Painkiller: Battle Out of Hell

It’s widely agreed that most Painkiller games with subtitles aren’t worth your time. Battle Out of Hell is usually considered the exception, although that seems to be mainly because it’s a direct expansion built by the original developers, rather than because it’s particularly high quality. It’s a collection of elements dropped from the original game before release, and boy, does it show. It seems like the goal was just to bring the content up to a functional state without any of the quality assurance that they’d normally see. As such, there’s zero consideration for balance in the new weapons and enemy types, the action is peppered with first-person jumping challenges that are inconvenient even by the standards of first-person jumping challenges, and even the audio seems haphazardly implemented.

The Painkiller everyone enjoyed is buried in here, with all its catharsis and penchant for insane hybrid weapons. The original power-granting tarot cards are automatically unlocked as well, making their associated mayhem more accessible. For whatever it’s worth in 2020, the strong multiplayer is also intact, complete with new, competently-constructed maps and modes. Unfortunately, more Painkiller also means more horrendous cutscenes and more arbitrary “puzzle” bosses.