Painkiller: Black Edition

This game was pretty popular back in the mid 2000s, but a series of shoddy budget sequels (thinly disguised expansions, in reality) pretty much killed long-term good faith towards the series. However, Black Edition is still an amazing time, and is one of the best FPSes of its decade. Great graphics and performance, killer soundtrack, fun arcade/boomer shooter style gameplay all combine to make this a lost gem of the genre.

So Painkiller is one of those FPS games where i have tried it several times in the past to get into it and just bounced off. I alway felt the combat was bland, the weapons were rather limp minus the stake gun and the amount of buggy physics just all added up to a put off, everytime. Now in 2026 i just say stuff it! drop the difficulty to normal and just play through the game to tick it off and my god was it a slog of a game. Those exact same problems are still present but now with so many more FPS games from around that time period and beyond to compare to it feels worse then most. The music is quite fun though some great metal tracks to just blast enemies away too but there are just SO MANY enemies all with there own jank and annoying little things. I also think that the guns as a whole are disappointing, they all are like 2 in 1 and the feel incongruent to eachother. Levels are rather interesting to really bland mazes with generic lock you in a room and fight enemies. Even with the 30 hours it says i logged alot of it was a replay of the game around 4 5ths in because i couldnt stand the difficult, hundreds of hitscan enemies from all angles and you just have no way to really recoop health! Almost the exact same mentality happened with Games like Serious Sam FE and SE and Powerslave where the hard difficult just reduced the already random drops. I dont think Painkiller will ever be a game i will play again but it does has positives just not anywhere near enough to recommend it.

müthiş bişi amk

A quality classic.

i love it

«Решил я как-то тряхнуть стариной...» — и это было лучшее решение! Прекраснейший олдскульный шутер с приличным арсеналом оружия, которое в дополнении ещё и расширяется. Разлетающиеся в клочья демоны прилагаются, и даже сюжет завезли (хоть он там и для галочки). Графика на 2004 год просто очешуительная: я скажу так, что даже сейчас она смотрится в Full HD очень приятно, хоть альбом скриншотов заводи. Очень разочаровало недавнее переиздание (Painkiller: Hell & Damnation): те уровни, которые там гордо продаются как DLC, в оригинале были неотъемлемой частью шедевра. Вырезать их — просто стыд и позор. Если посмотреть на геймплей со стороны, местами бывает душновато, но один такой уровень заканчивается — и начинается безумный адреналин. Разнообразный левел-дизайн, шикарный арт, а музыка лупит ровно так, как положено тру-шутану. Но... Когда я пришёл в дополнении на 6 уровень и внезапно услышала из радио «Союз нерушимый»... Это был абсолютный крит в сердечко. Я даже честь отдал в монитор, так тепло и дико стало от этой гениальной пасхалки! Это несомненно великая игра, всем ценителям олдскула строго рекомендуется. 10 оторванных конечностей из 10. Моя подруга Кира подтверждает и одобряет! 🤘🖤

Оценка: 9/10 СОЛО ГИГАЧАД YEБАТЬ ВСЕХ ЛЕГИОНОВ С ВКЛ EBEYШИЕ САУНДТРЕК АААААААААААААААААААААААААААААААААААААААААААААААААААААААААААААААААААААААААААААААААААААААААААААААААААААААААААААААААААА УБИВАТЬ, УБИВАТЬ, БОЛЬШЕ УБИВАТЬ! Сюжет: УБИВАТЬ! Геймплей: УБИВААААААААААААААААТЬ! Левел дизайн: 8/10 Боссы: ГРЯЗНЫЙ ЛЮЦИФЕР ФУУУУ УБИВААААААААААААААААААТЬ! Пушки: СЕКСИ ГОРЯЧИЙ ПУШКИ НО ДРОБОВИК СОЛО ЗАВОЗИТ! Минусы: Вам пора вручный фикс мод патч и руссификатор на рус озвучка.

