Painkiller

"It&s;s not the return fans of the series were hoping for, but that doesn&s;t stop it from being a decent cooperative shooter. It does, however, need more content."

"Considering the limited amount of content available at launch, it&s;s hard to justify a $40 price tag for Painkiller. That said, its core gameplay remains fun and engaging, and with future content, it has the potential to become a solid …"

"As a reboot of the 2004 game with the same name, this is a pretty poor entry. Changing what players loved from an emotional story to a generic multiplayer shooter doesn’t offer the best of gaming. That’s not to say …"

"Derivative, degenerative, and largely despondent in what it offers, the completely unnecessary co-operative core of this Painkiller reboot is what sabotages its potential."

"Your feelings on the latest iteration of Painkiller will depend on several different factors. If you&s;re looking for a title with a good story and characters or crave a true single-player experience, you&s;ll hate it. If you&s;re looking for something …"

"The new Painkiller is a weird, unfinished hybrid – a game with a story-driven campaign that masquerades as an endgame, a game that was meant to provide fun by playing quick raids, but someone forgot to create a worthwhile goal …"

"Painkiller is a game that has essentially borrowed only the weapon arsenal and tarot card mechanics from the original franchise."

"Painkiller is an old-school cooperative shooter that&s;s overall fun and quite adrenaline-pumping, sold at a price far from AAA. It boasts a good weapon system, as well as a cooperative experience that&s;s generally enjoyable and satisfying enough. Currently, Anshar Studios&s; …"

"Painkiller has some truly incredible weapons and powers, but not a lot to do with them. I saw everything the game had to offer in one sitting, and while there is replayability, the repetitive and boring objectives prevent me from …"

"The levels all look very similar, the characters play very similarly, and the story is forgettable. However, anyone looking for a classic shooter and who can convince their group of friends to buy "Painkiller" can certainly be entertained for a …"

"An uninspired return, frantic and fun, but lacking the soul and depth that made the original Painkiller a cult game."

"Painkiller is a shame not because it&s;s especially bad, but because some of the fun weapons and combat are buried beneath the dull, uninspired and repetitive mechanics, and a surprisingly short 6-hour runtime. It can be fun to shoot demons …"

"Some baffling design decisions mar what is otherwise a satisfying shooter."

"The new Painkiller is here, and while you&s;ll enjoy shooting alongside other players, it&s;s not the game that players wanted &s; it&s;s too far from the original concept."

"If you&s;re craving the wholesale slaughtering of otherworldly beings, Painkiller has you covered despite a myriad of superior alternatives. You&s;ll enjoy buddying up with co-operative pals and relish in the carnage of the game&s;s meaty weaponry. However, if you&s;re a …"

"Painkiller is a hard game to recommend. It’s certainly not made with the loyal fans in mind and does little to appeal to the new crowd. Even if you’re dead-set on getting on sale, I recommend buying your best mates …"

"By distancing itself from its origins, the new Painkiller tries to reach a new audience by leaning into an online, co-op experience similar to many other titles in the genre, but it ends up aiming high while offering very little."

"Painkiller does not completely dishonor the series. It works perfectly as a mindless shooter who knows how to provide the necessary hours of fun. Only it is too thin to be able to count as a full-fledged reboot."

"Add everything up and include a season pass that you probably won’t care enough to finish if you buy it and you’ll find that Painkiller 2025 is literally just an attempt to cash in on a franchise that’s been stuck …"

"Painkiller is easy to recommend with the right expectations. If you want a story-heavy shooter with deep narrative payoff, this is not that game. If you want a polished demon-grinder where movement is snappy, weapons are fun to master, and …"

"Painkiller 2025 is a game that offers real pleasure in short sessions and genuine frustration over longer ones."

"Painkiller combines DOOM’s speed, Back 4 Blood’s cooperative chaos, and its own legendary flair for carnage. The refined weapon system, deep progression, and atmospheric visuals make it a must-play for fans of high-intensity shooters. Though brief in length, its sheer …"

"I’ll give Painkiller props for its imaginative weapons, sharp visuals, and visceral combat. It’s a hollow and transitory experience for solo players offline, and you can see what Painkiller has to offer in very short order. As a co-op game, …"

"The 2025 Painkiller reboot feels like a game stuck between two worlds: on the one hand, it delivers fast-paced, straightforward action, a technically polished foundation, and an atmospheric Purgatory setting that’s a lot of fun to play through in co-op …"

"As someone approaching Painkiller with a fresh set of eyes and no preconceived ideas of what it should be, I can’t say that I found it that much better. I mean, I didn’t loathe it, but I certainly can’t recommend …"

"This Painkiller is a generic multiplayer shooter with a generic Christian horror-themed setting and aesthetics, and none of it is memorable."

"Painkiller could be considered the median of all co-op shooters. It offers mindless running and gunning but doesn&s;t go any farther than that. With equal good points and bad points, it&s;s simply a game that doesn&s;t offer anything new to …"

"A catastrophic failure. Compared to the original, this remake collapses under the weight of its own misguided changes, resulting in a punishing experience that seems beyond repair."

"If you want a few hours of low commitment demon slaying with friends, Painkiller does the job and does it with style where it counts most – in your hands and on your triggers. If you are hunting for something …"

"Painkiller on PS5 delivers classic arena shooting, built around quick missions and constant action. The hellish settings sets the mood, and the audio keeps the combat feeling loud and satisfying. I do wish Painkiller offered more content though, after one …"

"Technically, this Painkiller reboot is a great success, boasting beautiful visuals and mind-blowing, fluid, challenging, and energetic gameplay. Its biggest problem is that it resembles the current vision of DOOM more than its own origins, which has cost it its …"

"With it being a co-op shooter, series fans aren&s;t likely to get on with this new Painkiller unless they approach it with an open mind. And indeed, while it&s;s nothing special, slaughtering demons with friends while amassing an arsenal of …"

"Painkiller (2025) is a solid, if often flawed, co-op reimagining of a retro shooter that could have, honestly, been called anything else."

"You’ll have a blast tearing through demons, laughing at the ridiculous story, and remembering why simple, over-the-top shooters still have a place in 2025. If you’re playing solo, though… your mileage may vary."

"Painkiller is an honest production about its intentions: it wants you to shoot, explode, and customize your arsenal until you find the perfect combination for destruction. In this goal, it succeeds. The combat is satisfying, the weapon customization is robust, …"

"Painkiller is a game about nothing for no one, a mediocre resurrection of a classic trying to put a new cover on an old book and hoping it still has some relevance 21 years later"

"I understand it&s;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 …"