Step into the scorched halls of Purgatory with Painkiller, a modern resurrection of the cult classic FPS that trades subtlety for sheer infernal spectacle. This in-depth exploration plunges into a world where redemption is earned through relentless demon-slaying, tarot-powered perks, and gothic arenas dripping with dread. Whether solo or in chaotic co-op, Painkiller unleashes a torrent of old-school carnage wrapped in modern polish, daring players to face Azazel’s grotesque legions and claim salvation through firepower.

Painkiller Review Pros

• Awesome graphics. 
• 23.97GB download size. 
• Platinum trophy. 
• Video settings – field of view slider, gamma slider, Colourblind support, and deficiency severity. 
• Controller settings – 7 presets, Invert axis, sensitivity sliders, vibration on/off, vibration intensity slider, adaptive triggers on/off, aim assist, aim assist magnitude slider, left and right stick Deadzone sliders, and you can turn the controller light bar in and off. 
• Audio settings for – master, sound effects, music, and dialogue volume. 
• Subtitles options – on/off, language, background colour, text size, text colour, background opacity, speaker name, and character name colour. 
• Interface options – HUD scale slider, display ping, and dedicated Crosshair. 
• Other settings – slide set to press or hold, auto mantle on/off, camera shake, and camera shake intensity slider. 
• First-person shooter gameplay. 
• Opening prologue section (can be skipped) and then ongoing tutorial pop-ups as you play. 
• I recommend the prologue as it really does set you up properly and lets you get a grip on it all. 
• Fast-paced movement which crosses over to the combat and platforming. 
• The Painkiller is a gun that, when you hold the button down it spins up blades, and you hit enemies to generate ammo. Whenever you don’t have ammo, you can use the Painkiller. You can whittle an enemy’s health down,n then launch yourself with the Painkiller at an enemy and make them explode. 
• Fully integrated ping system to highlight enemies or items, etc. In offline play, it helps command bots. 
• Plays a lot like Doom and dials up the intensity with a lot of close-quarters action. 
• Drops are colourful and each colour represents what they are, usually amm, or it lets you know what they do. 
• Impressive on-screen enemy count. 
• You can hook onto designated hook points to swing around the level. 
• It’s a fantastic-looking game, from the dark, otherworldly, gothic architecture to the gruesome-looking enemies. 
• Purple shards are energy, and that’s what you need for secondary and special attacks. 
• You can stun enemies to show weak points and do spectacular kills and executions. 
• Allies, whether AI bots or real players, you can heal and revive them. 
• The shooting feels really fluid and good; it’s effortless to glide around and shoot enemies, plus it looks really cool. 
• The left stick click is to change weapons, which takes some getting used to, but it feels so natural and quick by the end, you wonder how you did it before. 
• During combat, you get a combo counter, a rank that changes and a running commentary of what you just did. It may sound like needless fluff, but it’s cool and looks awesome when you are in a room full of enemies and you are just mowing them down. 
• Party members show through walls. 
• Healing potions are thrown onto the floor, and passing through them heals you. 
• It’s crazy, but the gameplay is like Doom meets Vermintide, and can easily be summed up as chaos with bullets. 
• Each character can only hold one item at a time, so it has a slight role or strategy in the gameplay. 
• It’s a satisfying experience, and yes, it makes you. Atad is sweaty, but it’s so badass. 
• You have a main hub where you go between raids and can change your loadout and group up, etc. 
• The Armoury lets you choose what weapons to take out. You unlock new weapons with ancient souls and gold, and upgrade weapons with ancient souls. 
• Each weapon has a unique role or use. They also have their own skill tree for upgrades and unlocks. 
• Tarot cards are used before a raid and disappear after a raid unless you spend ancient souls on them to restore them. Think of them as game modifiers. Unlock new Tarot cards via the lottery part by spending gold. Each lottery draw is three cards, and you pick one; it is randomised. 
• Four playable characters, and each is unique. They say what buffs and abilities they have before you pick them. The game doesn’t do traditional character classes. 
• Four game modes to play – quick play (online only), Rogue Angel (arena-based), join by code (online only), and Raids, which is three chapters and all story-based. 
• The game grabs you immediately and gives you a lot to get stuck into. I couldn’t believe that after just an hour, I was in a bullet-soaked nirvana. 

Painkiller Review Cons

• Be warned, if you don’t have PlayStation Plus, you will be prompted every time you boot the game to subscribe. 
• With no PlayStation Plus, you have to play offline, and that is a seperate save from online play. 
• Not a lot in the way of motion sickness support. You get sensitivity sliders and field of view, but that’s about it. 
• There is no setting for blood or ragdolling and gibbing enemies. 
• I got affected by the motion sickness and had to play in small bursts; some areas were perfectly fine, whilst some were an absolute nightmare.
• I did find the story got lost in all the bullets and blood, and didn’t really ever feel connected to the story.
• Little in the way of true customisation of characters.

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Painkiller

Official Website: 

Developer: Anshar Studios

Publisher: 3D Realms

Store Link:

PlayStation