As a massive fan of the original Painkiller games, I played the life out of Battle Out of Hell. When I saw they announced a “NEW” Painkiller game, I almost jumped out of my skin. This series has been quiet for a long, long time, and the trailers looked brutal, bloody, and chaotic.
Was it worth the wait? I’m not entirely sure how to answer that.
This 2025 release isn’t a sequel or a simple remake; it’s a complete “reimagining.” And by reimagining, they mean it’s a 3-player, mission-based co-op shooter that feels heavily inspired by games like Warhammer: Vermintide and Doom Eternal. If you’re a fan of those games, this might do it for you. But —and this is a massive “but” —it’s not Painkiller.
Salvation Through Side-Quips
Trapped in Purgatory for your sins, the Voice of the Creator gives you a chance at redemption. You must stop the fallen angel Azazel and his three monstrous Nephilim children from invading Earth.
That’s about all the story you get, and it’s almost entirely nonexistent. What little narrative exists is delivered through codex entries you have to read and incessant, cringeworthy dialogue from the four playable characters. When was Painkiller a comedy? Almost every few minutes, someone has to make a half-baked joke. The original’s grim, serious tone is nowhere to be found.
A Mashup of Better Ideas
The classic Painkiller formula is gone. In its place is a modern co-op loop that borrows heavily from its contemporaries. The gameplay is a mix of Vermintide, Doom Eternal, and a bit of Bulletstorm, with only a dash of the original game for flavor.
You play as one of four characters—Ink, Void, Sol, and Roch. Bizarrely, it’s a 3-player co-op game, which means one character is perpetually benched. You’d think these characters would have unique abilities, but sadly, it’s a non-factor. They just provide minor, unbalanced passive buffs to stats like damage, energy, ammo, or health.
The content is shockingly thin. The game features only three “raids,” each containing three missions. That’s it. Nine missions total.
This scarcity extends to the arsenal. There are only six guns, and you can only carry two at a time—a cardinal sin for a Painkiller game. The combat itself is fast, mashing Doom 2016‘s forward-moving aggression with a jump, dash, and slide. But the meta-progression is a huge miss. Weapon upgrade trees are limiting, and the tarot card system, once a source of awesome power-ups, is now a system of lame, consumable cards that delete themselves after a run.
The core gameplay loop is designed to be restrictive. You fight mobs to build a resource for your “Painkiller” execution weapon, which you then use to gain alt-fire ammo. You need this alt-fire ammo to stagger a bullet-sponge elite, which you can then execute to repeat the process. The problem? The Painkiller execution itself is on a cooldown. It feels like the game is actively designed to prevent you from enjoying its best-feeling mechanics.
Once you beat the nine missions, all that’s left is the “Rogue Angel” mode—a tacked-on roguelike that RNGs your starting loadout and throws random, unfun mechanics at you.
A Well-Optimized Hell
If there is one area where Painkiller absolutely shines, it’s in its presentation and performance. The game is beautiful, running on UE4 with fantastic, high-frame-rate optimization. I experienced no crashes or fatal errors; it runs perfectly from start to finish, which is a rarity these days.
The levels are a gorgeous mix of classic Painkiller gothic and Doom‘s hellish sci-fi. Gunplay has a nice, weighty feel; the music is great, and the weapons’ sound design is satisfying. It’s clear this is where the budget went.
Pros & Cons
| PROS | CONS |
| + Full offline support with competent AI bots. | – It’s not a Painkiller game in any way but the name. |
| + Beautiful graphics and fantastic optimization. | – Extremely “skinny” on content (only 9 campaign levels). |
| + Runs flawlessly with no crashes or major bugs. | – Restrictive 2-weapon carry limit. |
| + No DRM or intrusive AntiCheat. | – Annoying, cringeworthy dialogue and a nonexistent story. |
| + Gunplay feels satisfying and impactful. | – Forced co-op, even in offline play (no true solo). |
| + Rogue Angel mode adds some replay value. | – Weak meta-progression and a lame, consumable tarot card system. |
| + Epic and fun boss fights. | – Separate progression for online and offline modes. |
| + AI bots are surprisingly helpful. | – Restrictive gameplay loop designed around cooldowns. |
Painkiller: I understand it's a "reimagining," but it feels completely unoriginal. The developers have taken Doom Eternal, mashed it with Vermintide, added a painfully thin campaign, and tacked on a roguelike mode nobody asked for. All the unique aspects of the original Painkiller are gone. Personally, as a massive fan of the originals, I feel sour playing this. It's Painkiller in name only. That being said… if you have never played the original games, you might love this. If you can get over the name, forget it's a Painkiller title, and treat it like a new co-op shooter spin-off, it's actually a very good game to play. The shooting is fun, it runs perfectly, and it’s a decent co-op romp with friends. It's just not the game fans were waiting for. – Obsidian
