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Is People Can Fly’s hellish shooter late to the party or will it find success on the Xbox?

For the past few years, People Can Fly have flirted with bringing their horrific Armageddon style shooter to the consoles. With glimpses of demons, undead Nazis, psychotic ninjas, and an all out war between good and evil, Painkiller: Hell Wars is their first title to be released outside of the PC. After three long awaited years, the time has come for the game to be released on Xbox, but the question remains, is it worth dying for?

Death is only the beginning for our hero Daniel Garner in PHW. Daniel is thrown headlong into a raging eternal battle between Heaven and Hell. After crashing his car on a stormy night, Daniel and his wife pass away only for him to realize that he is not accompanying her upstairs in heaven. Rather, he is approached by a mediator for God, to assist him in finding his wife. The mediator explains that in order for Daniel to ever see his wife again, he must eliminate four of Lucifer’s generals in order to prevent an all out assault on the pearly gates. Reluctantly, Daniel agrees and thus the game begins.



Spanning over twenty levels in the single player campaign, players can expect an all around "shoot em up style" game in respects to games such as, Doom and Quake. Throughout the entire game, especially once in Hell, the game is unforgiving; sending masses of enemies at the player with no intention of ever slowing down. In order to move onto the next level, the player must eliminate all enemies in a designated area then proceed to the checkpoint and repeat.

After so many levels, the player will be challenged by a boss battle. Compared to other first-person shooters that are currently on the market, the boss battles are refreshing. The boss battles strategies incorporate much of the run and shoot aspect, but, also add a little puzzle solving elements for a little spice. I have to mention that the final battle is doozy - just wait, you’re in for a big surprise!