Amazon.com When it comes to first-person shooters, there are two schools of thought. One harkens back to the original Doom--frantic action, scary monsters, big weapons, and story is given short shrift. The second school is best exemplified by Half-Life: strong narrative, consistent real-world weapons, consistent monsters, and settings. Doom's heirs up until now have been Quake and Serious Sam, but now Painkiller comes onto the scene leaving bloody footprints, and … let the carnage begin! You play a man who dies in a pathetic car crash (he's distracted because he's holding his girl's hand) and has spent a long time in purgatory. He thinks this is unfair because, despite being well-schooled in the art of killing, he maintains that he's done nothing wrong. Heaven makes a deal with him. Take care of a little invasion problem concerning Hell, and our hero can enter those pearly gates. Weak storyline aside, Painkiller basically amounts to a brilliant series of arcade-style levels and challenges. The settings include darkened monasteries, graveyards, a horrifying asylum, a medieval town under siege, and even H-E-Double Hockey Sticks itself. The level design is brilliant, varied, and jam-packed with enemies. There seems to be no end to the amount and variety of cool monsters to fight, and they each explode into chunks of blood and gore in a most disturbingly satisfying manner. At the end of each level is a challenge, such as collecting a certain amount of gold or killing a Boss within a time limit. Winning the challenge gives you tarot cards you can use to make the game easier. The different cards bring haste, double-damage, invulnerability, and so on. This simple mechanic makes the game far more replayable than your average shooter. The graphics are first rate, which means you need a powerful PC to run the game with all the detail settings maxed out. The only other problem is a CD-copy protection bug that makes the game unplayable for some (a patch is available). Painkiller may seem a bit silly at first glance. But the gameplay mechanics, replayability (full multiplayer is also available), variety, and brilliant level design make it one of the finest and most satisfying shooters ever made. -Andrew S. Bub Pros: Superb gameplay and game balance Excellent level design Strong replayability Cons: Poor, unnecessary storyline High system requirements Problematic copy protection Product Description Stranded in a place between Heaven and Hell, Painkiller places you in the fight for your life. This intense first-person shooter lays down the lead with 100x the polygon count of the latest shooters for incredible graphics. Painkiller also utilizes the state-of-the-art Havok 2.0 physics engine for destructible environments and rag-doll physics. With a bevy of weapons at your disposal, you will face off against enemies with uncanny artificial intelligence. Do you have what it takes to make it out alive? From the Manufacturer Painkiller is a first-person horror shooter, designed to satisfy a gamer's hunger for intense, fast-paced action. It's an adrenaline addict's nightmare, where hellish monsters swarm in seemingly endless mobs. Graphically, Painkiller is unmatched. Played out over more than 20 completely unique and different levels, the proprietary 3D engine puts out 100X the polygons of the latest shooters, while adding increased texture quality and the latest lighting and shadowing techniques. Stranded in a place between Heaven and Hell, your time of judgment is at hand. The Underworld is on the verge of unholy war, and you are but a pawn in the infernal battle. As you fight for your purification, the truths behind the deceptions are revealed. Review Certain jaded gamers have been known to complain that modern FPS titles are too complex and stray from their roots. Those people, along with many others, should be more than satisfied with Painkiller, a shooter in the grand old style. Puzzles are typically nothing more complex than killing everything in sight, and levels usually funnel you from one encounter to the next with barely enough time to reload. These frantic fights are the emphasis and strength of Painkiller. The recent demo of Painkiller, though entertaining for a while, really doesn't do the full game justice. The retail version is vastly more engaging, with some of the best enemy variety around and lots of unlockable special powers. Complete a level while fulfilling a special goal, like a time limit or weapon restriction, and you'll receive a Black Tarot card. These can be equipped to add either a constant or one-time effect, and come in quite handy. Taking half damage or getting double ammo from boxes is as useful as you'd think, especially on the harder difficulty settings. The ever-changing encounters that you must face are the saving grace of Painkiller. Developer People Can Fly uses 26 different enemy types (plus bosses) perfectly. Just when you start getting bored with annihilating the grunts of the fir