Painkiller

THE BAD:
Only 5 weapons
Some cards are useless
If you're not good in Nightmare, you can't access Trauma and its specific ending
Repetitive fights

SUMMARY:
Daniel Garner is in Purgatory since his car accident. He's been separated from his wife Catherine, who is waiting for him in Heaven. Something about being not pure. One day, Sammael, an angel, gives him a mission: kill four guys. Four generals of the hellish army. Daniel accepts. If he succeeds, he'll join Catherine. He's standing in a Cemetery, weapon in hand, wainting for his first serious battle with a demon. He's the Painkiller. He's you.

Painkiller is released in 2004 and contrary to a good part of the FPS, it's just an old school game, like Doom or Doom II. Areas are successive and once you're in one, you can't go back unless you beat the level or you beat the monsters (when the defined path needs it). So, you can be armed of patience because you'll have a feeling of deja vu during the game. But Painkiller can't be reduced to that. The game is very rich when you go past the usual gameplay and the repetitive fights. Indeed, Painkiller brings some new ways of gaming.

First is the Black Tarot. Each level has a challenge. Pass it and you'll be rewarded by a card. Silver cards are useful during the level, even if you can only carry two (so make wise choices on the Black Tarot Board). Gold cards are limited in time and use, so, it's up to you to trigger their effects at the right moment because, unless you've chosen Mercy or Forgiveness as silver card, you can only make one use per level. Second thing, difficulty makes harder the quest of the cards. In fact, it's a lot of change. Daydream is the easiest level but Tarot isn't available. Add to this that you can't play 3 levels. In Insomnia, Tarot card is available, as one of the 3 blocked levels. Then Nightmare is harder than the two previous ones: cheats codes don't work anymore. But you can play another level who was forbidden to access. And then Trauma, only available after beating Nightmare, will give access to the last level you couldn't play before but Chapter 5 is not available (because of a different ending) and enemies don't let green souls, useful for morphing into a demon. Third positive point is the fact that every level has enemies specifics to it, even if it's an advance version of another one: Templars in Babel for example shoot three arrows when the Templars in the Palace are only shooting one. Enemies have a great design, I love the Samouraïs or the Arabian Warrior. Fourth good point is the originality of the weapons. Yes you have only 5. But each one has two (or three) ways to kill the demons: for example, stakegun is also a grenade launcher. So, you have choice between the Painkiller, the Stakegun, the Freezer Shotgun, the Rocket Gatling and the Electroshuriken (or Electrodriver). Fifth point is the quality of the graphics, even with 4 years of age. Levels are beautiful and I can't only applause for the variety of them: from an old Asylum to a Castle without forgetting an Old Monastery or Docks, you're traveling between insane places to religious buildings or to modern places. The game is divided in 5 chapters with a boss at the end, generally a general or for the last level, Hell, Lucifer himself. Number of levels isn't the same in each chapter: Chapter 1 has 5, Chapter 2 6, Chapter 3 4, Chapter 4 5, Chapter 5 4. And last but not least, the soundtrack is marvelous: vocals, hard rock, everything is just at the right place. My favorite are the ambient from Atrium, Cathedral, Old Monastery, Military Base, the Palace and Castle.

Well, Painkiller has also some faults. I've already pointed two: the repetitive fights and the difficulty (in Nightmare, I've never pass the Swamp Thing for example - I've played the last blocked level because one player solved the problem of accessibility, it's perhaps cheating but it was first for making Chapter 5 available in Trauma). Another one is the useless cards like Divine Intervention (effect: placing cards in the board doesn't cost a thing) who is totally useless for players. And the fact that you have only 5 weapons can be a disappointement for some players (but remember, it's a two in one). Graphics have 4 years of age, it's the Havok engine but you can't be severe with it, it's still a good engine.

So, you've guessed by now that I'll recommend it to all FPS players. Painkiller isn't as complex as Half-Life, isn't so tactical like a Rainbow Six or a Ghost Recon, is not Doom or Doom 3 (who was also released in 2004, with a superior engine) but Painkiller is really a good game if you need to evacuate stress, rage or just relax your brains (... well, I mean, not to be so reflexive).

GAMEPLAY: 8/10 - Usual one, lock, load and shoot. But you need to master the Pk Jump, the quick jumping and the lead jump for surviving or reached secrets.
STORY: 8/10 - Classic, with two endings (one normal and one for Trauma). Guess what, for the add-on, it's the normal one who is canon.
GRAPHICS: 8/10 - Havok engine is a very good one and despite its age, Painkiller is a beautiful game, with a great design for the enemies or the weapons or the levels.
SOUNDTRACK: 9,5/10 - You can't really say that People Can Fly, the developers, neglected the soundtrack. It's the contrary, it's a very good one and you can feel the search for a good sound in the right place. Add that you have hardrock for the fights and you can really enjoy the game.
LIFETIME - 9/10 - With the fact that 3 levels are blocked in Daydream (and the cards associated), Painkiller may cause addictiveness.
FINAL - 18/20 - Painkiller is a real must, desptite the repetitive fights or the useless cards, I mean, me who don't like higher difficulty, I've played the game in Nightmare, being blocked by the only Boss I knew I couldn't beat like that. So, with BOOH, the add-on and perhaps Overdose, you'll have a great FPS experience.