Reboots of beloved video game franchises are certainly nothing new in this day and age. The trend has become increasingly popular. In this time of uncertainty, the practice gives publishers and developers a chance to gamble on the safer bet of an already established IP. Wolfenstein and Tomb Raider stand as examples of how to do it right. But every gamble, even safer ones, carries some risk. Saber Interactive is placing its chips on two beloved shooter franchise revivals in the forms of Turok: Origins and Painkiller, and I recently got to spend some time with the latter.
The question now, of course, is whether the newfangled Painkiller will excite longtime fans and newcomers alike, or spend its days wallowing in purgatory.
For the aforementioned fans of the 2004 shooter classic by People Can Fly, the premise of the Painkiller reboot may raise some skeptical eyebrows. Reimagined by the Polish developer Anshar Studios, Painkiller is an online multiplayer co-op shooter for you and up to two allies, working together to defeat Azazel and his demon army.
A look toward the past
That doesn’t quite sound like the Painkiller of yore, which was more in line with the shooters of its time. Painkiller 2004 stuffed you into a leather jacket and handed over an arsenal of eccentric and deadly weaponry for wiping out waves of demons by typically holding down the back direction and the left mouse button until everything stops moving. The game shared some design philosophy with Serious Sam, where slaughtering foes by the hundreds was both cathartic and fun.
Some of that is still present at the surface level here with the new Painkiller, which, as tradition demands, pits you against waves of demons to kill — this time, with friends! But it may be hard to recognize at first blush.
Friends who play together, slay together
Chief among the differences, you get different characters to play as this time around. You have your pick of four, meaning one will always be left behind in this strictly three-player co-op adventure. This new cast of the damned consists of personalities like Ink, a half-demon warrior, and Roch, the gruff and tough daddy archetype with a bone to pick.
Each character boasts some kind of boon, such as increased damage, the ability to carry extra ammo, or, with Roch, a health boost. I found that these didn’t feel all that significant in the long run, as health and ammo are more than plentiful, and extra damage only somewhat mattered against the rare elites. So, really, you could go with whoever you jive with the most.
Daniel Garner, the growly protagonist of the original, was never mentioned in the demo, nor were other characters. Instead, you’re spurred on by the Archangel Metatron, aka the Voice of the Creator, who gathered the motley crew of pretty dead warriors to meet the horde in Purgatory and defend Earth from their advance.
Buy your way to the top
The game doesn’t follow the original’s linear mission structure. It instead opts for a hub-style room called the Bastion of Redemption where you and your friends can gather to assume one of the available characters, unlock and upgrade weapons, purchase and equip tarot cards, and choose which mission to play. Levels are available by standing in a glowing spot near the center of the room and accessing a menu, and more are unlocked as you clear what’s available.
You may be wondering: “What’s so Painkiller about his Painkiller?” Well, I’m glad you asked! The game shares the same arsenal of awesome weapons, but with a twist. Longtime fans will likely be thrilled to have the iconic Stakegun back in their greedy mitts. Also returning is the Electrodriver, a weapon born of brilliance, able to rapid-fire razor-sharp shurikens and a stream of lightning as its alternate.
Both of these weapons are available to start, but the others must be unlocked. Weapons like the shotgun with the freezing blast, along with the Rocket Launcher, are under lock and key until you decide to free them. Weapon unlocks require 6,000 gold, which can be found scattered throughout each stage, and two Ancient Souls, rare items gifted by completing objectives.
But here’s the twist: Every weapon comes with unlockable alternate fire options, and both it and the primary fire can be evolved at your whim. The Electrodriver, for example, can be upgraded with homing shurikens. You can also swap its lightning stream with a ball of pure electricity. Painkiller‘s Rocket Launcher stands as one of my favorite FPS weapons of all time, with the ability to transform into a chaingun with the press of a button. It was the best of both worlds! The new Painkiller lets you attach the Winter’s Legion upgrade to regain the chaingun ability, turning its bullets into balls of freezing ice. It’s honestly kind of cool (ha). Every weapon comes with different attachments you can unlock and evolve with enough currency.
Power play
These upgrades must be unlocked by completing challenges unique to the weapon. For example, to evolve the Shotgun’s freezer, you must freeze and shatter 50 demons. Some may enjoy the slow-paced unlock system, but there is potential for frustration. The next evolution of the Electrodriver’s lightning can only be reached by stunning five enemies, but the process was slow. To complete this, I had to whip out the gun and stay locked on to enemies and zap them for what felt like way too long. The game isn’t clear enough when foes are stunned, and having demons wailing on me during the process didn’t help. It also doesn’t help that the alternative fire is so limited on “ammo.”
In a move that may ruffle the feathers of some fans, the alternate fire doesn’t use special ammunition, but energy, which rapidly depletes. It recharges over time, but you can get more by blasting through stunned enemies using the eponymous Painkiller weapon. Yep, old choppy returns, letting you turn enemies to mulch (which spawns ammo). Killing stunned foes with it also drops purple energy shards to recharge your weapon. I found the process a bit clunky at first, but with practice, you can get into a groove.
You can also only carry two weapons at once (along with the Painkiller), meaning you’ll need to plan for each journey. Thankfully, the guns I used were all adept at killing foes, but I felt it wise to bring at least one heavy-hitter for the occasional elites that tend to punch harder and live longer than their weaker cohorts.
