. 9/10
While I can't tell you the whole story line I can tell you that it has been well thought and and is ver involved. The game is not just a "get the gun, ammo and shoot anything that moves" game.
Possibly, better than even the level design and graphics, painkiller's new PAIN-ENGINE is amazing. It combines mind-blowing physics with dynamic lighting and better than average AI.
Painkiller could very well be one of the best all-action all the time of the past 5 years.

PS. The weapons are some of the most imaginative I have ever seen. (Stake gun, Painkiller)

Don't listen to the cheapskates below....

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: April 10, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I ventured and bought the game...and I love it.

Sure there aren't really any puzzles...but that doesn't make it bad. This game is good for what it's supposed to be, a mindless click-happy FPS. Think Serious Sam meets Duke Nukem.

The graphics are great...I can't run everything on high due to my 1.8ghz, AIW Radeon 8500, 1.024GB RAM configuration, but the engine chugs along pretty well for the most part. There were some slowdowns during a few scenes.

If you want a game with NON-STOP action, choose Painkiller and prepare to get some finger cramps from clicking so much! Monsters come at you from ALL directions and there are some very cool special effects.

Fun game, great graphics, cool weapons, nice physics....What more could you want?

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