Painkiller (computer game)
| Painkiller | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Studio | People can fly | ||
| Publisher | Dreamcatcher Interactive | ||
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
April 12, 2004 | ||
| platform | Windows , Xbox | ||
| genre | Ego shooter | ||
| Game mode | Single player , multiplayer | ||
| control | Keyboard , mouse | ||
| medium | CD , download | ||
| language | German | ||
| Current version | 1.64 | ||
| Age rating |
|
||
| information | Requires the latest patch to start on Windows Vista . The unabridged version was indexed until 2017. | ||
Painkiller is a first person shooter developed by the Polish company People Can Fly . It has been distributed in the USA by Dreamcatcher Interactive since April 12, 2004. A censored version was released on the German market, but it was classified as “no youth release” by the USK . There was also an uncensored German version, but it was only available for a limited time. In March 2006 an extended version for the Xbox was released .
The official successor Painkiller 2: Hell & Damnation was announced at E3 2012 . The shooter is published by Nordic Games and developed by the Polish development studio The Farm 51 , who have already developed a Painkiller-like game with Necrovision . The Unreal Engine 3 is used as the graphics engine . The international release was on October 31, 2012. Germany followed with an adapted version in January 2013
action
Daniel Garner suffers, together with his wife, a fatal car accident. Arrived in the hereafter, the angel Gabriel explains to him that he is not yet ripe to be admitted to paradise (and thus to his wife) and is in the purgatory ( purgatory ), a world between heaven and hell. Since the lord of hell mobilized Lucifer and had put together an army that was supposed to conquer the sky, Garner was given the task of destroying the four satanic generals and their armies, and finally Lucifer himself. Only then is he allowed to enter paradise. Garner sets out with various weapons to carry out this task. Between the fights, he regularly meets a woman who introduces herself to him as Eve (and confirms that she is the biblical Eve, as she reacts annoyed to Garner's question about Adam, but in no way does his suspicion that she is the biblical Eve rejects).
Gameplay
A very similar concept was found a few years earlier in the Serious Sam series: In five chapters, each with four to five levels , you fight your way from room to room in the role of a lone fighter by killing the monsters attacking in several waves of attack. Only after one area has been completely cleaned up does a door open to the next area. The levels are strung together without any connection and each represent a completely different environment, which, however, always appears deserted and surreal.
The last level of a chapter is staged as a monumental battle against huge bosses who represent the generals of Lucifer. In addition to defeating all opponents, the player is given an additional task per level, such as discovering all secret rooms or fighting with only one specific weapon. If you succeed in solving this, you receive a silver or gold tarot card, which is available as a power-up as the game progresses.
Multiplayer mode
An active multiplayer scene has developed in some first-person shooters . At Painkiller , this can at least be observed in the professional e-sports sector. Last but not least, the high prize money of the Cyberathlete Professional League (CPL), which Painkiller has named for their official "CPL 2005 World Tour" game, offers incentives for professional entry. There are relatively few players in the amateur and fun gaming area.
Ratings
The game received mostly good reviews. The graphics and the level design were particularly praised. The bad AI was criticized.
Ratings:
- GameStar : 69% (" Brutal shooter with lean AI and lengths." )
- PC Games : 74% (" A wonderfully mindless shooting orgy!" )
- PC Action : 75%
- 4players.de: 82% (" Cool presented continuous fire action." )
- GameCaptain: 83%
- Shooterplanet.ch: 81%
- Looki: 82%
- Games world: 81%
Extensions
Battle Out of Hell
With the add-on Battle Out of Hell , Dreamcatcher brought a ten-level expansion onto the market that also includes two new weapons. In addition, new multiplayer modes have been introduced. Like the main game, the add-on was only released in Germany in a censored version (“no youth release”). The uncensored version was indexed at the end of April 2005 and removed from the index again in November 2017.
Painkiller: Overdose
| Painkiller: Overdose | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | Mindware Studios | ||
| Publisher | JoWooD | ||
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
November 27, 2007 | ||
| platform | Windows | ||
| genre | Ego shooter | ||
| Game mode | Single player , multiplayer | ||
| control | Keyboard , mouse | ||
| language | German | ||
| Age rating |
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||
| information | Was originally intended as a mod. | ||
Painkiller: Overdose is a mod originally started as a fan project by Mindware Studios. Later on, similar to Counter-Strike , Dreamcatcher and Mindware Studios agreed to market it as a full-fledged title, which gave Mindware Studios technical and financial support from Dreamcatcher. The first person shooter was released worldwide on October 23, 2007. Overdose contains over 40 monsters, 16 new levels and 6 new weapons. The player takes on the role of gatekeeper Belials , who is half angel and half demon.
| Painkiller: Resurrection | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | Homegrown Games | ||
| Publisher | JoWooD | ||
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
October 27, 2009 | ||
| platform | Windows | ||
| genre | Ego shooter | ||
| Game mode | Single player , multiplayer | ||
| control | Keyboard , mouse | ||
| medium | DVD-ROM | ||
| language | German | ||
| Age rating |
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||
| information | Uncut version indexed. | ||
useful information
- In 2004, Painkiller was the first computer or video game of Polish production to be included in the World Cyber Games. The publisher celebrated this ideological success by releasing the game in Poland, despite its recent first release, in the series "Dobre Gry" ("Good Games"), which can be bought for 19.90zl in the computer press (which is a price of around 5 €) and wanted to make Painkiller accessible to every Polish player as possible. The official add-on Battle out of Hell was released a year later for the same price and in the same series.
- The English demo of "Painkiller" was indexed by the BPjM until October 2017.
- "Painkiller: Battle Out of Hell" was indexed until 2017 (List B).
- "Painkiller: Overdose" was unindexed in February 2018.
- "Painkiller: Resurrection" is still indexed in the unabridged version (List B).
- On February 25, 2011, another add-on called Painkiller: Redemption appeared as a download. The game was published again by the bankrupt publisher JoWood.
- The rights to the Painkiller brand are currently held by THQ Nordic . The Austrian publisher continues the series and offers a mini add-on called Reccuring Evil for download. Painkiller 2 is under development.
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.gamestar.de/spiele/painkiller-hell-damnation/news/painkiller_hell_damnation,48392,2568605.html
- ↑ Painkiller and Painkiller: Battle out of Hell both removed from the index , accessed November 21, 2017
- ↑ https://www.schnittberichte.com/news.php?ID=13064
- ↑ http://www.pcgames.de/Painkiller-PC-65840/News/Painkiller-Redemption-JoWooD-kuendigt-neues-Addon-zum-Hoellen-Shooter-an-810422/