Painkiller: Hell Wars
Added August 4th, 2006 by Dakota Grabowski
Introduction:
For the past few years, gamers have been teased with a console version of People Can Fly’s Painkiller: Hell Wars. They have flirted with translating their horrific Armageddon style shooter to the consoles, but have been stuck in development working out the kinks for years. With demons a sort, undead Nazis, psychotic ninjas, and an all out war between good and evil, Painkiller: Hell Wars is their first title to be released outside of the PC. After three long awaited years, the time has come for the game to be released on Xbox, but the question remains, is it worth dying for?
Gameplay:
Death is only the beginning for our hero Daniel Garner in Painkiller: Hell Wars. Daniel is thrown headlong into a raging eternal battle between Heaven and Hell. After crashing his car on a stormy night, Daniel and his wife pass away only for him to realize that he is not accompanying her upstairs in heaven. His anger builds but there‘s a loophole that a middle man will exploit for Daniel. This middle man is a man of God that wants to assist him on reuniting with his wife. The mediator explains that in order for Daniel to ever see his wife again, he must eliminate four of Satan’s generals in order to prevent an all out assault on the pearly gates. Reluctantly, Daniel agrees and thus his journey begins to conquer Hell‘s greatest generals.
Spanning over twenty levels in the single player campaign, players can expect an all around "shoot-‘em up style" game in respects to games such as Duke Nukem and Serious Sam. Throughout the entire game, especially once in Hell, the game is an unforgiving shooter. It begins by sending masses of enemies at the player with no intention of ever slowing down. In order to move on, the player must eliminate all enemies in a designated area and then proceed to the checkpoint. A rinse and repeat method, which may become tiresome for gamers aware of what they're accomplishing. After so many levels, the player will be challenged by a boss battle of giant proportions. Compared to other first-person shooters that are currently on the next-gen consoles, the boss battles are refreshing. The boss battle’s strategies incorporate the run and gun aspect, but also add a little puzzle solving elements for a little spice. I have to mention that the final battle is a doozy - just wait, you’re in for a roller coaster ride full of excitement!
For the past few years, gamers have been teased with a console version of People Can Fly’s Painkiller: Hell Wars. They have flirted with translating their horrific Armageddon style shooter to the consoles, but have been stuck in development working out the kinks for years. With demons a sort, undead Nazis, psychotic ninjas, and an all out war between good and evil, Painkiller: Hell Wars is their first title to be released outside of the PC. After three long awaited years, the time has come for the game to be released on Xbox, but the question remains, is it worth dying for?
Gameplay:
Death is only the beginning for our hero Daniel Garner in Painkiller: Hell Wars. Daniel is thrown headlong into a raging eternal battle between Heaven and Hell. After crashing his car on a stormy night, Daniel and his wife pass away only for him to realize that he is not accompanying her upstairs in heaven. His anger builds but there‘s a loophole that a middle man will exploit for Daniel. This middle man is a man of God that wants to assist him on reuniting with his wife. The mediator explains that in order for Daniel to ever see his wife again, he must eliminate four of Satan’s generals in order to prevent an all out assault on the pearly gates. Reluctantly, Daniel agrees and thus his journey begins to conquer Hell‘s greatest generals.
Spanning over twenty levels in the single player campaign, players can expect an all around "shoot-‘em up style" game in respects to games such as Duke Nukem and Serious Sam. Throughout the entire game, especially once in Hell, the game is an unforgiving shooter. It begins by sending masses of enemies at the player with no intention of ever slowing down. In order to move on, the player must eliminate all enemies in a designated area and then proceed to the checkpoint. A rinse and repeat method, which may become tiresome for gamers aware of what they're accomplishing. After so many levels, the player will be challenged by a boss battle of giant proportions. Compared to other first-person shooters that are currently on the next-gen consoles, the boss battles are refreshing. The boss battle’s strategies incorporate the run and gun aspect, but also add a little puzzle solving elements for a little spice. I have to mention that the final battle is a doozy - just wait, you’re in for a roller coaster ride full of excitement!
The enemies, although quite repetitive, do a nice job of immersing the gamer into a world of the undead. All enemies, including the bosses, are very basic looking on the graphical front, but seem to work with the overall outlook of Painkiller. The baddies in Painkiller: Hell Wars are varied and include: a sword toting skeleton warrior, a sickle wielding reapers, and even possessed children who try to burn you with their flaming bodies. This variation, while it may not be beautiful, should intrigue the gamer long enough to keep them playing to the final chapter.
