Painkiller Overdose

Rating Mature Genre first-person-shooter Publisher Dreamcatcher Interactive External Links Official Dreamcatcher Interactive Website

This is not a baby Tylenol downing, suicide simulator. And its not another Max Payne, drug-addled shoot-em-up. No, this is your back to basics, run and gun FPS. Painkiller Overdose is the third generation in the Painkiller line. The original Painkiller had the player killing his way through Purgatory and Hell to get to Heaven. The second was a quick evac essentially, but now Overdose arises in an attempt to revivify the series. Starring the smart-mouthed, half-angel / half-demon Belial, this fairly unoriginal title sends us once again into the depths of Hell with little more than an eye-laser firing demon head, (procured on site) and a poor sense of humor.

When dealing with a first person shooter, certain things have to be taken into account. Not many FPSs have much in the way of boggy plot, except the most recent Doom title and BIOSHOCK. Also, item interaction can and normally will be boiled down to running over objects to pick them up. Note: same exceptions apply. Given a game set against a certain type of enemy or in a specific location, not that many different types of foes can be thrown in the mix. And of course, most simple FPS environments involve little to no jumping or problem solving ability to navigate. It is in some of these regards that Painkiller Overdose rises to meet the bar, unfortunately ‘some’, is not nearly ‘most’.

Overdose features the teaspoon full of plot the average gamer has come to expect from the genre IF we were still in 1990. Case in point, the Doom original recipe. ‘You’re in a strange place. Here’s a gun. Go.’ That was about all you got and far more than you needed. Our main man for this adventure, Belial, is suddenly freed from his eternal prison and just goes. One of the handfuls of things this title does have going for it is its 40+ diverse enemy mobs and small array of bosses. Boss battles normally don’t play around, giving the player the old “one-two, you’re dead, K.O.” if you don’t time your movement right. The various mobs are well worked in due to the nature of traveling through Hell and Purgatory, with the infinitely many forms they can take on. These vastly varied and overall well-designed levels can change from tiny Cthulhu ridden swamps to spacey, floating asteroid fields, to a flaming Greco-Roman version of Hell. Thankfully, each level can feature anything from medieval knights, to ninja assassins, to giant, flaming golems.

One of the more upsetting aspects of Painkiller Overdose is the excruciating loading screen. A bright demonic slider shows the load progress, and after a most expeditious jumping start, the bar takes and nice nap between loading sounds and the actual screen. Moving on, each level (linear though they may be) has a lovingly crafted feel to it. Environmental effects, such as smoke, hinder visibility and often block your line of sight to your target. Not the other way around, unfortunately. Absolutely necessary in any game are the music and sound that follow the character’s experience. The high energy, fast paced tunes heard throughout each level are incredibly varied and keep up with the hyperactive feel of the game. Each of the sixteen different levels contained will offer a unique visual and auditory experience for the player.

Large-scale weaponry, and thousands of exploding enemies were not enough to salvage a unique first person playing experience. The gameplay is stale, even if it’s not completely horrible. In short, Belial, go back to your cage in Hell. You were more interesting when no one know you were there.

At least the original Doom had a chainsaw.