Painkiller: Hell & Damnation or the original?

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hitbyambulance
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Painkiller: Hell & Damnation or the original?

Post by hitbyambulance »

i've been wanting to play Painkiller again after I get through Serious Sam 2. i have the original game and the "HD" remake by a different studio. HD actually removed a LOT of levels from the original game (including the final one), making it about five hours long - this alone is steering me to the original release, but then i remembered the original has the terrible SafeDisc copy protection. hmmm... does anyone have any opinion one way or the other?

(also, i never finished the original.)
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Re: Painkiller: Hell & Damnation or the original?

Post by Giles Habibula »

I'm guessing you probably wouldn't want to spend any money, since you already own the physical version, but that didn't stop me from owning both the retail disk and the GOG versions, mostly to ditch the on-disk copy protection. GOG has "Painkiller: Black Edition", which includes "Battle Out Of Hell", for $9.99, and Steam also has it for the same price.

I'm running the GOG version on Win7, and it runs flawlessly, and still looks great in my eyes.
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Re: Painkiller: Hell & Damnation or the original?

Post by Paingod »

hitbyambulance wrote:HD actually removed a LOT of levels from the original game (including the final one)
That's criminal. I still recall the awe I felt as I moved through that final stage - how everything was frozen in time and I got to wander through the bloody history of man's growth in warfare and self-destruction.

Looking back, the only problem I had was a FOV issue. I didn't know it then, but I could only play for a little while before I became nauseated. Didn't stop me from finishing it. Now I know why I feel that sensation in shooters and adjust the settings accordingly.
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Re: Painkiller: Hell & Damnation or the original?

Post by hitbyambulance »

Giles Habibula wrote:I'm guessing you probably wouldn't want to spend any money, since you already own the physical version
this is correct, but i will keep an eye out for the Black version in a sale.

ok, i tried installing the original today, but it can't read from the disc. even copying the install files to the hard drive fails. the disc has a clearly damaged spot so.... into the media recycling pile the game goes. i'll run with the HD version for now.

UPDATE: of course the remake is not from the original devs, but significant things have been altered from the original game. going to have to see how the changes shake out.
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Re: Painkiller: Hell & Damnation or the original?

Post by Pyperkub »

hitbyambulance wrote:
Giles Habibula wrote:I'm guessing you probably wouldn't want to spend any money, since you already own the physical version
this is correct, but i will keep an eye out for the Black version in a sale.

ok, i tried installing the original today, but it can't read from the disc. even copying the install files to the hard drive fails. the disc has a clearly damaged spot so.... into the media recycling pile the game goes. i'll run with the HD version for now.

UPDATE: of course the remake is not from the original devs, but significant things have been altered from the original game. going to have to see how the changes shake out.
got a link to the major changes between Black and H&D? This is one which has been on the to get back to someday pile...
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Re: Painkiller: Hell & Damnation or the original?

Post by hitbyambulance »

Pyperkub wrote: got a link to the major changes between Black and H&D? This is one which has been on the to get back to someday pile...
https://videogamegeek.com/thread/914610 ... pares-pain
COMPARISON TO THE ORIGINAL PAINKILLER
By now it should be quite obvious that this game is a faithful remake that evokes the same feelings Painkiller did in me. However, there are some differences:
1) Invisible walls. I have the feeling that Painkiller Hell and Damnation employs a lot more invisible walls than Painkiller did. More than once I have tried to jump to some crazy areas of the map in search of secrets only to find Daniel crashing impotently into thin air. It's not noticable if you stay on the intended path, but if you go off and explore it will come up sooner or later.
2) Secrets have been moved. You can see this as a bad or a good thing - personally I like searching the areas for new secrets. However, this is somewhat hampered by the fact that not all doors open after completing a level, as they did in the original Painkiller, where I would often finish the level and then go around exploring the map.
3) The jumping feels different. This probably due to the Unreal Engine, but there is a slight difference in the jumping mechanics. This may not sound like a big deal to the uninitiated, but bunnyhopping was a big part of Painkiller and its effect on game physics was deliberately used as a gameplay mechanic, for example to hide secrets. You can still bunnyhop and you do gain speed, but it's not quite the same anymore.
4) A lot of levels were omitted. While I do think that many those included are some of the best I really have no clue why others made it in (I'm looking at you, Colloseum). At only ten stages the game feels short, very much unlike the original Painkiller, but it is pretty cheap, so this may be your trade off. I would like to note that there was talk about additional maps, though there does not seem to be any info on this at the time.

