Painkiller: Resurrection
Painkiller: Resurrection
Game
Game2007
Painkiller: Black Edition
Developer People Can Fly
Painkiller Black Edition includes the expansion pack Battle Out of Hell, featuring 10 additional single-player levels and many new villains. From the Steam store page
281 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon, Lemmy) · newest Nov 4, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
81
LovedLoved
125 positive · 30 negative
95% range 74–86%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 125 | 30 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 20 | 11 | 64 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 30 |
| Lemmy * | 0 | 0 | 1 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
834 of 979 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
80% recommend · 136 yes, 33 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 169 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (2,101 of 2,365 positive).
Players praise the game's fast-paced, old-school shooter gameplay and atmosphere. [1][2][3] Some find the game repetitive, clunky, or lacking in variety. [4][5][6] The game requires technical tweaks to run properly on modern systems. [7][8][9]
Liked
Representative posts
- [4]
Painkiller is one of those games that almost everyone will tell you is good, but very few people have actually finished—for good reason. It's a classic case of style over substance. Painkiller absolutely nails the vibe: the art direction is fantastic, the soundtrack is excellent, and the overall aesthetic is memorable. But the developers seemed to forget that gameplay should come first. If you take Quake, strip away …
- [1]
I'm surprised that this game isn't talked about more. Playing Painkiller for the first time in 2025, I noticed how much of its DNA is in the new wave of fast-paced shooters: the level structure and challenge system for power-ups came back in Doom 2016, the simplified bunny-hopping for speed came back in Dusk, the system for collecting enemy souls to activate a special mode where you're overpowered came back in Amid …
- [2]
you boot up the game and immediately start decimating an entire skeleton warrior army in a gothic cemetery in the first 5 minutes 10/10
- [10]
Game play is fast, frenetic, and can be a lot of fun. That said, this title isn't all sunshine and roses. Some bosses can be a little vague on what you're suppose to do. Some of the later levels are confusing and/or tedious. If you're looking for a standard 2010's cover shooter, this isn't it. Your only defense is moving and killing foes first. If that's what you're looking for and you can put up with the occasional …
- [3]
Painkiller Black Edition: Pure Old-School Carnage Gunplay & Weapons: 9/10 The gunplay is extremely fast and energetic, with a really cool, speedy feel, at least if you play fast-paced like I do. Weapon combos don't get all that interesting, because this isn't like other DOOM-like games with very different mechanics. It's more limited and probably fits closer to the Quake side of things, but you can still pair two …
Summarised from 34 of the 285 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 12, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Painkiller: Black Edition sits at 81% positive across 155 opinionated reactions from 4 sources. Fresh or rotten — where do you land?
Reactions
60 of 281 · most liked firstCautious optimism in the face of always-on co-op (3 players?) with AI companions and 3D Realms publishing. Anshar Studios has contributed to other games and dev’d a couple VR games so hard to say anything about their record. Congrats to Painkiller fans for getting a new game that isn’t shovelware.
neutral · AI labelView post →Drafted a huge review for the new Painkiller. It contains more words about the new Painkiller than anyone else will ever want to read, but I had a lot to say about it. Review’ll be up later today, but I really must confess that I love the game even if very few others seem to. The guns are SO good.
positive · AI labelView post →Painkiller | Reveal Trailer ▶️ www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGkJ... "Saber Interactive and 3D Realms are developing a brand new game based on the legendary 2004 purgatorial shooter. Coming to PC and consoles in Fall 2025" #Painkiller #FutureGamesShow
neutral · AI labelView post →Just play this, instead of whatever garbage just came out. lmao
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →You will like my game KOOK if you enjoyed: - Quake - Prey (2006) - Painkiller - Quake2 - HROT - DUSK - LawBreakers - M. C. Escher store.steampowered.com/app/2329690/...
neutral · AI labelView post →Happy 20th anniversary to the debut game from People Can Fly, the diabolically fast-paced first-person shooter Painkiller
neutral · AI labelView post →Painkiller is such a ridiculous game. Bunnyhopping around army dudes wearing ball gags shooting them with a shuriken launcher and then suddenly you're in a cutscene that seems to think it's telling a serious story about heaven, hell and redemption. It's adorable
neutral · AI labelView post →Just some video game weapons I remember The stake launcher from Painkiller The blue beam gun from UT Kate Archer Thief's blackjack Those gloves from Heretic Something about frozen mercury in Oni two shots then cooldown? Gloo Gun from Prey My beak in Goose Game Gep Gun Bloodborne fucking Chain Cane
neutral · AI labelView post →A new 'Painkiller' game launches later this year on Xbox Series, PS5 and PC. youtu.be/uGkJUhm9nc0?...