Painkiller: Hell Wars comes with an easy learning curve. The gameplay is very simplistic and can be fun for anyone right off the bat. Daniel moves along the levels with superhuman speed. His race to destroy Hell’s four generals will be accompanied by heavy metal background music; this sets the mood for some serious destruction. Bodies fly and explode constantly thanks to a slick physics engine, which sends its victims hurling about like rag dolls. When coupled with the unique stake gun, Painkiller shows off a one of a kind style gameplay that not too many are following nowadays. The stake gun allows its carriers to impale enemies against walls and buildings - if you must ask, it’s incredible to watch in action.
Graphics:
The graphics of the 2004 PC counterpart seemed, at the time, top-notch; the same for the Xbox iteration cannot be said. The console version combines both of the PC’s main game and expansion pack, but lacks the luster of its PC counterpart. While the graphics may not be utterly terrible, they do not seem to be on par with many other third-generation Xbox titles. This might be due to the fact that the game has been in development for nearly three years. The enemy models look decent and provide a feeling of actual fighting demon creatures from the underworld. Painkiller’s level environments do a fair job of creating an overall creepy atmosphere for the player. Painkiller: Hell Wars may not be the best looking Xbox title out there, but with the lack of new titles releasing on the Xbox, it works.
Painkiller: Hell Wars comes with an easy learning curve. The gameplay is very simplistic and can be fun for anyone right off the bat. Daniel moves along the levels with superhuman speed. His race to destroy Hell’s four generals will be accompanied by heavy metal background music; this sets the mood for some serious destruction. Bodies fly and explode constantly thanks to a slick physics engine, which sends its victims hurling about like rag dolls. When coupled with the unique stake gun, Painkiller shows off a one of a kind style gameplay that not too many are following nowadays. The stake gun allows its carriers to impale enemies against walls and buildings - if you must ask, it’s incredible to watch in action.
Graphics:
The graphics of the 2004 PC counterpart seemed, at the time, top-notch; the same for the Xbox iteration cannot be said. The console version combines both of the PC’s main game and expansion pack, but lacks the luster of its PC counterpart. While the graphics may not be utterly terrible, they do not seem to be on par with many other third-generation Xbox titles. This might be due to the fact that the game has been in development for nearly three years. The enemy models look decent and provide a feeling of actual fighting demon creatures from the underworld. Painkiller’s level environments do a fair job of creating an overall creepy atmosphere for the player. Painkiller: Hell Wars may not be the best looking Xbox title out there, but with the lack of new titles releasing on the Xbox, it works.
Audio:
The audio falls down the lines of Kingdom Under Fire. It is riddled with heavy metal music around every corner. The heavy metal brings forth the gore and mayhem that is put forth upon your television. Nothing could be more fitting than what People Can Fly incorporated into Painkiller. The enemy voices could have been worked on, as they are saturated with repetitive voices that are only occasionally humorous. The weapon sound effects aren’t fantastic since they are lacking the sci-fi effects that should be attached to them. However, the soundtrack makes up for those two shortcomings.
Control:
Although all the levels play out the same, the diverse environments that are used keep the gamer pushing forward to see what’s coming next. Players will travel anywhere from a graveyard to an eerie prison - the areas you’ll explore breathe hellfire down the player’s throat. There’s even a creepy orphanage filled with psychotic children in their quest for redemption. One downfall is that there are only six different guns found throughout the game. Each gun, however, comes with a secondary firing function which does add some flair to the basic guns found in many FPS out there today. Every weapon seems over the top, from a spinning blade of death to a submachine gun/flamethrower combo. There’s even a one-hit shotgun that will rip through the enemies with ease. There’s no wonder death surrounds Daniel through his quest to be reunited with his wife.
The speed of the game makes for a totally different experience. If gamers are used to the slowed down gameplay of Ghost Recon and Perfect Dark Zero, they’ll be pleasantly surprised that Painkiller is nowhere near in resemblance. It is fast-paced, in your face action non-stop. You’ll never have a breather when you battle the onslaught of enemies before you. The translation from PC to Xbox is smooth enough to warrant playing the Xbox version over the PC rendition to avoid using a keyboard.