The first few levels are fun enough, but there are a bunch of small problems that add up quickly into a very frustrating experience if you actually try to play through the whole game. Below are some of the worst things I encountered (I played on Nightmare, the second-highest difficulty): - The game wants to be a run-and-gun boomer shooter where you're never stopping or doubling back, instead circle-strafing around large amounts of enemies and mowing them down. However, the game design doesn't support this. The first problem is souls, which heal you and help you trigger your "demon mode" if you collect them. The souls take WAY too long to appear, showing up a few seconds after the enemy is dead, usually meaning you've already passed them by and are halfway across the arena by the time they appear. They also go away too quickly, disappearing before you have a chance to collect most of them (there is an upgrade which extends the time they exist, but it doesn't help nearly enough for it to not be a problem). The result is that if you want to collect souls, you have to make immediate, awkward double-backs because a failure to do so will mean the souls disappear. But if you DO double back to collect them, you're almost certainly getting shot. The collection radius on souls is also terrible. Sometimes I'll walk seemingly right over them and not collect them, which is odd because I don't have this problem with ammo pickups. - Speaking of contradictory game design, the levels themselves aren't good for this type of gameplay. They LOOK amazing, and in a different type of shooter I'd be praising them. However, they don't fit here. The levels are cluttered with tons of floor-level junk that will inevitably catch your character when you're trying to circle-strafe and will cause you to take massive damage. This happened in every level I played. You have to constantly be looking at the floor to avoid getting caught by it, which defeats the point of circle-strafing. Many of the levels also feature tight corridors and narrow areas which are not conducive to the type of game Painkiller wants to be. - Some of the "optional" tarot upgrade challenges aren't really optional. This is mostly because of the later-game boss fights. All of the boss fights are awful and boring mechanics-wise, but more annoying than that is the fact that some fights are almost unclearable without specific tarot upgrades, and you have no idea of knowing which ones they are without a guide. If you're like me, you don't really pay attention to optional challenges in a first playthrough of a game, but here you will NOT be beating this game on harder difficulties without completing obtuse optional challenges (which usually require tarots of their own to complete) so you can get the necessary setup to beat the broken bosses. Really killed the flow of the game for me. - The physics are inconsistent. I won't say they're completely bad, but I think they're unfinished. This mostly manifests as a problem with explosions: Sometimes explosions will kill every enemy nearby, sometimes explosions will ignore the enemies right next to them BUT will trigger another explosive barrel farther away than those enemies, setting off a chain reaction and killing you (while also somehow still not killing those enemies, I might add). If there's a way to make explosions consistent I certainly couldn't find it. The physics are also a problem with the stake driver weapon, because the projectile drop-off is so steep that it's hard to aim when bunny hopping around the arena. Would be fine in another, slower game. But not here. - Areas are very unbalanced, either way too easy or too hard. Some areas will be over before you know it and feel like filler, where you easily mow through trash in less than a minute without any struggle at all. Other times the waves will keep coming to the point where the game becomes almost impossible to get through if you're not aware of that area's tricks ahead of time. This extends to enemies as well. Some enemies are melee-only, slow, and so unthreatening that I can't see anyone ever being in danger from them, while other enemies have aimbot automatic weapons that shred you in seconds. Combine this with my comment about the arenas themselves and you can imagine how some of the areas are either mindnumbingly easy or incredibly frustrating depending on which enemies they are populated with. There are very few areas that felt "good" to beat after the first few levels, instead being either so boring that I felt nothing or so annoying that I was just happy they were over. - Two minor, more subjective complaints: Enemies frequently spawn on top of you and behind you. Not a problem for everyone, but I personally think it's a cheap way of artificially making the game harder but creating borderline-unavoidable damage unless you've been in that room before and know what to do. Also, many of the levels feel a bit TOO random to me. There's no consistent throughline of why you are where you are, and no consistent grouping of levels. Not a major issue and I know the story isn't a big deal here, but I would like a slight bit more consistency or logical progression. Overall, I can't recommend when there are so many amazing shooters out there that are better at doing what this game tries to do. It's a shame because I LOVE the look and vibe of the game, and I think if they had fixed the above issues it would be amazing. Sadly, it got to the point where it was no longer fun to play for me, and no amount of cool scenery could fix that.