My PC crashed just as I was almost finished typing this damn review up and so I had to retype the whole damn thing and so some stuff from the original is now missing. That and my previous page button on my mouse keeps sticking so every time I go to post this review without saving my word copy I'm guaranteed to lose my changes on here.
Painkiller: Overdose was released on October 30, 2007. It was developed as a fan mod by Mindware Studios and later published by DreamCatcher Interactive after giving full financial and technical support for the project. Just like the previous two installments Overdose exploits the Havok 2.0 engine.
Overdose is a standalone game so you don't need to have the original Painkiller to run it.
The Story:
The player takes the role of Belial, a half-angel, half-demon gatekeeper. Belial is attacked by Cerberus in Purgatory who then rips his wings and leaves him imprisoned by Satan's life force or something like that. After Daniel kills Satan Belial gets freed and now he can go and hunt down Cerberus.
Belial:
Daniel was a just a man trying to be with his wife in Heaven. Belial is a half-demon, half-angel that will spout one liners throughout the coarse of the game, just like Duke Nukem and Caleb do. You can see how these characters are different and how some thing like this can be quite jarring for fans of the original game. Now I have no problem with Belial it's just that when the protagonist of a game in a series is so drastically different than the last. Most people don't like the change from a everyman character to a badass and vice versa.
Gameplay:
Painkiller's original premise of running through levels laughing while you plow through endless hordes of enemies returns in full glory. The Demon Time sequence returns also. As well as the Black Tarot cards. So really nothing from the original has changed. The gold coins also return yet I still have no idea what they're for other than to unlock certain BT cards. The Holy Items also return but there not in every level so searching for them is quite annoying.
Overdose has 16 new levels that take from the original's premise of it all actually taking place in Purgatory. You go from levels like Chinatown, Swamps, a goddamn Asteroid (which is one of the longer levels), and even the American Civil War.
Enemies:
Some of the same enemies return from the original and I'm guessing the expansion as I haven't played it. You now have a new common enemy, the Scythe Monks as I call them, which are actually called Skull Monks. Even the Pox Monks (Supreme Skull Monks and Upgraded Skull Monks as I should be calling them) return for another round of annoyance. There are 40+ enemies in Overdose compared to the 51 (including Boss characters) in the original.
Weapons:
* Razor Cube - Basically the same thing as Daniel's Painkiller. Right down to the combo.
* Bone Gun - Its primary fire shoots high-speed bone fragments while its secondary now petrifies opponents instead of freezing them.
* Crossbow - The crossbow fires three bolts simultaneously with deadly accuracy. Alternate fire launches several exploding shrunken skulls that bounce around or explode on contact with an enemy.
* Rocket Launcher - Virtually unchanged from its previous installments, the only difference is that it now fires three small rockets orbiting each other instead of a single large one, thus reducing the firepower and splash damage of the primary fire.
* Demon Head - The torn off head of a demon guarding the dungeon Belial was imprisoned in. It can fire a laser beam from its eyes or let loose a terrifying scream that can pierce through multiple opponents at a time.
* Shadow Blade - A demonically charged dagger. Primary launches a wave of three homing skulls that do medium damage and can track quite well. Secondary launches the spinning dagger forward.
* Flintlock - An old western style shotgun filled with radioactive waste. It fires either concentrated bursts of green waste or a spray of slime that damages and slows down enemies it hits.
* Demon Eggs - Essentially Painkiller's version of a grenade that can be stuck to walls or even enemies. Primary fire throws an egg. Pressing primary fire again will detonate it while pressing secondary will throw another one.
Mulitplayer:
Just like with the original I have yet to play the multiplayer but when I do I will update the post.
Technical Issues:
Overdose has some instances where the frame rate will drop out to about zero. Even on high end PCs that I've played this game on it happens. I played it on a mid-range PC and ran into almost constant frame rate issues but I'm poor so obviously my social class is to blame. I have also noticed some instances of sound cutting out, but this goes mostly with the frame rate problem I have. There was also a part during the first boss fight in which I fell through the fucking level. Normally you get knocked into the pit but I fell though the platform. I'm even running this game patched.
Load Times:
This honestly needs it's own section. Like I said, I have a mid-range PC so this may be a problem depending on what rig you have but I clocked a load time that was almost ONE MINUTE AND TEN SECONDS and this was just loading a checkpoint. Loading boss levels takes a little less time but even that is over 30 seconds in length.
