s much as I hate to say it, this title is so 2005. It’s a little unfair – there are certainly plenty of gamers who lack the gaming PC to play the original – but at the same time it’s hard to get very excited about a port of a game that is exactly the same as one I played a year ago. Even lacking any new content (and on a system that has been left for dead by the rest of the industry), though, this is one of the better PC-to-console ports I’ve seen.

Don’t let the thin veneer of story fool you. Painkiller is about shooting demons, grabbing some ammo every so often, and then shooting some more demons. Not since Serious Sam has an FPS been so single-mindedly dedicated to gratuitous violence. Fortunately, the combat is tight and fast, and the weapons and enemies are varied enough to keep things entertaining all throughout the lengthy single-player game. As with the original, some of the optional goals (which unlock new special powers) are asinine, as is collecting money (which allows you to enable unlocked powers). But the bosses are huge, impressive, and clever, so it all works out in the end.

Only a few differences between the PC original and this port exist, and they’re very minor. Mid-level loads come up occasionally, but they’re no worse than most console games. A couple of the weapons, notably the chaingun and lightning gun, aren’t nearly as useful without the precision of mouse-and-keyboard control, but those are hardly your only options. If you suffer (like so many of us do) from occasional cravings to gun down hordes of Satan’s minions with no regard for silly modern concepts like the stealth or RPG elements that seem to creep their way into nearly every action game these days, Painkiller is an excellent way to blow off some steam. Just don’t go in expecting some kind of deep emotional experience – enjoy this for what it is, and you won’t be disappointed.