Painkiller is shaping up to be a bloody good time for those who miss the mindless demon-slaying of classic Doom but want to share it with friends. This co-operative first-person shooter, developed by Anshar Studios, drops you and up to two other players into Purgatory itself, tasking your trio with gunning through hordes of hell's forces. It's a premise that wears its influences on its sleeve, yet it still manages to feel like a blast in its own right.
Having played through the prologue and two levels, the immediate impression is one of cathartic chaos. Rather than starting you with a feeble pistol, the game hands you an array of destructive tools from the off. The titular Painkiller is a melee-focused device with a rotary fan that chews through enemies and spits out ammunition when resources run low, though it demands you get up close and personal. For ranged engagements, the Stakegun acts as a precise shotgun, capable of upgrading stakes to spin and drill into demons, while the Electrodriver doubles as an assault rifle and a means to shock larger foes into a stunned state for an instant kill.
It's the movement that really sells the power fantasy, taking a page from the Doom playbook with sliding and grappling hooks that let you weave through the underworld. When the loop clicks, it's genuinely exhilarating, and the game's Tarot Card system adds a layer of replayability by letting you equip perks that alter how you approach runs. Yet, the experience is somewhat undercut by a lack of polish, with occasional geometry snags while grappling and difficulty spikes where enemy swarms can feel overwhelming.
Health pickups are also frustratingly scarce in the stages shown, which only amplifies the uneven challenge. Still, Painkiller's core design is so unashamedly fun that it's easy to see it becoming a favourite for co-op sessions, provided the developers smooth out the rough edges. As it stands, it's a slightly unrefined but thoroughly entertaining FPS that proves the genre is at its best when it lets you get in, get killing, and have a hell of a time doing it.
