Painkiller: Resurrection, the sequel to Yahtzee’s favorite Eastern European shooter, is now available over Steam along with a new and updated demo to replace the old one that was mistakenly released last week.
Kind of a funny story, really. Painkiller: Resurrection was announced back in April and under any other circumstances, nobody aside from a small handful of fans could possibly have cared less. But Painkiller just happens to be the game that includes the infamous “shurikens and lightning gun” so beloved by our very own Yahtzee Croshaw, so news of the sequel attracted a little more attention than might otherwise be expected for a quirky Eastern European shooter.
But when the Painkiller: Resurrection demo came out last week, players noticed that something about it wasn’t quite right. There was no multiplayer component and, to put it bluntly, it sort of sucked. A day or two later, somebody at JoWood finally noticed that the wrong demo had somehow slipped out the door: People were playing an old, incomplete version that, to put it bluntly, sucked. The company promised that the full and proper demo would be released the following week.
The updated demo is now available, as is the full version of the game. Unlike the previous Painkiller: Overdose, Resurrection looks very similar to the original game and includes many of the same weapons, but is built on a “completely reworked Painkiller 2.0 engine” capable of all-new shader effects, physics and more. The development team even had a Catholic priest advising its progress to ensure… well, I’m not entirely sure what, to be honest.
In any case, the demo is free so you can’t go too wrong there. If, on the other hand, you want to leap face-first into the full-on Painkiller experience, here’s some advice: Steam is currently offering Painkiller: Resurrection for $29.99, but you can also pick up the Painkiller Collector’s Pack, which includes Painkiller Black (the original game plus the Battle Out of Hell expansion), Painkiller: Overdose and Painkiller: Resurrection for $34.99. Overdose was terrible, sure, but five bucks more for Painkiller Black? I think you know what to do.
