Painkiller : Overdose

Plus Painkiller and Battle Out of Hell

Posted 4 years ago By - Brian Edey

Game provided by

 

A few years ago, there was a game called Painkiller and this First Person Shooter game was amazing in many ways but best of all fun. It did not try to revolutionize the genre in the terms of gameplay, and actually it had more in common gameplay wise with the early FPS games then other games out at the same time, it just offered raw hardcore action and a good story. In Painkiller you are Heavens hitman, stuck in purgatory after you and your wife’s death (she went to Heaven and you did not) you are basically forced into hunting down and killing four of Lucifers generals to prevent a war between Heaven and Hell.

The game left off with a semi-cliffhanger, which was good and fun and soon after that the expansion Battle Out of Hell was being worked on and finally released. The expansion was fun and took the player on a continuing rollercoaster of pure unbridled action. Now there is a new Painkiller game called Painkiller Overdose which brings together the original gameplay and a new story. Overdose started out as a fan made mod and was turned into a stand alone game and is the weakest of the three games by far.


Gameplay

Painkiller surprised me once I installed it on my PC, the graphics while not the best anymore, were still well done and the game ran smooth (it should) with all settings to Max, the same went with Battle Out of Hell and Overdose. All three games play the same fast, furious, hardcore, shoot everything that moves, clear a room, move to the next room, shoot everything, repeat and after playing games like Crysis, Rainbow Six Vegas 2 and Call of Duty 4, it was nice to play a game that was pure action and not worrying about tactics or cover. It was very refreshing.

To be blunt the gameplay is basic, WASD, a mouse and a couple other keys is all you need to cause mischief and destroy the massive amounts of enemies on the screen. In many respects Painkiller is very much like Doom 2 or Duke Nukem 3D. For the first two games (Painkiller and Battle) this works very well, but once you get into Overdose you realize the game feels like a bunch of fans stood around, decided to make a FPS similar to Painkiller, copied the gameplay and basic ideas and really screwed up on it. It is boring, bland and feels just down right awful. I loved going back to Painkiller and Battle but Overdose was just a sad experience


Graphics

Compared to todays big and bright games, the game is no Crysis, but it is no slouch either. The graphics are good across all three games and only Overdose gave me any slowdown during the most intense battles. Each of the games levels are really well done in Painkiller and Battle, but many of the levels in Overdose have that feeling they were rushed to be added with boxy rooms and hallways connecting to other rooms. Of course that is not all there is in Overdose, but the level design and graphics were not inspiring.

Audio

Very impressive audio work across all three titles with sound and music, while we have heard better, we are not stuck with common sound effects here beyond a few of the weapons, the rest of the audio, even today, has a new and fresh sound and musically the game has a soundtrack that is so well done it keeps up with the action and fits the overall situation.

Voice over work for Painkiller and Battle are good for what there is, we are spoiled by games with much more VO work now days but Overdose has some good to just awkward sounding voice over work with a voice spouting off during the game and I found it to be almost cool at first but annoying after 20 minutes.


Value

If you are a fan of FPS and never played the Painkiller games buy this, you will play them for many hours and enjoy every minute of Painkiller and Battle Out of Hell. Overdose on the other hand is not worth playing unless you are a die hard fan of the original Painkiller and want to return to the series, it is playable but it felt more like a chore then a fun game.

Bottom Line

Buy it for Painkiller and Battle Out of Hell if you love FPS and action. Keep away from Overdose

Note – Regarding Score
Overdose brings this game down dramatically in Presentation, Gameplay and Value
With just Painkiller and Painkiller Battle Out of Hell the Score would be a 8.5 Average

5 months ago :: The Walking Dead Episode Five: No Time Left
5 months ago :: Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition
6 months ago :: Chivalry: Medieval Warfare
6 months ago :: The Walking Dead Episode Four: Around Every Corner
7 months ago :: The Walking Dead Episode Three: Long Road Ahead
11 months ago :: Diablo III
11 months ago :: The Walking Dead
1 year ago :: King Arthur II: The Role Playing Wargame
1 year ago :: Off-Road Drive
1 year ago :: Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad