Even more Pain! Yeah that’s right, we’re getting more of it, because they fucking know we want it, no we demand it right fucking now! We have been waiting for nearly a decade to hear information on a new Painkiller game and haven’t had one for the entirety of 8th gen which is a crime against humanity but now, we are finally getting a new Painkiller game but before we overwhelm ourselves with excitement, as you all know, this is Cynical Gaming Blog. Let’s hit y’all with some reality first.
Firstly the original Devs are working on Witchfire so this will be developed by a new development team named Saber, I have never heard of them but they certainly aren’t The Farm 51, nor are they The Astronauts. So the question is, will they be able to deliver the fast paced, old school arena shooting action, where the guns tear up enemies like paper and the enemies surround you in huge numbers? Or will it fail to meet our standards as fans and give us a cookie cutter modern shooter with shit like ADS and other stupid realism features?
Well first of all, we need to know what we are dealing with here, the previous game was a remake of the original Painkiller and Painkiller Battle Out Of Hell, a game that locked more than half of its levels behind DLC and ran on the Unreal Engine which made the game feel slightly different from the original though those differences would only be noticeable to us die hard fans so overall, I wouldn’t really call Hell & Damnation a bad game, it was just an inferior version of Painkiller Black but with prettier graphics which isn’t necessarily a problem, I mean the core gameplay experience was still very much the same.
What I fear is that Saber may not know what Painkiller fans actually want. This is not a game that can be sold on brand power alone, even Hell & Damnation knew this and for this reason, I’m hoping that Saber takes their job seriously and maintain the standards set by the original formula because if they do manage to deliver exactly what it is we want, then there may be hope for 9th gen but they better not fuck this up. Anyone can announce a game but until the goods are delivered, I will reserve my judgment.
Regardless, this announcement shows that we as a community have the power to make things happen. There is only 1 reason why we are getting another Painkiller and it’s because us fans have demanded it for so long and spread awareness of this legendary FPS series all over the web, people have listened, The Astronauts listened and now someone is finally taking action and doing something about it.
Just don’t fuck this up, this brand name has a legacy and it was already bruised by Redemption, do not reopen that wound!!!
Now as for whether it will be a completely new game or another remake is unknown. Perhaps this will be a remake of Overdose, I mean the ending of Hell & Damnation appears to suggest so or perhaps there will be all new levels, who knows? I just hope that they stick to the formula the other games have followed. Hell & Damnation managed to keep the gameplay more-or-less in tact so there is still hope, let’s just hope that Saber are smart enough to realize this, we do not want this brand to be crapped on by dumb modern game design decisions, you hear me!? We want raw old school FPS action, no ADS, no reloading, no sprint button, bunnyhopping, multiple firing modes for every weapon, a compass that tells us where to go, huge open gothic environments that look visually stunning and most importantly, we absolutely must have an awesome metal soundtrack to go with it. Make this happen, bring Painkiller back and do it right or else I will call the police and they will make you wish you were stuck in purgatory when you find out where they’re taking you!
Cynical Gaming Blog 