Review: Painkiller: Hell Wars
The original PC blood-fest Painkiller returns to dish out more punishment on the Xbox. Hell Wars is a classic run-and-gun shooter that hardcore Quake fans will die for, but the repetitive gameplay and linear levels will rapidly exhaust the casual gamer.
PROTIP: Collect enemy souls to transform into an invincible, one-hit kill machine.
The premise of Painkiller: Hell Wars goes like this: you are Daniel Gardner, an average bloke who finds himself stuck in limbo after a fatal car accident. Approached by an agent of His Holy Highness, Daniel is given a mission: destroy an army of the damned that is hell-bent on wrecking havoc on Creation. His reward for completing such an arduous task: be reunited with his wife in Heaven.
Though it sounds decent enough, the actual story is rubbish and the voice work is spotty at best; thankfully, the CG sequences are nicely animated, though impatient gamers may want to skip through them and get right to the killing, which is where the meat lies on this gory bone.
Demon Power
Even though it's essentially recycled material, Painkiller still manages to deliver the thrills with its unique cache of weapons that rival those of classic titles like Half-Life 2 and Prey. Each weapon has a primary and alternate fire, giving players access to a varied and interesting arsenal of carnage.
PROTIP: Keep an eye out for explosive barrels as they will eliminate multiple enemies in one fell swoop.
Take, for example, the game's namesake weapon, the Painkiller. This bladed gauntlet spins like an oversized blender in its primary mode and launches like a detachable arm rocket when the alternate fire is pressed. The other five weapons are similarly impressive and you'll be thankful for all that firepower because each area requires you to decimate a veritable legion of enemies before you can proceed onto the next. Fallen enemies also leave behind collectible souls that transform you into an uber-powerful demon that would scare the beejezus out of El Diablo himself.
Rock you like a hurricane
Painkiller also boasts a hellaciously awesome soundtrack. Heavy metal guitar riffs throughout every shootout and keeps you psyched for the next onslaught. And graphically, Hell Wars shines as one of the best looking games on the Xbox; too bad the frame rate chugs along like a sinking boat when there are too many enemies on screen at once. We were also dismayed at how quickly the game lost its appeal; a few levels of the same old, same old and we were ready to call it quits. Beyond a few interesting boss fights, it rarely strays from its simplistic "kill everything and move on" formula.
Depending on your preferred style of play, that may be exactly what you're looking for but it wasn't enough to hold our interests in the long run. Still, for quick, bite-sized sessions of run-and-gun fun, Painkiller definitely delivers the goods.
PROTIP: When facing off with bosses, stick to the big guns and keep moving; they'll fall eventually.
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