Painkiller – PC – Preview

E3 2003 – Hands On

Ah FPS titles … all of us who are
into them have played multiple different types and all sorts of styles and
varieties. Well, Dreamcatcher has also jumped into the FPS arena with a couple
of games like GORE and Iron Storm, but now are looking to set a new standard in
the style.

Painkiller starts out innocently
enough. You and your wife are heading out for a night on the town, and suddenly
are caught up in a fatal car crash. Your wife is redeemed immediately and heads
to the promised land while you on the other hand head into purgatory due to some
shadowy things in your past. You are enlisted as a mercenary for heaven, and
your job is to eliminate an evil force looking to overthrow heaven. Well, it’s
all in a days work … right?

The main areas that impressed me
with Painkiller lie not only in the story but in the graphics as well. When I
was firing my gun at enemies, their clothing would realistically wave and swoosh
around them from the impact or falling down. In addition, things like crates
would tumble over when the bottom one was shot and the environment would even
cause some interesting kills as well, especially since one of my assailants
wound up pinned through his head onto a pillar after a grenade went off near his
feet. Basically, this is a new engine called "Pain" and was created by
Dreamcatcher … and it’s looking pretty darn good so far. Be looking for this
one around December of 2003.