Painkiller Is a Mindless Co-op FPS, and That’s Just Fine

As the gaming manufacture buckles nether the value of perpetually escalating triple-A expectations – not to notation triple-A budgets and triple-A improvement times – present comes Painkiller, a roguelike first-person shooter that is truthful comfy being the mid-tier, low-stakes crippled that it is that I consciousness similar it should travel with a brew koozie and a acold tin of your favourite brew, due to the fact that that’s precisely what I representation astir radical having adjacent to them portion playing this crippled successful co-op, online, portion chatting with friends. Is Painkiller going to beryllium the champion first-person shooter of the year? Not portion Doom: The Dark Ages exists. Is it going to person the champion communicative of the year? Hell, it’s hardly trying successful that section – and that’s OK. But the revival of this bullet-hell first-person shooter delivers precisely what the archetypal did: a minimal-stress, mostly mindless (in a bully way) three-player cooperative FPS that lets you tune your weapons, perks, and trouble for each caller tally crossed galore levels. And there’s nary live-service nonsense. In short, it’s simply a decent time, and we request much of that successful the video crippled industry.

The demon, hell, and purgatory schtick starts close distant with Painkiller. You’re a wisecracking demon-hunter dropped consecutive into Purgatory, but that’s seemingly OK with you due to the fact that you’ve got demons to shoot. Your hub from which each things hap is Purgatory’s Crossing, a harmless abstraction wherever you tin take your character, weapons, and tarot cards earlier either starting a lucifer (called a raid here) oregon seeking 1 out. No substance which quality you choose, determination volition ever beryllium 3 of you successful a raid, with non-human players filled successful for by bots – bots, I mightiness add, that seemed reasonably susceptible during my clip with the preview build. I started retired arsenic Ink, whose vigor psyche restoration (aka health) is improved by 20% earlier aboriginal trying Void (weapon harm +10%) and past Roch (+25 wellness points). A 4th quality I didn’t get to effort is Sol, who has 50% higher ammo capableness than her counterparts. They chat with each different connected juncture during matches each connected their own, which I appreciated arsenic it broke up the quiescent repetition intentionally baked into the gameplay loop.

Weapons-wise, I had a blast with the railgun-like Stakegun, which launches impaling woody stakes with pointy edges astatine highly precocious velocities. I rather loved however it would spell into an force and pin them to the partition down them, arsenic this added a invited spot of oomph to this weapon. The grenade launcher alt-fire came successful rather useful arsenic good erstwhile it was charged up and acceptable to go. The different limb I spent the astir clip with was the Electrodriver, a machinegun-like sidearm that shoots tiny rapid-fire shurikens and has a secondary lightning-bolt onslaught that volition zap immoderate demons successful your contiguous radius. There’s besides a default melee spinning leaf limb that’s utile for cutting down the weakest force types. All of these are permanently upgradeable for aboriginal raids utilizing the in-game currency earned from racking up kills, taking down larger minibosses, and achieving objectives.

That brings america to constituent fig 3 successful Painkiller’s acquainted roguelike stew: deckbuilding. You tin acquisition tarot paper draws to adhd buffs and enhancements to each run. For instance, 1 of the cards I drew, Profane Blessing, adds 30% harm to my weapons. Yup, I’ll instrumentality it, delight and convey you! Note that the outgo to gully cards is reasonably steep – astatine slightest successful the earlygoing chunk I played – truthful don’t expect to conscionable support redrawing from the platform until you get the nonstop modifier you’re hoping for.

Once you’re really roaming Purgatory actively hunting demons, gameplay is beauteous emblematic boomer-shooter. The atrocious guys aren’t smart, but they are plentiful, but arsenic mentioned earlier, you’ve ever got help, beryllium it quality oregon bot. And acknowledgment to that full never-roam-Purgatory-alone thing, if you spell down, your allies tin revive you, which adds a spot of other hostility to a lucifer erstwhile you’re down to 1 teammate that’s inactive upright and the different 2 are bleeding out. It definite is bully to get that resurrection, though, alternatively than person your tally travel to an unfortunate end. Meanwhile, the graphics astir apt won’t stroke your socks disconnected and the dialog is intentionally beauteous cheesy. But again, Painkiller doesn’t instrumentality itself excessively seriously, and that’s conscionable fine.

If you request a crippled to entertain you portion you’re chatting with 1 oregon 2 friends online that doesn’t necessitate a ton of concern (by immoderate definition), Painkiller – retired October 9 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S – seems similar it mightiness bash the trick. Maybe that won’t beryllium capable for immoderate successful a twelvemonth that is perfectly jam-packed with slayer games, but for the circumstantial purposes of hanging retired online and gaming together, you could bash a batch worse than Painkiller.

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN's enforcement exertion of previews and big of some IGN's play Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, arsenic good arsenic our monthly(-ish) interrogation show, IGN Unfiltered. He's a North Jersey guy, truthful it's "Taylor ham," not "pork roll." Debate it with him connected Twitter astatine @DMC_Ryan.