[Iggy]

So I bought Painkiller Overdose a few days ago and I've been playing some of it so far. I'm at the third map now which is an Egyptian level with the usual mummies, scorpions and the like as your enemy. Having enjoyed the heck out of Painkiller and Battle Out Of Hell I was hoping this wouldn't turn me down. It still hasn't so far.

It is obvious that the developers wanted the game to be as diverse as they could. It's more like a Total Conversion then an add-on to me. Typical Painkiller elements such as the Black Tarots cards are still there and of course collecting souls and Demon Morph Mode is present. The game plays like you're used of Painkiller but it's the quality that probably doesn't meet up to the previous two installments of Painkiller. I personally wouldn't mind seeing the HUD weapons a tad bigger as well as some bigger hands for Belial.

Speaking of weaponry, in Overdose you get an entire set of new guns. Most noticeable ones include a head of some green lizard with a part of his spinal hanging at the bottom of his head/neck, a quite useful one as well. Alt-fire makes the head burp out something that seems to electrocute enemies. There is also no use to aim at a foe. Merely having him in your view is enough. Primary fire is a constant beam that is fairly effective.

The first map is Hell where Belial was imprisoned for thousands of years (being a child of an angel and a demon doesn't make you popular at both Heaven and Hell). Unfortunately, the constructions in Hell in Painkiller Overdose looks more like Ancient Greece with lots of lava in it. The enemies you'll encounter are not much different here, they either look too odd for even Painkiller or too generic to be something from Hell. Even saw a ball of nothing but fire as a foe? Play Overdose and you will.

The second map is in the style of Ancient Japan with samurai's and ninjas coming to get you. Also featuring Japanese women in Kimono's making an unusual appearance (Their movements and sounds are quite goofy for my taste). The level constructions are much better fitting the theme of the map and didn't let me down.

The third map is Ancient Egypt where big Scorpions, mummies and other scum from the tomb are out to get you. Level constructions are also better fitting to the theme then the first map, then again, I think it's pretty difficult fucking up a Ancient Egypt level since we all know how it more or less looks like.

I haven't finished the third map so I'll keep this post updated. I also hope to get some screenshots, I think I took some with F12 but I can't find them.

As for a "full version vs. demo" I think the demo was pretty representative for the full deal, with the exception that in the full version you must collect all weapons on the contrary to the demo.

[Damien_Azreal]

Thanks Iggy.

Very insightful. I'll possibly look into Overdose down the road giving my love for Painkiller. But I won't be paying full price for it, once the price drops a bit I'll pick it up.... my same thoughts with FEAR: Perseus Mandate.

[Micki!]

I Got Perseus Mandate Damien... i haven't tried it yet, because i like you, had a bunch of games to go through...

Atm i need to purge the PC for uncessary files, so i get more space on my HDD...

I might not make a huge post about my thouts for the game like Iggy did though, but i will tell you what i think, compared to FEAR, and FEAR: EP... (and i believe our views of these two first games are quite similar)

[Iggy]

I just made it to the fourth level, I'm playing a bit slow since I don't wanna finish the game as soon as possible. Anyway, the fourth level looks like something they should have left out, it's some SciFi themed map in outer space with enemies I haven't got a clue how to describe them. I got Fraps running so I'll take some screenshots now.

Edit;
Screenshots of the fourth level called "Asteroids".


Here's the first boss I just defeated;


Was insanely easy to beat. Took me 57 seconds, while I had to keep it under 3 minutes to earn a new Black Tarot card.

Here are some screenshots of the previous map, Death Marsh;

[Damien_Azreal]

Micki!, on Dec 1 2007, 01:39 AM, said:

I Got Perseus Mandate Damien... i haven't tried it yet, because i like you, had a bunch of games to go through...

Atm i need to purge the PC for uncessary files, so i get more space on my HDD...

I might not make a huge post about my thouts for the game like Iggy did though, but i will tell you what i think, compared to FEAR, and FEAR: EP... (and i believe our views of these two first games are quite similar)

Thanks Micki!, I want to get it just for the sake of my collection... but the demo was just meh to me.

Kindof the same feeling for Overdose.

[Iggy]

The only real thing that bugs me about Overdose is the fact that I run out of ammo way too often. I wonder if there are cheats available.

Heck, after a while I started to appreciate Belial's comment, he always has a couple of lines at the start of each level he could say. Daniel Garner must have been too stunned to sprout out something while Belial feels more comfortable in what's he's doing.

Ah, chemical waste it smells just like.................chemical waste.