Replay:
Looking past the already expansive level variances in the single player mode, Painkiller’s multiplayer action allows up to 16 gamers to battle it out to the death on Xbox Live. There are several different game modes up for grabs, seven in all and most follow the standard. Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Free for All and Last Man Standing are among the multiplayer modes that are included in typically any FPS out there. The actual online lag is at a minimum, so you should have no worries about having a lag-fest of bad connections. It must be said though, not too many players are currently on XBL playing Painkiller. If you are going to purchase Painkiller, I suggest buying two copies - give one to your friend so you’ll actually have someone to play with! Even though not too many will do that, you’ll want to somehow influence someone you know to buy it so you are not the only one in your whole state playing the game.
The audio falls down the lines of Kingdom Under Fire. It is riddled with heavy metal music around every corner. The heavy metal brings forth the gore and mayhem that is put forth upon your television. Nothing could be more fitting than what People Can Fly incorporated into Painkiller. The enemy voices could have been worked on, as they are saturated with repetitive voices that are only occasionally humorous. The weapon sound effects aren’t fantastic since they are lacking the sci-fi effects that should be attached to them. However, the soundtrack makes up for those two shortcomings.
Control:
Although all the levels play out the same, the diverse environments that are used keep the gamer pushing forward to see what’s coming next. Players will travel anywhere from a graveyard to an eerie prison - the areas you’ll explore breathe hellfire down the player’s throat. There’s even a creepy orphanage filled with psychotic children in their quest for redemption. One downfall is that there are only six different guns found throughout the game. Each gun, however, comes with a secondary firing function which does add some flair to the basic guns found in many FPS out there today. Every weapon seems over the top, from a spinning blade of death to a submachine gun/flamethrower combo. There’s even a one-hit shotgun that will rip through the enemies with ease. There’s no wonder death surrounds Daniel through his quest to be reunited with his wife.
The speed of the game makes for a totally different experience. If gamers are used to the slowed down gameplay of Ghost Recon and Perfect Dark Zero, they’ll be pleasantly surprised that Painkiller is nowhere near in resemblance. It is fast-paced, in your face action non-stop. You’ll never have a breather when you battle the onslaught of enemies before you. The translation from PC to Xbox is smooth enough to warrant playing the Xbox version over the PC rendition to avoid using a keyboard.
Replay:
Looking past the already expansive level variances in the single player mode, Painkiller’s multiplayer action allows up to 16 gamers to battle it out to the death on Xbox Live. There are several different game modes up for grabs, seven in all and most follow the standard. Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Free for All and Last Man Standing are among the multiplayer modes that are included in typically any FPS out there. The actual online lag is at a minimum, so you should have no worries about having a lag-fest of bad connections. It must be said though, not too many players are currently on XBL playing Painkiller. If you are going to purchase Painkiller, I suggest buying two copies - give one to your friend so you’ll actually have someone to play with! Even though not too many will do that, you’ll want to somehow influence someone you know to buy it so you are not the only one in your whole state playing the game.
Summary:
Blood, gore and lots of body parts make up ninety percent of this game and for this kind of a FPS, it should. This game is a nice little shooter that shouldn’t be passed over without being given a second glance. It combines fast paced heavy metal music and decent graphics with the classic run and gun and pulls it off quite well.
Is Painkiller: Hell Wars the game that will influence gamers to dust off their Xbox and finally play it since last November? Probably not. Too many have moved onto next-generation shooters on the Xbox 360. The end result is a mediocre FPS that should attract the hardcore fan. If only People Can Fly would have developed an Xbox 360 version to release at the same time - it would have received more media and consumer attention. Definitely rent Painkiller: Hell Wars before you dish out $29.99 for the purchase.
Blood, gore and lots of body parts make up ninety percent of this game and for this kind of a FPS, it should. This game is a nice little shooter that shouldn’t be passed over without being given a second glance. It combines fast paced heavy metal music and decent graphics with the classic run and gun and pulls it off quite well.
Is Painkiller: Hell Wars the game that will influence gamers to dust off their Xbox and finally play it since last November? Probably not. Too many have moved onto next-generation shooters on the Xbox 360. The end result is a mediocre FPS that should attract the hardcore fan. If only People Can Fly would have developed an Xbox 360 version to release at the same time - it would have received more media and consumer attention. Definitely rent Painkiller: Hell Wars before you dish out $29.99 for the purchase.
