Painkiller: Hell Wars

The difficulty levels are set at DayDream, Insomnia, Nightmare and Trauma. Before you begin, you are required to “Sign the Pact.”

The cutscene begins with a family hurrying to a car in a downpour, at night. The car speeds off down the road, on the way to celebrate the wife’s birthday, eyes drift off the road, a head-on crash. Fade to a cathedral, and the man is talking to another, his job is simple, kill four generals in Lucifer’s army and then he will be “pure” and able to see his wife again.

Welcome to the world of Painkiller Hell Wars, the latest title in the series from Dreamcatcher (the developer is People Can Fly), slated for release on the Xbox console.

Using a rock soundtrack, Hell Wars is a somewhat directed experience, but the action is brisk, a shooter with puzzles and mazes to weave through. But fear not, you will know which way to go, simply because other avenues will be blocked off and once you enter the new zone, hordes of hellspawn will head for you.

Little has changed in terms of the game overview from the November preview. There are 20 levels of action and more than 75 species of monsters to deal with. Some are rather stupid, and others are very tough. The game requires that you keep on the move, avoiding missile attacks (hammers, torches and pieces of body – at least initially) while blasting your assailants. Different mobs will require different strategies, and different weapons can be used for different effects. At the core, the game centers on Daniel Garner who has been chosen for his unique abilities when it comes to fighting the minions of hell. He is seeking purification to rejoin his wife, presumably in heaven. But then, this is Painkiller and you are never certain what twists the plot may through at you. You can, however, be certain of a few things – the action will be somewhat nonstop.

The game begins in a cemetery. Pathways open, mobs swarm, you are in constant motion slicing and dicing bodies, and pretty much what one might expect from a FPS of this sort. You kill monsters and they drop powerups, which can be absorbed. But you must clear certain areas before you can advance to the next area.

The game’s controls were very simple to use, and the tactical elements are almost standard for the genre. Move sideways to avoid attacks, move forward to lock on targets and the backward to shoot and gain some distance against possible melee attacks. Collect power ups and induce the “bullet time” effect, where the world goes gray and slows down, but you move along at what appears to be a regular speed – a great tool for getting out of dangerous spots.

The musical score was spot on with the game’s mood and the game’s graphical elements were very well done, with terrific textures in the environment and weaponry. Lighting and shadows create a solid setting and the texturing was very well done, even when you hugged a wall. But the game is also very dark in tone and look. This is a game where each element combines to set the overall mood – from the music, to look, to dialogue.

In the case of the latter, Painkiller’s narrative is well done.

Moody? Yes. That is the joy of Painkiller Hell Wars. It is a game that will assail players with its frenetic pacing, carrying that edge-of-the-seat feel that things will be jumping out at you from a variety of locations. And don’t just expect to see the monsters on the ground. They can come in from above as well.

There will also be multiplayer elements, through system link and Xbox Live. At the time of this preview, accessing these modes was not possible.

Hell Wars will also have a variety of locales that will give players a rich visual experience. As shooters go, this is a lot of fun to play. The scare factor may not be as rich as it could have been, but knowing that you will have a ton of mobs to dispose of, coming at you from all directions, in wave-after-wave, brings the excitement solidly to the fore.