Just finished
Painkilller Black Edition (Gog version, still have the physical copy
)
It's
Painkiller and the
Battle out of Hell extension.
First with Gog, the French version (it was the auto-install) is 1.6.0, known for a nasty bug in one of the last levels, an activation point doesn't trigger, so you're stuck endlessly
So, change to English version, little auto patch and ta-daa ! version 1.6.4, no bugs and still working saves !
Thus, I've experienced some bugs here and there, and some crashs too (and a corrupted savepoint), but nothing troublesome in 15h 08m (longer than F.E.A.R !)
Back to the game, I've mixed feelings.
It was better in my memory ... When the planet are aligned, Painkiller is great, good ambiance, fun weapons, and (to me) not as good as Serious Sam gameplay but close.
Some major flaws, some levels are great and some boring and uninspired.
Most levels are huge, but you fight in closed area, and when all the monsters are killed, go to the check point, and proceed to the next area and so on ...
And sometimes you get stuck, you miss an enemy, at the top of something, and search for him in a deserted area ...
Boss are huge and can only be killed in some ways (I've had to check some faqs) and rather stupidly
To be honest, i'had a 50 / 50 : love / hate experience with Painkiller.
Very far from being a bad game, but some gameplay choice are outdated by today standards ... Was fun to go back in time to see the evolution of gaming
I remembered it as a top game, just an Ok/not so bad game today especially some very goods levels.
Note : the extension levels are better refined though.
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Last level of Painkiller was a genius idea, a huge map remembering all the wars Humanity has faced, but nothing is moving, only ghosts and Lucifer to finish.
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As I said, some levels shows a very good atmosphere
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The Loony Park, perhaps the most remembered level, a highlight for sure !
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Look how the games were in full low back then. Even no weapon on screen ! When I see perfs. bench on TPU (ex the last one : Avatar) ther no much visual difference between Low and Ultra.