As for the levels, the only one that really shouldn't be present is Asteriods, the rest lives up to the original Painkiller atmosphere (some more then others).

Edit;
For those that wanna use cheats during Overdose I strongly recommend this;
http://www.kalme.de/...ent/view/94/39/

[Damien_Azreal]

Iggy,

How are the level designs compared to the two levels in the demo? I loved the second level in the demo, but the first level from the demo was a little meh.

Are the rest of the levels in the full game on a similar level, better, worse?

I'm seriously wanting more Painkiller... but I need more positives about the game before I can justify buying it for myself.

[Iggy]

First map was Field Ambulance, right? Second one was Haunted Valley if I remember right. Field Ambulance is an example of how diverse the maps are, Haunted Valley represents a more "classic" Pankiller style that is used in other maps (Death Marsh comes to mind).

Have I said that an edited version of Loony Park is also present (One of the maps from Battle out of Hell)? They've left out the roller coaster ride and replaced it with more amusement park areas (like two big Pirate boats at the end). It's done in a worthy way but still I wished they replaced this map along with Asteroids (SciFi maps shouldn't be in Painkiller).

Generally speaking, the levels are (as said) very diverse and have matching enemies so you'll hardly encounter the same enemy from the previous map (it sometimes uses enemies from the original Painkiller but I find that to be justified seeing how they are being used.) I find them to be well made myself.

I'm currently trying to make some screenshot galleries at my PhotoBucket account for the interested ones that will cover all levels when it's done.
You can find it right here.

Edit;
There, all levels are now present, 278 screenshots in total.

[DavoX]

I found the game really annoying, you die and then you have to wait AGAIN for it to load EVERYTHING, like it doesn't cache at all. And some parts went in slow motion when the other painkillers went really fast in my machine.

[Damien_Azreal]

Whenever a game on the Pain Engine goes into a slow motion effect it's how the engine handles low frame rates.
Instead of getting choppy or stuttering, it gets a slow motion effect.

[Dublex]

There is a "dirty" hack for getting painkiller overdose to load faster after the first loadup of a level (ie when you first start a level either from a save or from fresh). Simply create a directory called Maps in the X:\Program Files\DreamCatcher\Painkiller Overdose\Data\

(where X = the drive you have installed painkiller)

This should work with the steam version as well I think.

I love mindless shooters and horror shooters and if you do then its worth a look - be warned that it lowers the framerate in some areas where there are mass partical effects if you have an older card, its never as bad as "lag" but the Pain engine efffect people have been talking about.

My favourite level so far is Animal Farm, its the first game in years that actually creeped me out and made me slightly nervous - and I've played alot of horrors from Doom when it was first released back in the '90s.

If anyone else has any questions abouit Overdose, please feel free to post

Edit: about Asteroids, I think that is one of three levels I can think where some of the enemies are slightly misplaced - (monks in space?) the other two are Haunted Valley and the Egyptian level at the end, where I don't know what they were thinking when they used some of the spawn types.

Geeky spot: See if you can work out which monsters were palette swapped from Battle out of Hell and Overdose.

[Iggy]

Dublex, on Dec 31 2007, 07:21 PM, said:

My favourite level so far is Animal Farm, its the first game in years that actually creeped me out and made me slightly nervous - and I've played alot of horrors from Doom when it was first released back in the '90s.

I personally found it hilarious (in a good way) especially the hen house spitting out flying suicide chickens at you.

Dublex, on Dec 31 2007, 07:21 PM, said:

Edit: about Asteroids, I think that is one of three levels I can think where some of the enemies are slightly misplaced - (monks in space?) the other two are Haunted Valley and the Egyptian level at the end, where I don't know what they were thinking when they used some of the spawn types.

I didn't mind the map "Desert" (that's the name) I liked playing through it.

Dublex, on Dec 31 2007, 07:21 PM, said:

Geeky spot: See if you can work out which monsters were palette swapped from Battle out of Hell and Overdose.

Heh, I already did. From the top of my head I recall at least two ninja's, some skeleton creature you encounter in the Egyptian level as well as another one. Maybe there's more but it's been a while since I played it. As a matter of fact I should replay it soon. Oh, of course we still have the edited version of Loony Park that's making use of the Battle out of Hell enemies (including the pirates, clowns, ect.).

[Dublex]

Very Accurate Iggy, I saw you got the corn dog / pop corn monster which was used twice in Overdose (first in the Nuclear Plant as a radioactive monster and in then in Loony park). But the other monster I was thinking of was the radioactive commando - it has green helmet goo in Overdose but it originally was in the Lab level in out of hell with Red helmet goo.