Pick a card, then another
Tarot cards return, but you don’t acquire them by completing level-based challenges anymore. No, you get tarot cards by, yep, buying them with gold! A tarot card shop in the demo allowed me to spend 3,000 gold to play the tarot lottery, which gave me a pick among three randomized cards per pull of the lever. There are dozens of cards, most of which I wasn’t able to see during my preview time.
The cards I “won” were rather ordinary. You can equip two cards at once. When equipped, they would provide a small boon like increased damage or double the gold reward after a successful run. Some cards seemed to be permanent unlocks, while others were consumed. The cards only cost gold, and the developer assured us that you’ll never be charged real-life cash for tarot cards.
Style points
The original Painkiller boasted a distinct art style, featuring Gothic architecture contorted with dark, twisting metal. The two levels I played reflected this, consisting of imposing castles and looming stone walls. Burning torches lit the darkened hallways and courtyards, both of which eventually ran slick with the blood of demons. Visually, Painkiller is quite striking, a fact I didn’t quite appreciate at first as the breakneck pace of the gameplay blurred the scenery.
Indeed, Painkiller moves at a rapid clip. Demons appear en masse, chasing you around arenas with relentless bloodlust. Unlike the comparatively slower original, Painkiller has you sprinting over hills and through corridors, or scrambling across the tops of roofs or massive tombs. You don’t have a double jump, but you can use a rechargeable dash to move swiftly across the ground or through the air. There are also boost pads, ledges to clamber, and walls you can kick-jump with a second press of the jump button or key. The Painkiller doubles as a grapple, letting you latch onto floating skulls to zip across an arena. The slide reminds me of the one from Apex Legends, but the momentum feels a bit wonky. You can boost-slide your way uphill in many cases.
A different kind of Pain(killer)
It’s fast, mobile, and you’ll likely spend more time in the air than you’d really expect. And you know what? Painkiller is enjoyable when you start finding your rhythm. Stepping into a battleground, you can leap onto a jump pad, blast a dozen enemies with a rocket or two from the air, use a skull to fling yourself into a corridor, and turn the walls crimson red with the blood of demons, all in a fleeting instant.
Painkiller feels more akin to Doom Eternal or Shadow Warrior 2 than the game from which it takes its name. This fact is rather apt when I consider Painkiller as a whole. But I’ll get to that later.
Despite the joyful slaughter, I do have some gripes. The level objectives in the two missions I played didn’t evolve much beyond “kill the demons to open a door” and “kill the demons to fill a tank of blood and use it to open a door.” It teetered from dull at best to frustrating at worst.
Squad goal
Yes, the game has you fill a tank full of demon blood to unlock a door. You can figure out the logistics on that one. But the physics powering the tank is, for lack of a better term, annoyingly goofy. You can only gather blood in a small area around the tank, which means you’ll have to attract enemies to it (which you can do with an in-game consumable item) or carry it to your foes. Killing enemies slowly fills it with blood.
However, brushing gently against the tank can fire it off like Team Rocket to another part of the map, or worse, into a river of blood that causes damage over time. You’ll need to wade through the mire to retrieve it, losing health in the process. More than once, I rescued the tank only for my NPC ally to dropkick it right back into the muck. Thanks, friend. Hopefully, the final build of the game includes more interesting objectives, and not just another way to open a door. There was a promised boss fight in the second level, but the game ended before I could vanquish the vermin.
Doomed
I can’t really shake the idea that Painkiller and its reboot share something with Doom 2016 and Doom Eternal. While the new Painkiller certainly shares in the latter’s speed and bombast, it lacks something. While notably slower, Doom 2016 is generally believed to be a more atmospheric adventure compared to its successor.
I feel it’s the same when I place Painkiller 2004 and Painkiller 2025 against one another. The first game may be dated, but it was thick with the feeling of foreboding, where you never know what fresh hell was around the next bend. I don’t feel that way with the new Painkiller, which shares some art design and weaponry but lacks that dark, grungy aura that made the original a memorable treat.
The game can be fun to play, mind. Killing throngs of baddies is always a blast. But there are plenty of games that do that already, and better than what I experienced in this preview. Without the atmosphere of the original, Painkiller in its current form is a bit listless.
Perhaps I’d feel different if I were killing demons with friends. I wasn’t able to get real folks into my matches, so I mostly played alongside two bots. To the game’s credit, I was surprised how obedient the bots are. Pinging a spot on the map causes them to drop what they’re doing and sprint over. They return to their typical programming a few seconds later. But it helps when you want to focus on a target or have them crowd a healing item if their health is low. You can also order them to stand on buttons to open doors for gold and items. I would have liked to experience the game with buds, but working with some friendly NPCs wasn’t so bad.
Heaven or purgatory
Overall, Painkiller is an enjoyable shooter, but I believe its future is far from certain. The game stands on a knife’s edge, attempting to satisfy older fans while attracting curious newcomers with the allure of provocative co-op shooting. But in the effort to satisfy both, it could end up satisfying no one. There’s still a lot of the game I haven’t experienced, including two other biomes — one of which takes you through jungle-like areas. The weapon upgrade system is also promising and may ultimately improve on the already fantastic arsenal. We’ll have until October 9 to know for sure when Painkiller launches for PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.
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