Painkiller: Hell Wars review (Xbox)

Unfortunately, all this carnage does take its toll on the Xbox, as the game's frame rate is prone to seizing up when the action gets very hot. The game also has a washed-out look to it, especially in comparison with the PC version. Since so much of Painkiller's entertainment value is tied to the quality of its presentation, you'd probably have a better experience playing the original version of the game on a good PC, even though the level variety is better here.

As for the other differences, the game controls fine, though a few sequences require precision long-range shooting and it can be irritating trying to line up these shots. Another annoyance is the weapon-switching system, which forces you to go into a menu to choose up to two weapons at a time from your arsenal (the game's unique starting weapon, a combination spinning blade/laser, is always at hand). There's a slight, jarring pause as you go into and out of this menu, as if the game simply can't hold all the different weapons in memory at once like it could on the PC. You'll get used to this in time, but it feels like a compromised solution in a game that really ought to let you quickly switch between all your available guns. One other issue held over from the PC version is that the onscreen compass sometimes stops pointing you to your destination for some reason, forcing you to wander around looking for the next checkpoint. This dampens the game's otherwise exciting pace.

Though Painkiller: Hell Wars is a simple action game at heart, it does have some depth and unique features in its single-player mode. For instance, throughout the game you may earn special "black tarot" cards, which can give you special abilities for subsequent levels. Some cards give you permanent bonuses while others have temporary effects that may be triggered in a pinch. You don't strictly need these cards to make it through the game, and indeed, you probably won't find many of them unless you go out of your way. But they help give incentive to go back through the levels more than once. Multiple difficulty settings are also available, though experienced players should be sure to start out at the "nightmare" setting, the toughest available setting at the beginning (the others are a little too easy and not as intense). Another interesting aspect of the game is that most killed enemies turn into green, swirling souls that you can collect to restore a tiny bit of health--often, it'll be just enough to keep you alive for the next battle. After you collect enough of these, you temporarily transform into an invincible demon that can obliterate anything that moves. The first few times that you see the strange red-and-white look of this effect, it's quite striking.

The single-player portion of Painkiller feels dense with content due to the level variety and the relentlessness of the combat. There's reason to go back through the levels more than once, and Painkiller: Hell Wars also offers a complete multiplayer mode, playable over Xbox Live or system link. Up to eight players can compete in conventional modes like deathmatch and team deathmatch, capture the flag, last man standing, and duel (for one-on-one battles). A couple of quirky modes are available as well, including "voosh," which causes all players' weapons to automatically change every few seconds; and "the light bearer," where players compete to keep control over a damage-boosting power-up. Up to eight players can compete in most of these modes, and the assortment of maps seems well designed to promote fast-paced carnage and surprise ambushes. We found a fair number of people playing online in the various modes, and performance seemed solid overall, though not quite as responsive as the single-player game. Painkiller's multiplayer is a throwback to the pure intensity of the original Quake, so don't expect much more than a solid, pure deathmatch game. It's nothing fancy, but it can still be fun, especially when you nail somebody with a perfectly timed stakegun shot.

With the Xbox 360 out there stealing the original Xbox's thunder, it may seem difficult to drum up a lot of excitement about a new first-person shooter for the old 'box. But if you're one of the many who hasn't yet splurged for Microsoft's new console, you might just find that Painkiller is a refreshingly uncomplicated and fun example of running and gunning done right.