neutral · AI labelView post →I'm surprised that this game isn't talked about more. Playing Painkiller for the first time in 2025, I noticed how much of its DNA is in the new wave of fast-paced shooters: the level structure and challenge system for power-ups came back in Doom 2016, the simplified bunny-hopping for speed came back in Dusk, the system for collecting enemy souls to activate a special mode where you're overpowered came back in Amid Evil... This is a super fun game that has aged remarkably well. Coming out in…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Satan'z gonna get da biznus end of me kombi-shoota! Finishing up the best FPS game of 2004, Painkiller in one hour! www.twitch.tv/gaijingoomba
positive · AI labelView post →Life is genuinely like a video game, fr 👁️👄👁️ some people aren’t tanks, they’re supports and that’s totally okay (Painkiller medication high thoughts really do different)
neutral · AI labelView post →Painkiller-at-bedtime really is a game changer. Maybe I ought to just surrender to it for a month and see what happens.
neutral · AI labelView post →Back in my day we made boomer shooters unironically.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →beat Old Blood, a good time was had, I like by the end the game just looks like something outta Painkiller lol
positive · AI labelView post →Runs like a dream on Steam Deck. Before you start the game, click the cog/Manage. Then Properties. Now add this to Launch Options to set Video to full screen in game: PROTON_USE_WINED3D=1 %command% When the game starts, press … and Disable Frame Limit.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →An Old Classic and an absolute banger of it's time. If you love boomer shooters it's a must have. Side note to you all: Turn off the multisampling to None And set the texture filtering to Bilinear This prevents graphic glitches like in the Necrogiant's fight. Have fun folks!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →you boot up the game and immediately start decimating an entire skeleton warrior army in a gothic cemetery in the first 5 minutes 10/10
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →When I hear the word "Painkiller", normally my brain goes two ways. One is the absolute best heavy metal album ever made, and the other is a classic shooter from 2004 made by People Can Fly (A studio I love dearly) that got stuck in my head for decades. With the release of the recent Painkiller game, I decided to go back to a nostalgia trip and play/replay the old Painkiller games, starting with the original and the only one I have played previously, Painkiller: Black Edition. Funnily…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Painkiller is one of those games that almost everyone will tell you is good, but very few people have actually finished—for good reason. It's a classic case of style over substance. Painkiller absolutely nails the vibe: the art direction is fantastic, the soundtrack is excellent, and the overall aesthetic is memorable. But the developers seemed to forget that gameplay should come first. If you take Quake, strip away its dark atmosphere and stellar soundtrack, you're still left with a great…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →most underrated FPS ever
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Painkiller: Black Edition is the complete version of the first Painkiller game, which contains the base game and Battle out of Hell expansion. This is basically an arena shooter, where you play as Daniel who suffered an accident with his wife. His wife is sent to heaven, but Daniel is stuck in the Purgatory. However he gets an offer from a mysterious figure: eliminate Lucifer's 4 generals to prevent a war between hell and heaven and Daniel can join his wife. Painkiller has a strong…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The latest @pcgamer.com magazine is out now, with world exclusive access to Anshar Studios' exciting new co-op reimagining of classic FPS game Painkiller. Plus, Anno 117: Pax Romana, The Alters, Redneck Rampage, air coolers tested, and much more, too. 🏹😈💥 tinyurl.com/ywdetejm
neutral · AI labelView post →Painkiller reimagining announced for PS5, Xbox Series, and PC, Fall 2025 by Saber Interactive and 3D Realms, developing a brand new game based on the legendary 2004 purgatorial shooter. youtu.be/uGkJUhm9nc0?...
neutral · AI labelView post →in another effort to review every video game that has helped distract me from the crushing weight of my own mortality and the unavoidable horrors of the human condition: i'd give this game a 6.3/10 with the footnote: don't let my playtime fool you, i was playing this game at 15fps before i even knew what a frame was or why i needed multiple of them per second. anyway yea get me some painkillers bc this game gives me a headache
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is the Painkiller!~🎶 ~Judas Priest The late 90s / early 2000s were crazy times for the FPS genre. The genre was changing, and changing dramatically. The problem was that such games didn't even originate in a 3D environment. They originated in Silas S. Warner's game called Castle Wolfenstein. Which was a 2D labyrinth game about a war prisoner escaping a nazi castle. And it just happened that id Software enjoyed it and decided to make their own authorized (ish, since no papers were signed,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A couple new hands-on previews from me today. First up is Painkiller, the revival of the 20-year-old boomer shooter. It probably won't knock your socks off, but that's fine. We need just-chill-with-your-friends low-stakes games like this. My impressions: www.ign.com/articles/pai...
