The dormant PC shooter has been back for a full twenty years since the last time there was a proper painkiller, with the new entrance carrying the same name. This new project seems to be rebooting, bringing the series to the modern era and carrying some elements that may not be everyone’s favorite.
New painkillers come from unlikely sources. You may remember Space Marine and Mudrunner developer Saber Interactive announced in 2021 that it is working on new works in the series, but we hardly see the project since.
All of this changed overnight.
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In future competition shows, we get proper reveals of painkillers. The game is released by Saber's 3D Realms tag, but its developers aren't something you might have heard of. Polish team Anshar Studios is working on the game, with points including support work for some of the largest games, such as Baldur's Gate 3, Fear Layer, and other Bloober teams and Larian projects.
The only game that Anshar has developed (and published) itself is the excellent Gamedec for 2021, an isometric RPG with strong narrative and decision-making elements. So while the studio does have pedigrees, it doesn’t exactly align with the genre of game painkillers. But that may not matter, as the new game seems to be moving things in a different direction.
The new painkiller is a collaborative shooter with its own look. It still retains a focus on rapid shooting, fluid movement, metallic music, Gothic Pastice and the violence and gore of the original game.
Of course, the tribe shooting game can be played alone, and it looks like it provides your own view of some weird and craziest weapons of the original. You will be able to pick out of four characters with unique privileges and you can upgrade them during the game.
This fall, Painkiller comes to PC, PS5 and Xbox series X/S, and if you're interested, you can hope it's listed on Steam (to be fair, the trailer looks really great).
