Painkiller Triple Dose (PC)

[Wraith Storm]

I have wanted to play Painkiller for a while now. I always read good things about it and thought it looked really cool. Best Buy had the Triple Dose pack (Painkiller, Battle out of Hell and Overdose) on sale for $9.99!!! So I picked it up without second thought!

I installed it and have played the first 4 levels and I am quite underwhelmed. :(
I love the graphics, the art design, the music, and all that stuff... But the level design just sucks... bad. It's the most lackluster level design I have ever seen in a game.

So far all it has been is:
1 - Go down an ally or corridor.
2 - Enter the room at the end of the alley or corridor.
3 - Once inside all the exits seal shut and you are rushed by 50 enemies.
4 - Kill all the enemies and the exit opens.
5 - Go through the exit into a new alley or corridor.
6 -Enter the room at the end of that alley or corridor
7 - Once inside all the exits seal shut and you are rushed by 50 enemies... again

Its been this SAME formula over and over!!! Please tell me the level design gets better. More creative, less linear or something. So far it's been the most boring cookie cutter formula I have seen in recent memory and I have no desire to continue wasting my time playing it unless I know that the level design gets a bit more creative.

[BHvrd]

The bosses are awesome.

[JunkTheMagicDragon]

sure, it's the old enter-room-doors-close-kill-baddies formula, but painkiller is an old-school shooter at heart and it does it incredibly well. its focus is on throwing a ton of enemies at you, with a satisfying arsenal to gib them with.

half life 2 this is not. think of it as what doom 3 should have been and i think you'll be a lot happier with it.

[Hwj_Chim]

I actually found this game to be a breath of fresh air. but I enjoy FPS's that throw a ton of enemies at you and put the story on the back burner. Plus the sound track to the game is very cool. :2gunfire::texaschain::rockets:

like they said above compare this more to an old school shooter and i think you may like it more.

[izarate]

You know, that description sounds a lot like Super Metroid. I might like this game. I'll look into it.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Watch out for the StarForce, though. I bought this, but I didn't think cracking a game that I paid for was right, so I returned it and got something else instead. :P

[esquire]

Watch out for the StarForce, though. I bought this, but I didn't think cracking a game that I paid for was right, so I returned it and got something else instead. :P

What does the StarForce do to your computer?

[misfits859]

I loved parts 1 and 2; great memories going through them multiple times. Best bosses ever! Never played part 3 due to all the bad rub it got.

[fishsandwich]

OMG I cannot wait to jump on bittorrent and download this for free I AM JUST KIDDING PEOPLE

Thank God it's Friday.

[Wraith Storm]

sure, it's the old enter-room-doors-close-kill-baddies formula, but painkiller is an old-school shooter at heart and it does it incredibly well. its focus is on throwing a ton of enemies at you, with a satisfying arsenal to gib them with.

half life 2 this is not. think of it as what doom 3 should have been and i think you'll be a lot happier with it.

I grew up playing Wolfenstien, Blake Stone, Lethal Tender, Catacombs 3d, Doom 1 and 2, Heretic, Duke Nukem' 3d, Blood, Quake 1, Unreal 1 and LOVED them to death. I also bought Sin: Episode 1 a few years ago and enjoyed it as well.

You say Painkiller has the old "enter-room-doors-close-kill-baddies formula" but I can't say I have ever played another FPS that used this formula. Everyone says that the bosses are awesome and I really wan't to see them but I honestly hate the level design, so i'm not sure if i'll keep playing just to reach a boss. I don't know how anyone could enjoy this formula, but people have different tastes.

I don't mind being rushed by a ton of enemies, hell I loved Doom and Heretics "Monster Closets". But Painkiller feels like it's holding my hand leading me down a one way street. You can't back track much, and there is no sense of wonder. The level design doesn't keep me wondering whats in the next room. Because EVERY room is the same so it just gets old and stale. It feels like they created ONE hallway and ONE room and then strung them end to end. They just keep changing the textures to give you some sense of variety or progression.

Should I waste my time installing Battle out of Hell or Overdose? Do they have the same cookie cutter formula, or do they actually inject some creativity into the design?

You also mention Half-Life 2... But I don't know, I have never played the Half-Life games. Maybe I should check them out. I just don't think i'll like them.

[The 1 2 P]

I played the very first Painkiller on Xbox after waiting for what seemed like forever. I too found it very lackluster. But the bosses are ginormous. One of these days I'll finish up the game and I would like to play the second two games as well.

[djbeatmongrel]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/57-Painkiller

[Wraith Storm]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/57-Painkiller

THAT review was AWESOME!!!

I love that guy, his reviews are usually spot on and always entertaining. It's just odd though. I find it strange that this game easily has the worst level design (or at least most lackluster) I have ever seen in a video game, yet somehow, it doesn't seem to bother anyone else.

If I had played Painkiller before reading any reviews, I would have thought it a surefire bet that critics would have slammed the game with horrible review scores. But that's obviously not the case... So I have to be missing something. I'm gonna give it another go and hopefully something will "Click"!

[maxlords]

Just do yourself a favor and avoid Overdose. It's awful.

[Nesmaster]

I enjoyed the first two, never did play the third. Probably won't now based on bad word of mouth! This game reminds me of Postal 2, in that it's not so much about what you're supposed to be doing while playing, but rather killing as many things as you can with batshit crazy weapons. If I wanted a purpose I'd go and fire up Half-life 2 again. :)

[roushimsx]

Watch out for the StarForce, though. I bought this, but I didn't think cracking a game that I paid for was right, so I returned it and got something else instead. :P

Ohhh, thanks for the heads up. I was going to pick Painkiller Black up off the bargain rack for $10, but hearing that it has starforce means I'll just buy it off of GoG.com afterall for the same price and no DRM.

Hopefully it's as good as everyone says and not a pile of disappointment like Shadow Warrior and Duke Nukem 64 were.