neutral · AI labelView post →New Painkiller game follows the tradition of the series. AKA it's terrible. The writing/gameplay don't feel like it was made by people who understood what the original game was about. It's essentially discount Doom Eternal with forced multiplayer. Let me kill demons alone, don't force bots on me!
negative · AI labelView post →I bought DL The Beast thus weekend, played 30min and returned it. Nothing against the game at all, but I realized I only like thwacking zombies in those games. Never finished one of em. Just seasonal thwacking. So my dumbass bought Painkiller instead. Vermintide clone yeah, but a solid one. A lotta
positive · AI labelView post →This game is for fans of first-person games like Duke Nukem, Doom, Half-Life, Serious Sam, Painkiller or even Cyberpunk 2077. Brutal John 2 on Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/1859620 #indiegames #halflife #cyberpunk #dukenukem #city
neutral · AI labelView post →I wrote a positive review of this product because it is a very good product.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →How Painkiller RTX Uses Generative AI to Modernize Game Assets at Scale #gamedevelopment #indiedev #gamedev
neutral · AI labelView post →Game play is fast, frenetic, and can be a lot of fun. That said, this title isn't all sunshine and roses. Some bosses can be a little vague on what you're suppose to do. Some of the later levels are confusing and/or tedious. If you're looking for a standard 2010's cover shooter, this isn't it. Your only defense is moving and killing foes first. If that's what you're looking for and you can put up with the occasional jank, give Painkiller a shot. If you're not willing to deal with jank, move…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Painkiller is such a gem or so I thought since lets be honest, nostalgia is hell of a drug. Truth be told, its not that good if I put my pink shades off. But why is that? Many reasons that actually only start growing on you after playing it for quite some while or even trying to replay it. - Only 5 weapons (7 in the addon) which also take too long to get - Repetitive mindless enemies until you reach the third chapter or so - Some levels are locked behind certain difficulties - Level design is…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →bunnyhoping at 50km/h to annihilate clown demons with a makeshift double barreled shotgun is the most fun I've had in a long long time. very fun yet simple movement mechanics, nothing out there is quite like it. requires tinkering with to get it working properly, just a few mods to drop in your folder and copying text into configs, nothing complicated. just go to its pcwiki page
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →55. Twisted Tower (2026 Video Game) Visually it feels like Bioshock, mechanically it reminds me more of Painkiller. The ending was trippy but look man, I'm just happy there's an indie FPS that isn't taking influence from the same pool of Quake and Doom that every other indie FPS does.
positive · AI labelView post →"This game is basically Painkiller, guys. Stop saying 'Blood' at me, that's basically a death threat"
neutral · AI labelView post →the gameplay is pretty basic but i still like it. i beat the first level and got halfway in the second before dropping the vanilla game to play with a mod called rise of evil and this game with that mod is so good
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is pretty dated but its fun if you're the kinda person who really enjoyed Serious Sam because this is Sam in Hell essentially. Pretty crappy storyline but who needs a story when your primary goal is to kill everything. I do wish there was more variety in the weaponary but the soul collecting and subsequent Demon mode bring something new to a time when all there was was Quake and Doom clones galore. Having played all the spin-off and sequels with the exception of the new game…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →For the new #RandomGameSaturday I have the original Painkiller [2004]. It is needless to say it was a great FPS and it still is. So surreal I needed 3 CDs to install the game.
positive · AI labelView post →It's 2025 and Painkiller has been reborn. But is it worth your time? After spending time shooting his way out of Purgatory, @andresplays.bsky.social offers his review: seasonedgaming.com/2025/10/29/r...
neutral · AI labelView post →Time for our first sponsored stream of the week! We've got three of these planned, and the first is the reboot of the 2004 shooter Painkiller! Disclosure: I received a free copy of this game from Lurkit! Check out Painkiller here: lurk.ly/sbH92J www.twitch.tv/jimmy_wuffster
neutral · AI labelView post →Wait... is that new Painkiller game out?
