PAINKILLER returns in 2025 by Saber interactive

First Turok, now Painkiller—them folks over at Saber, they sure do have a knack for makin' them co-op shooters, don't they? Looks mighty fine, I tell ya.
 
Oh damn. I have an old gaming mag somewhere that had a preview for the OG release. Remember seeing the graphics thinking how insane they were at the time lol.
 
That's unexpected and... it looks good?!

Say Word Reaction GIF by Justin
 
I played the SHIIIIIIIIT out of this and Far Cry 1 back then.

DAY 1
 
Damn, thinking about Painkiller bought back some awesome memories of using the Stake Gun from the original.

Looking forward to seeing how this turns out... but I'm afraid I'm too old for so much action :messenger_downcast_sweat:
 
Watched it a few times lol. Looks great, and that music is awesome too.
 
ShaiKhulud1989 said:
So it's DOOM, but with actual shooting and ammo.

Day freaking one.
Click to expand...

it's not really like Doom.

Doom always had interwoven level design with key cards, backtracking and tons of secrets.
Painkiller is just one arena battle after another in very linear levels. there are some secrets to be found, but the focus is on constantly shooting at stuff.

it's more comparable with Serious Sam, just less corny and usually smaller scale
 
It makes me happy to see people excited about it, growing up I don't think I've ever encountered anybody that even knew the franchise...Shame
Hot Fuzz Shame GIF
 
I was never under the impression Painkiller sold well.

The gameplay didn't hit me as groundbreaking either, a Serious Sam-like with a gothic paint job. I don't remember the weapons and combat feeling particularly good.
The assets look nice, so there's that.
 
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Seems like they're doomifying it like we got with Shadow Warrior 3.

I'm probably in the minority here, but I'm not a fan of the recent doom games. Maybe Doom 2016 but even then, these games took their root gameplay of "run through a map and shoot shit" and turned it into "here's an arena, stay in here for 10 minutes and then move to the next arena". In addition to this annoying change in environmental design, they decided to make the primary focus of these games on managing your ammo and a layer of rpg mechanics as the icing on the shit cake. My final gripe (which is more of a personal one) is that someone thought a cooldown boost mechanic (instead of just running) was fun, when it's just irritating.

I'll stick to the imitation boomer shooters. Some of them also have their own sprinkling of the above, but in much more manageable doses.
 
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Co-op is exactly what this needs to stand apart from the many other shooters in the space though. Especially a franchise that is now so close to Doom in terms of aesthetic and gunplay. It's going to be the perfect dessert after Doom The Dark Ages to mess around in with some friends.
 
Griffon said:
I was never under the impression Painkiller sold well.

The gameplay didn't hit me as groundbreaking either, a Serious Sam-like with a gothic paint job. I don't remember the weapons and combat feeling particularly good.
The assets look nice, so there's that.
Click to expand...

Painkiller is massively overhyped by its fanbase for sure, it was never more than ok.

BUT, this new one here actually looks pretty damn great.
 
Out of nowhere. Loved the original. Still have the big box with 6 cd's lol.
 
Where is Daniel and love story?
Who are these goofers on the key art?
I have a feeling this will be generic.
 
Meh, co-op. I hope it is viable as a singleplayer experience.
I remember really enjoying the first game back when it came out (especially impaling enemies with the stake gun), but never touched any of the expansions or sequel for some reason.
 
JusticeForAll said:
Meh, co-op. I hope it is viable as a singleplayer experience.
I remember really enjoying the first game back when it came out (especially impaling enemies with the stake gun), but never touched any of the expansions or sequel for some reason.
Click to expand...

apparently even in single player you will have AI controlled partners with you, which sounds iffy and could be annoying
 
Painkiller (2004) was impressive thanks to its ragdoll physics. This one wants to impress you with colourful graphics... When I saw these patches of red, purple, yellow, green, blue - all in one frame - I immediately thought of cartoonish garbage and the things like DA: Veilguard.

b4e9QHY.jpeg
 
ShaiKhulud1989 said:
So it's DOOM, but with actual shooting and ammo.

Day freaking one.
Click to expand...
The gameplay loop in Doom where you have to glory kill enemies for health and ammo ALL-THE-TIME pisses me off. So yeah, this is old school Doom.
This might be a winner, unless they force the multiplayer on you, or an achingly diverse cast of support characters talking in your ear all the time. I just wanna kill dudes.



Yahtzee's review of the original still holds up.
 
The Rock Applause GIF


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I'm so in. Also, Co-op action, huh? If its online, I might have to hit up an interested GAFfer to tackle it together.
 
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Interesting that it's been farmed out to Saber, they've been on a bit of a hot streak lately, even World War Z became dope in the end.

Plus co-op, I'm in.
 
Holammer said:
The gameplay loop in Doom where you have to glory kill enemies for health and ammo ALL-THE-TIME pisses me off. So yeah, this is old school Doom.
Click to expand...

it's not old school doom, Painkiller is like Serious Sam, not like Doom. and the glory kill to refill ammo was only in Eternal

Doom = backtracking, key cards, focus on finding secret areas for extra loot erc.

Painkiller is just shooting, running to the next arena and shooting again.
 
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Sorry but not really getting any Painkiller vibes here. Fells more like Necrovision than anything. Or modern Doom as people pointed out.
 
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