Painkiller PS5 Review. C’mon, you can’t deny it can you? When you heard the name “Painkiller” you thought it had something to do with the 2004 video game, or far less likely-the 2018 Belgian drama film. In reality, Anshar Studios and 3D Realms have joined together to whip up this 2025 Painkiller, and it’s a first-person shooter in the style of DOOM-meaning it’s an arena blaster where you frantically mow down undead creatures amidst hellish landscapes. This is a reimagining of the 2004 Painkiller with an emphasis on co-operative gameplay, with loose connections to it predecessor sprouting the reasons for its existence. Does Painkiller aptly bringing the pain and becoming a new killer app for genre aficionados to rejoice, or is it simply doomed to fail?
Painkiller Review (PS5) – Painfully Passable
First things first, Painkiller is quite a silly name for this DOOM-aping FPS is it not? Pain isn’t getting killed in a literal sense, it’s getting dolled out ceaselessly in a bloody vengeful fashion. Maybe the game would’ve been better called Killer or Pain Giver or something that more adequately describes what you do in the game, but Painkiller is absurd and almost-nonsensical. Of course if you kill your foes then you’re relieving them of pain because they’ll be eviscerated and beckoned to the eternal afterlife – but in the traditional sense to the average person, it’s a drug that can be taken orally or injected to relieve pain. Overthinking tangent aside though, Painkiller is the name of the unique sawblade-fronted weapon you wield that is not only used to carve enemies into meaty Christmas turkey-like chunks, it’s a weapon that somehow replenishes ammo for your other weapons.
If it takes an admittedly cool rotating blade weapon to stand out, does this mean Painkiller is otherwise a by-the-numbers DOOM clone? Sort of is the fair answer. Painkiller doesn’t have many strings to its incendiary bow when it comes from separating itself from its blatant inspiration. There is plenty of gore and evisceration to dole out whether alone or with up to three others, and though it is a very competent FPS, it’s hard to ignore some of its generic traits.
One thing you’ll realize if you’ve been watching or playing co-op multiplayer experiences over the years, is that the covers of these games are suspiciously similar to each other. Usually, they include a band of rogues with weapons, maybe one or two of them are firing those weapons frantically, but there’s usually a character standing front and center holding a gun looking objectively awesome. Painkiller is another one of those games that flaunt its co-op identity on its cover art, and therefore it is eye-rolling-but this is standard promotion for shared gaming experiences these days, but there’s little denying the banality of presenting your latest shooter in this fashion.
Furthermore, the arenas playing host to your genocidal antics are unremarkable and about as cheerful and upbeat as getting your body immersed in a pool of volcanic lava, but we’re not playing Animal Crossing here, we’re meant to be slaughtering everything in sight for no reason other than that we’re in hell and there are nasty hostile entities who want to devour us like we’re their last ever meals.
This unremarkable essence carries over to the barebones story and the reason for you to unleash hell on hordes of Nephilim. You are basically a soul of the underworld trying to redeem themselves by halting a fallen angel known as Azazel, along with his armada of grotesque minions around various gothic environments.
Weaponized Carnage
The set-up exists solely (or soully if you want to get punny) to give you context to bludgeon and tenderize demonic forces, and thus it falls in line with many similar co-operative shooters that do the exact same thing. Clearly the emphasis of Painkiller is to bring you to the gratifying action for you to salivate over with your mates as though you were all made to go malnourished for a week and you first dinner is a roast with all the trimmings-but without the stuffing and pigs in blankets-the best parts in other words.
On the subject of turkeys in demon form and carving them up with the headlining Painkiller weapon among other lethal firearms, Painkiller does deliver the satisfying goods when it comes to weaponry. The Stakegun is always a reliable choice to impale the evildoers to the environment, and its secondary grenade launcher is a less-forgiving alternative to turn infected flesh into bloody mulch in seconds. The Electrodriver’s potential for short and medium-range carnage can’t be understated either, as it can sling out lightening fast shurikens that have concussive and explosive capabilities as well. The secondary for of the Electrodriver is a lightening gun that streams a power electric surge at medium-range like a tether, and is great for frustrating rivals during intense multiplayer sessions.
While the weapons mentioned above stand out, the rest of the arsenal is tame and generic by comparison. The SMGs, RPGs and shotguns are standard fare in all manner of shooters, and while they pack a mean and devastating punch, they aren’t anything special-quite like this return of Painkiller itself quite frankly.
The primary gameplay loop of Painkiller’s co-operative multiplayer is straightforward and no-thrills when you get stuck into it. The party leader picks a mission or raid, where you proceed to mow down legions of demons while completing unimaginative objectives, and once you’ve completed your run you return to the hub area and spend what you’ve earned on gear and ability enhancers.
A Tarot To Bring On The Claret
One such ability enhancer is the Tarot Card. As you keep eviscerating droves of devil spawn, you can gain access to Tarot Cards that grant you specialized buffs and they can be fused with a co-operative partner to make them even more powerful. You can slot in each Tarot Card before engaging in a level, and they can be swapped out and exchanged for other cards you unlock along the way.
There are twenty gold and twenty silver Tarot Cards to get ahold of and use to your advantage. Gold cards last for 30 seconds and include abilities such as taking only half damage, move faster, deal out double damage, weapons ignoring enemy armour and becoming impervious to enemy onslaughts for a short time. Silver Tarot Cards include health regeneration, max health bolstering to 150 from the standard 100, utilize gold cards three times within the level you’re playing, double the ammo in ammo crates, and increases to health based on the amount of souls you collect.
While Tarot Cards bolster your performance and can even the playing field during hectic skirmishes against fodder, there’s the overpowering sense we’ve seen these enhancers in other similar arena shooters before. Sure, they are indulgent to utilize and allow the constant purging of fiends to feel more exacting and authoritative, but they can only do so much before the repetitive objectives become too mundane to tolerate.
Waves of Gore And Groan-Inducing Game Design
Fending off waves of enemies, collecting blood barrels and playing escort are the main tasks in Painkiller and they are a pain due to how repetitive and tedious they become over the long haul. The drama of completing these objectives does keep the excitement up as those hordes can be unrelenting and you’ll find yourself reviving teammates while trying to stay alive yourself more often than not, but like everything else, there’s nothing particular engrossing about your purpose in Painkiller besides murdering every existing hostile entity as brutally as possible.
Painkiller won’t drop your jaw, but it’s a competently designed and pleasant-enough looking game if dingy hellscapes are your thing. You’ll crave some colour and inspiration away from the doldrums of the arena shooter colour palette, but it is otherwise a competent-looking shooter. The same can be said of the sound design, it packs a punch and you’ll find it to be a tasty audio experience.
If you’re craving the wholesale slaughtering of otherworldly beings, Painkiller has you covered despite a myriad of superior alternatives. You’ll enjoy buddying up with co-operative pals and relish in the carnage of the game’s meaty weaponry. However, if you’re a veteran of the arena shooter or a learned observer, you’ll find Painkiller is far too similar to the genre’s juggernauts than can be comfortably accepted.
There’s no reason to hate on Painkiller nor detest its competent efforts to replicate formulas, but you will only be left wanting and desiring a demon-pulverizing simulator with more bite than this one offers. It’ll do in a pinch but Painkiller’s painful pleasures are only as evident as its bog-standard banalities, and should be approached with caution.
Painkiller is available now on PS5, Xbox Series S and X, and PC.
The review copy was kindly provided by the publisher.