neutral · AI labelView post →Old school run and gun classic. It's my comfort game :))
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Painkiller is a blast to play, especially on the hardest difficulty because it's wickedly punishing and really forces you to put an effort in to survive. Both this and Hell and Damnation are essentially the same game, but Black edition has more levels and is a tad harder while Hell and Damnation has much better graphics. The story is kind of hilarious, as it's about a regular man who dies in a car accident and for no reason is called upon to kill four guardians of hell, of which are basically…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →20 games that greatly influenced you. One game per day for 20 days. No explanations, no reviews, no particular order. #GameDev #RetroGaming #GameChallenge #promosky 10: Painkiller: Overdose (PC)
neutral · AI labelView post →Painkiller Black Edition: Pure Old-School Carnage Gunplay & Weapons: 9/10 The gunplay is extremely fast and energetic, with a really cool, speedy feel, at least if you play fast-paced like I do. Weapon combos don't get all that interesting, because this isn't like other DOOM-like games with very different mechanics. It's more limited and probably fits closer to the Quake side of things, but you can still pair two weapons nicely and get a lot of enjoyment out of it. There aren't many guns,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I do not advise playing this on a smaller screen, you will have a much better time playing this on an actual gaming monitor rather than a gaming laptop screen, thank me later. That said, this is one of my favorite shooters of all time. This feels like if we got a real grim Quake 2 instead of that sci-fi only game. This has everything you would want in a Quake game and then some. The story isn't as great as the atmosphere and gameplay in my opinion. You play to beat the level the story takes…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really tried to enjoy this game, but it just sucks. There are much, much better shooters out there. This is the epitome of mediocrity.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This might be the most 'hell yeah' game of all time.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This franchise has been treated like a joint, passed around so many developers, just look at the other Painkiller games and note the developers. Anyway, this is the original one, the one that started all by People can Fly, and it is bundled together with the expansion/DLC. Battle out of hell picks up right after the original ends, so if you want the full story I recommend it playing both. As for the gameplay, it is something I expected from an oldie: janky, hit boxes are off, bunny…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →These are the two best games of the whole Painkiller series. The 2004 game and Battle Out Of Hell are both still kicking ass, still playing like the classic shooters of that time, As for the others... they are hit or miss, with probably only Overdose being good (but still, it will be boring for the second playthrough). And yes, the new reboot is absolute ass.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fake Game Watch tier list as of today. Painkiller 2025 had the strongest showing of the games we've played so far. FAKE GAME WATCH WILL RETURN 🕵️♂️
positive · AI labelView post →Kicked off Fantasy Month by giving Amid Evil a decent chance, and I'm so glad I did. If someone had told me that this game pulls heavily from Painkiller, I would have played through it much sooner.
positive · AI labelView post →This was the first game I ever played on the original XBOX and is still a game I would recommend even now, for sure a 10/10 game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Most repetitive shooter i've ever played I'v heard great things about this game, people been praising it as one of the best classic fps games ever made and since the new game is coming out soon i'd figured why not try the old games? when i finally got my hands on Painkiller, it's just... boring? like actually plain unfun, the game is so bare bones of it's gameplay and level design that i'm essentially playing a even more brainless verison of Serious Sam... let's first start with the gameplay,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The original painkiller is S tier, one of the greats. Everything else is increasingly garbage. The og Painkiller devs are now making Witchfire and holy fuck is that game good. Highly recommend
positive · AI labelView post →Ibuprofen - Full Pack of low quality medicine 🟡Painkiller is an arena shooter that is heavily relies on bunny hopping. With obnoxious Boss Fights and a disgusting secret hunting. 🟢You are stuck in Purgatory and the only way to Heaven for you - is to kill 4 Generals of Hell. 💚The game is rich in terms of content - both for levels and monsters variety. Although, it feels like devs woke up one night and thought - lets just make a ton of cool ideas and yank them all together. There are…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a neutral review. Painkiller: Black Edition is a surprisingly genuine and entertaining retro FPS title. In my opinion, it's better then Quake and Doom because here you don't have to wonder around looking for the silver and golden keys and silver and golden doors. The maps are not labyrinths, but mostly linear (checkpoints system), which frees you to enjoy the combat more. It has a very thrilling supernatural (horror) atmosphere and interesting levels/locations, situated both in…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game was pretty popular back in the mid 2000s, but a series of shoddy budget sequels (thinly disguised expansions, in reality) pretty much killed long-term good faith towards the series. However, Black Edition is still an amazing time, and is one of the best FPSes of its decade. Great graphics and performance, killer soundtrack, fun arcade/boomer shooter style gameplay all combine to make this a lost gem of the genre.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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