Final Score: 8/10
Painkiller: Overdose was released on October 30, 2007. It was developed as a fan mod by Mindware Studios and later published by DreamCatcher Interactive after giving full financial and technical support for the project. Just like the previous two installments Overdose exploits the Havok 2.0 engine.
Overdose is a standalone game so you don't need to have the original Painkiller to run it.
The Story:
The player takes the role of Belial, a half-angel, half-demon gatekeeper. Belial is attacked by Cerberus in Purgatory who then rips his wings and leaves him imprisoned by Satan's life force or something like that. After Daniel kills Satan Belial gets freed and now he can go and hunt down Cerberus.
Belial:
Daniel was a just a man trying to be with his wife in Heaven. Belial is a half-demon, half-angel that will spout one liners throughout the coarse of the game, just like Duke Nukem and Caleb do. You can see how these characters are different and how some thing like this can be quite jarring for fans of the original game. Now I have no problem with Belial it's just that when the protagonist of a game in a series is so drastically different than the last. Most people don't like the change from a everyman character to a badass and vice versa.
Gameplay:
Painkiller's original premise of running through levels laughing while you plow through endless hordes of enemies returns in full glory. The Demon Time sequence returns also. As well as the Black Tarot cards. So really nothing from the original has changed. The gold coins also return yet I still have no idea what they're for other than to unlock certain BT cards. The Holy Items also return but there not in every level so searching for them is quite annoying.
Overdose has 16 new levels that take from the original's premise of it all actually taking place in Purgatory. You go from levels like Chinatown, Swamps, a goddamn Asteroid (which is one of the longer levels), and even the American Civil War.
Enemies:
Some of the same enemies return from the original and I'm guessing the expansion as I haven't played it. You now have a new common enemy, the Scythe Monks as I call them, which are actually called Skull Monks. Even the Pox Monks (Supreme Skull Monks and Upgraded Skull Monks as I should be calling them) return for another round of annoyance. There are 40+ enemies in Overdose compared to the 51 (including Boss characters) in the original.
Weapons:
* Razor Cube - Basically the same thing as Daniel's Painkiller. Right down to the combo.
* Bone Gun - Its primary fire shoots high-speed bone fragments while its secondary now petrifies opponents instead of freezing them.
* Crossbow - The crossbow fires three bolts simultaneously with deadly accuracy. Alternate fire launches several exploding shrunken skulls that bounce around or explode on contact with an enemy.
* Rocket Launcher - Virtually unchanged from its previous installments, the only difference is that it now fires three small rockets orbiting each other instead of a single large one, thus reducing the firepower and splash damage of the primary fire.
* Demon Head - The torn off head of a demon guarding the dungeon Belial was imprisoned in. It can fire a laser beam from its eyes or let loose a terrifying scream that can pierce through multiple opponents at a time.
* Shadow Blade - A demonically charged dagger. Primary launches a wave of three homing skulls that do medium damage and can track quite well. Secondary launches the spinning dagger forward.
* Flintlock - An old western style shotgun filled with radioactive waste. It fires either concentrated bursts of green waste or a spray of slime that damages and slows down enemies it hits.
* Demon Eggs - Essentially Painkiller's version of a grenade that can be stuck to walls or even enemies. Primary fire throws an egg. Pressing primary fire again will detonate it while pressing secondary will throw another one.
Mulitplayer:
Just like with the original I have yet to play the multiplayer but when I do I will update the post.
Technical Issues:
Overdose has some instances where the frame rate will drop out to about zero. Even on high end PCs that I've played this game on it happens. I played it on a mid-range PC and ran into almost constant frame rate issues but I'm poor so obviously my social class is to blame. I have also noticed some instances of sound cutting out, but this goes mostly with the frame rate problem I have. There was also a part during the first boss fight in which I fell through the fucking level. Normally you get knocked into the pit but I fell though the platform. I'm even running this game patched.
Load Times:
This honestly needs it's own section. Like I said, I have a mid-range PC so this may be a problem depending on what rig you have but I clocked a load time that was almost ONE MINUTE AND TEN SECONDS and this was just loading a checkpoint. Loading boss levels takes a little less time but even that is over 30 seconds in length.
Final Score: 8/10
