Painkiller: Battle out of Hell Review

Battle out of Hell was the only release I was looking forward to this fall. While some will say Painkiller introduced nothing new to the genre, using old techniques bundled with some twists and turns, I’d say that’s only partially correct. The newness it brought to us in 2004 was exactly the old that disappeared after Quake. Serious Sam was the only notable exception but it differs substantially from Painkiller despite some obvious similarities.

Story
……Oh right, the story… it picks up where the original left us. After Daniel is surrounded by Alastor and his armies Eve summons a portal out of hell and saves both. The demon still remains on the loose, so the only way to defend Purgatory is to stop Alastor once and for all. Daniel prepares his gear yet again, not knowing that Eve has something on her mind. I won’t spoil the ending for you, but I will tell you that it isn’t conclusive and keeps the way open for a sequel.

Before you have a chance to take in the complex saga, you’ll lose concentration and be distracted by the awful presentation of the cut-scenes. Content and dialogue are ok; it’s the actual production that’s laughable. Digital Amigos has done a poor job on the lip-synching, modeling, and rendering of the characters. The overall quality is way below that of the original; but, fortunately, there are only two movies: the intro and the outro. Daniel has especially suffered from the inexperienced hands of the designers, looking more like a fat loony than himself; or maybe he’s been slapped by demons more times than necessary the first time through the afterlife. Either way it just doesn’t match the game’s artwork (see screenshots for proof).

Gameplay
…remains unchanged, just expanded with more of the intense and twisted levels I loved from before. The concept of most levels is predictable, but it’s very well executed. Dead City is a vast downtown area filled with abandoned vehicles. Stone Pit is what it implies- a huge hole in the ground you’ll need to climb your way up on a wooden skeleton. The Orphanage is filled with screaming children and is actually extremely scary. Architecture throughout is phenomenal, with some nice touches like the visible markings of Skoda on some of Dead City’s vehicles.

There are a total of ten new visually stunning locations, with more than twenty new demons to throw around in them, each being unique to the expansion with none of the originals reused. Screaming orphans, falling businessmen from the sky splatter on the ground and reshape into zombies soon after, preachers wielding axes and throwing whatever objects they manage to find at you, enormous mechanized spiders, and kamikaze soldiers, just to name a few. Almost all of them have more than one mode of attack and grouped together they require a lot of skill to get rid of. There are two level bosses but I won’t give anything away. Levels are harder, the enemies tougher.

There are of course new tarot cards which I can’t describe since I managed to get zero. I thank the developers for allowing us to use the original tarot cards without actually having finished Painkiller. They’re all unlocked and the only things needed are coins; so even if you’re unable to acquire any new ones like me, you have all the old ones free of effort. Two new weapons, four if you count the secondary fire modes, are included: an SMG/fire-thrower combo and a bolt/explosive gun. The latter simultaneously ejects five thin rods ahead and ten bouncing explosive charges as an alternative. It seems to me like an advanced version of the stake gun. It’s also equipped with a scope vision that’s very useful in a lot of situations. There are a few frustrating places involving jumping, annoying mainly because of the longer loading times. A small tip – bunny hop over the Coliseum pits to save yourself a lot of time. Jumping is part of the game so these kinds of obstacles shouldn’t present problems to experienced players.

Advancing through the levels gave me huge satisfaction, and that 'man I love games’ feeling. The massive environments, cleverly designed enemies, the diverse weapons arsenal, the tarot cards, the non-stop in-your-face action, and the rag doll all fit and combine to provide an immense and joyous experience on par with the original. You can’t help but smile when you blast away a dozen zombies, with more falling from the sky or emerging from fire-spewing sewers, while a bunch of exploding vehicles fly up in the air thanks to a gicantic spider-robot. That’s Dead City all the way through. The best thing is that all the levels offer completely different locations and enemies and, in turn, challenges that keep the experience fresh and diverse.

Graphics & Sound
That’s another thing to smile about. Preserving the top quality high-resolution textures, high-polygon models, and fluid character movements, People Can Fly have also added dynamic lightning offering per-pixel specular mapping and shadowing, bloom which unlike Invisible War is done properly, and warp effects such as heat and haze distortion. Water effects have also been improved, showing all surroundings accurately and even reflecting the fire from the flamethrower. Everything looks spectacular, and knowing the fast performance of the engine even on a Ti4200 I’d rate it one of the best of the year.

Apart from the music which wasn’t as good as before, sound is excellent. The enemy’s grunts and shouts and the non-battle ambient tracks add to the atmosphere. Sometimes it can be unsettling especially during the opening level which sent chills down my spine. The rest of the package is more than capable in delivering the right sounds, so overall there was no real let down.

Replay Value
Replay value is not bad for this type of game. You will more than likely need to replay a level to get its corresponding tarot card or to complete it on Trauma difficulty. That’s where the difference between good and insanely good players lies. The ‘5-start challenge’ or finishing a level 100% is also an incentive. Or just play it again because the game is so much fun.

Multiplayer
A couple of standard modes have been added, Last Man Standing and Capture the Flag, bringing the total modes to an impressive eight. Netcode’s lag problems have been improved as well with very low pings almost everywhere. There’s now a Warm-Up system, allowing you to move around while you’re waiting for everyone to get ready; before you had to sit and look at the info screen. Spectating has also been allowed, giving you the chance to watch a match without participating. Another new feature is the Voting System; you can now call a vote using the console. All in all those are welcome additions but won’t save the multiplayer from obsolescence. Pity it’s quite unpopular, so it’s hard to find players and hard to find servers with constant users, or in most cases impossible to find. At the moment I’m writing this, there are exactly 33 players online, a real shame because there is so much potential.

Conclusion
Just a few last words to sum up what I’ve been trying to say so far: Battle out of Hell is a must buy to those that enjoyed the original. Hardcore fans should already own it, and everyone else will miss out on another great game yet again.

Pros:
-Graphic engine updates
-Creative and enjoyable levels and monsters
-New multiplayer additions
-More of the excessive and intense action

Cons:
-Unprofessional cut-scenes
-Long load times