The original game has 25 levels, this version only has 14. Why, 1C? This sequel has different voices (except "I don't get it" phrase), cruder animation, and the humor is probably not as good. A few jokes are reused, the half of the rest are not very funny. Some puzzles are really not obvious, but that's to be expected from Pilot Brothers. I can only recommend the game for fans of the series and people who enjoy this type of adventure games.
I remember reviews in the game magazines when the game came out. They weren't bad, but didn't name the game anything special but a bit less fun Serious Sam clone with a hellish theme. And those reviews were true. I had a lot of fun, but didn't really play more than a couple of levels at once, and there's actually not that many enemies per level, with maximum being 300-something, which isn't that impressive after Serious Sam. It still was fun, but Painkiller doesn't have easter eggs and jokes SS had, so yeah, it's somewhat less fun. But as years went, I started appreciating the game more and more, especially after Overdose, Redemption and other addons/mods/kinda-sequels-but-not-really came out. Also more dumb SS-like shooters were getting compared to Painkiller in game reviews. It grew on people. People wanted more, that's why Overdose and others were released, but none came close to the original game (well, maybe Overdose with its Belial kinda did), and it makes you appreciate what People Can Fly did. Then Hell and Damnation, an Unreal Engine remake, came out. It basically tried to replicate the original game. And failed. You can see all the same locations, same monsters, same weapons, mostly the same mechanics (plus something new, but that besides the point), but the feel is just wrong. The remake it good on its own, but not as Painkiller. And again, it makes you appreciate the original game, this Painkiller even more. In the end, you'd much rather play the original Painkiller than any other addon/mod/remake/etc, or even some similar games. Each location is atmospheric, each weapon is unique and very useful (even PainKiller), every enemy is fun to shoot, every boss is a friggin giant. So buy the game, load your shotgun and prepare to bunny hop like back in the good old days.
1) It's only one game for the full price. And a higher one than the original disk had. 2) The original disk also included "The case of serial killer". 3) Some gags were removed, although some were added. 4) A button for the solution was added. WTF? Since when do adventure games come with a built-in solution? 5) Levels 6 and 14 for some unknown reason are significantly more difficult to finish. 6) A few sounds are missing here and there. 7) Audio sync issues in the cutscenes. If you want the original Pilot Brothers experience, buy this game to clear your mind and go download the original disk image from torrents. It still works even on Win10.
