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I was excited when the Painkiller reboot was formally revealed back in March, but also apprehensive. Anshar Studios’ revival of People Can Fly’s 2004 shooter looks exactly how I imagined a modern take on the game would. But it also has a co-operative emphasis, and I’m uncertain how this will mix with the series’ brutal simplicity.
To be fair, the reveal trailer only provided a brief snapshot of the game. Now there’s a slightly longer trailer which emerged bloodstained and grinning from yesterday’s Galaxies Gaming Showcase. Watching it generally left me more confident the reboot will have the stuff. But it also answered one crucial question that lingered from that initial showing.
The new trailer focuses on the game’s weapons, dedicating a full minute to showing them in grisly action. And oh boy, there are some guns I want to get hands-on with here. The shotgun looks delightfully beefy, the hand-cannon has a vicious-looking electrical attack.
The most improved looking weapon is the painkiller itself. This spinning fan-blade was always a bit flimsy in the original, but the reboot appears to have beefed it up considerably, with it flinging enemies around as it windmills through the horde. It’s also empowered with a beastly-looking piledriver attack that sends foes scattering in all directions.
Ultimately though, the baseline quality of any Painkiller game will always be defined by the stake gun. This portable catapult that flings bits of tree at foes was undoubtedly the highlight of the original, particularly how it would impale enemies on walls. I often played entire levels of Painkiller decorating its environments with my enemies like Christmas tree baubles.
It’s an essential component of the Painkiller experience. But the reboot’s initial trailer didn’t show this ability in action. Indeed, there was some nervous debate afterwards regarding whether the reboot would actually let you do this. But the weapons trailer is unambiguous, depicting an enemy leaping at the player before getting pinned to a wall like a gas bill to a corkboard. Crunch.
I’m glad to see the stake gun functions as I remember, as Painkiller has a bit of competition on the ol’ skewering front. Early access FPS Witchfire also features a stake gun, not surprising considering it’s directed by Adrian Chmielarz, who headed up the team that made the original Painkiller.
In any case, it’s exactly what I needed to see to know Painkiller will be worth a shot. There’s no set release date for the reboot at present, but it is due to launch sometime this year. Whenever it comes out, I will be first in line at the stake house.
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Kurt Indovina
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