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Over twenty years on and after a string of standalone expansions, the last of which dates back to 2012, Painkiller is back. At the helm of the ground-up reboot is Anshar Studios, known for lending Larian a hand developing Baldur’s Gate 3 and Bloober Team to bring to life Layers of Fear, with 3D Realms and Saber Interactive picking up publishing duties.
Gone is the single-player campaign with a pivot to three-player co-op, where players gun their way through demonic hordes in instanced raids as they vie for a ticket out of purgatory. With a rap sheet of transgressions with an eternity in hell written all over it, the Voice of the Creator chucks you a lifeline – defeat the fallen angel Azazel and his Nephilim offspring. Toe the line to earn salvation, save Earth, and escape purgatory.
Though Painkiller isn’t pencilled in to land until Autumn, we were given the chance to mess around in a preview build. After a brief tutorial, you’re thrown into a hub area where you can unlock weapons using gold earned during raids, equip tarot card perks, and select a character. There are four to choose from, each with a unique perk: Rock has a larger health pool, Void dishes out higher damage, Sol carries more ammunition, and Ink regenerates energy soul quicker.
After this, you load into your chosen raid. These are grotesque and gothic, all chasms, cathedrals, gory effigies, and jagged edges. They play out to the rhythm of frantic enemy confrontations where you down hordes of demons along with a few mini-boss types, grappling across gaps, hoovering up ammo and health as required. Some feature objectives, such as filling a tank with demon blood by killing enemies within its radius to unlock doors. It’s hectic stuff, reminiscent of the recent DOOM The Dark Ages‘ emphasis on large enemy numbers, though the arenas are much smaller in size, giving each skirmish a claustrophobic quality that promotes mobility and quick thinking. There’s a real thrill to seeing a dozen gurning demons charging at you.
In between fights are short reprieves to catch your breath, hunt for hidden gold, and stock up on health. At your disposal are two starter guns, a single stake shooter and a shuriken-spitting machine gun. Each has a unique secondary attack to provide options in the heat of a fight. A third weapon, best described as a curved circular saw, is used to plough through enemies to replenish ammo, a neat twist on a common FPS connundrum. Beyond that, there are familiar staples to unlock like a shotgun, SMG, and rocket launcher, all rethemed to suit Painkiller’s world and sure to satisfy various playstyles. They all come with upgrade trees where you can customise them to your liking.
Much like the original, Painkiller wears its inspirations on its sleeve – classic FPS royalty like DOOM and Quake, but also with a smattering of Diablo in its gothic themes, some subtle steampunk seasoning, and a focus on massive enemy swarms reminiscent of recent co-op hit Helldivers 2. Though Painkiller is chiefly designed for three-player online play, it features full offline support. You can even team up with two bots to take on raids alone. Though they lack some of the reactivity of human teammates, they weren’t half bad, competently downing demons and providing timely support.
Though Painkiller’s reboot doesn’t reinvent the formula, it’s one to keep an eye out for when the full release comes later this year if you’re partial to satisfying co-op first-person shooters. Painkiller is set for release on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S on October 9, 2025.
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