Painkiller

Painkiller is a video game that consists of 2 releases

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Painkiller is a fast-paced first-person shooter that hearkens back to the early years of shooters. Foregoing modern conventions of realism, Painkiller brings back the over-the-top twitch gameplay that is quickly becoming a thing of the past.

Overview

Painkiller is a first-person shooter game created by polish developer People Can Fly. The game shuns most modern first person shooter conventions and instead embraces the more simple and frantic style of the shooters of yesteryear. The game consists of 5 worlds of 4 or 5 levels each and a handful of bossfights at the end of each world. Painkiller also features online multiplayer staples such as Deathmatch and Capture the Flag.

Story

The game follows the tale of Daniel Garner and his quest for atonement. The opening cutscene shows Daniel and his wife dying in a car crash. Daniel's wife is deemed pure and able to get into heaven, but Daniel is judged as neither evil nor noble and is therefore sentenced to the neutral realm of purgatory. The game picks up 30 years after his death and we find that Daniel has been keeping himself busy keeping the monsters of purgatory in check, turning into a rugged super-badass in the process. His time in purgatory has done more than give him a cynical action-hero attitude, however. An angel named Sammael approaches Daniel and informs him that certain higher-ups are pleased with the work he has been doing. Daniel is offered a chance to fight for the forces of good in order to get a chance at redeeming himself and

This is all of the story the player is given before being thrust into the world of Painkiller. One will quickly come to realize that the small bits of story told through the sparse cutscenes have little affect on the actual levels themselves, which are for the most part totally unrelated. It is clear that the story was mean to take a backseat to the retro-styled action and is simply a way to try to explain the whys and wherefores of the setting to the player.

Weapons

Keeping true to Painkiller's motif of batshit-loco insane, the weapons in are some of the most (for lack of a better word) unique weapons one will find in a first-person shooter. While many seem to be standard FPS fare, each weapon packs a completely unrelated alternate fire, many of which can be combined in order to perform more brutal attacks.

Painkiller

The game's titular weapon is a bizarre three-pronged mutilation device.

Primary Fire: The Painkiller's blades spin up and can be used to mow down enemies similar to how one would use a weedwhacker. This can kill many enemies with a single hit and will gib up corpses.

Secondary Fire: The tip of the Painkiller shoots out and latches onto any solid object it hits. If it happens to come into contact with an enemy it will retract and give the enemy some damage (this can be used when the player is out of ammunition) but the real fun comes when you are able to land the shot on a wall. When the tip is attached to a wall and you focus your crosshair on it an electrified trip wire stretches between the tip of the Painkiller and the weapon itself. Any enemies will take constant damage when standing in the electrified line.

Shotgun

The first weapon you acquire besides the Painkiller is the shotgun.

Primary Fire: The shotgun fires out a standard shotgun blast. Damage and spread is greatly increased with distance.

Secondary Fire: An ice beam is shot from the end of the shotgun. This shot will pass through enemies and any enemy hit by it will be frozen solid. When frozen an enemy can be destroyed with a single shot of any weapon, but if they are given time they will thaw out.

Stake Gun

Painkiller's stake gun is a sharp-shooting weapon that is able to nail monsters to objects in the game

Primary Fire: A stake is shot out, impaling an enemy on impact. This stake can gib smaller enemies, nail medium-sized enemies to walls or other objects in the game world or simply bounce off larger enemies.

Secondary Fire: The Stake Gun's secondary fire is a grenade launcher, similar to those found in the Quake series. The grenade will explode if it comes into contact with an enemy without hitting the ground.

Chaingun

The Chaingun is the game's most powerful weapon, combining two high-powered favorites into a single weapon.

Primary Fire: The chaingun spins up and shoots high-powered rounds.

Secondary Fire: A rocket is shot from the center of the chaingun.

Electrodriver

The Electrodriver is a rad weapon that brings ninja stars and electricity together in the best mix since chocolate and peanut butter.

Primary Fire: Shurikens are fired from the Electrodriver at a high rate.

Secondary Fire: A short-ranged bolt of electricity is fired from the Electrodriver and locks on to the nearest enemy. This mode is similar to the Lightning Gun from the Quake series. If a player presses the Primary Fire button while a stream of electricity is still running, the electrodriver will let loose a burst of electrified shurkiens. These will stick into whatever they hit and cause damage over time.

General Information Edit

Game Name	Painkiller
Platform(s)	PC
Publisher(s)	DreamCatcher Europe SA
Developer(s)	People Can Fly
Genres	Add a new genre Action First-Person Shooter
Themes	Add a new theme Horror Fantasy Modern Military Post-Apocalyptic
Original US Release	April 12, 2004 need a fuzzy date?
Original US Release	know the real date?
Aliases
ESRB	ESRB: M
PEGI	PEGI: 16+