WHAT DID I LIKE?
After the horrible Painkiller expansions and sequels that came out (like Recurring Evil - horrible, horrible game), this is a breath of fresh air - or refreshed old air. The coop mode adds a lot of fun and can even be played splitscreen while the numerous small additions to the levels (like the Necrogiant being visible in the distance during the whole first act) make the game feel fresher. The Soulcatcher is fun to use, too.

WHAT DIDN'T I LIKE?
The final boss battle is not nearly as epic as the boss battle in the original Painkiller. The game is pretty short and the fact that they are selling a tarot card (for actual money, not ingame currency) leaves me with a queasy feeling. Some levels feel restricted through the use of invisible walls.

SHOULD YOU GET IT?
If you are somewhat interested in the Painkiller franchise, get this one first. This is a great introduction that shows off all the mechanics the game has to offer and captures the feeling in a neat, not too big package.
If you already own Painkiller and Painkiller: Battle out of Hell (or Painkiller: Black Edition) you need to decide if upgraded graphics, an additional weapon, the story and coop is worth it to you. For me, the answer was clearly yes - this game allows me to relive the Painkiller experience together with my girlfriend which is a beautiful thing indeed.
i've so far noticed that you don't start out with the Painkiller itself, which is... weird....

not sure if my memory is failing here, but it feels a bit faster-paced than the original. like, almost Unreal Tournament-levels of speed.

i don't think the hybrid reboot-sequel story is making much sense - pick one or the other, writers!

i got this in a bundle a while back, so i only paid a few dollars for it. (the bundle also came with the horrible last couple of expansion-sequels, which i have zero intention of ever playing)
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Re: Painkiller: Hell & Damnation or the original?

Post by hitbyambulance »

they should have called this Painkiller: ADHD - it really has been streamlined, chopped down and sped up.

a music analogy occurred to me: Hell & Damnation feels like a remastered 'greatest hits' compilation (with one or two newly-recorded tracks, but missing one or two of the best songs, and maybe another is an inferior live version instead of the studio recording) to the original Painkiller's three-sided LP concept album in gatefold cover.
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Re: Painkiller: Hell & Damnation or the original?

Post by Daehawk »

http://store.steampowered.com/sub/35563/

The Painkiller Complete Collection is 90% off now so $7.00
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Re: Painkiller: Hell & Damnation or the original?

Post by hitbyambulance »

i would just get Painkiller Black - at $1.99, that's certainly a reasonable price. i have such a huge backlog that it just doesn't make sense to get it now.

EDIT: same price on GOG. i'd rather give them my money than Steam, so... maybe.
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Re: Painkiller: Hell & Damnation or the original?

Post by hitbyambulance »

i realized four of the 14 levels in HD are just 'boss' fights, so there's really only ten actual levels in the remake! the rest are paid DLC.
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Re: Painkiller: Hell & Damnation or the original?

Post by Pyperkub »

hitbyambulance wrote:i realized four of the 14 levels in HD are just 'boss' fights, so there's really only ten actual levels in the remake! the rest are paid DLC.
If you get all the h&d dlc, is it incorporated like the original black?
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Re: Painkiller: Hell & Damnation or the original?

Post by hitbyambulance »

Pyperkub wrote:
hitbyambulance wrote:i realized four of the 14 levels in HD are just 'boss' fights, so there's really only ten actual levels in the remake! the rest are paid DLC.
If you get all the h&d dlc, is it incorporated like the original black?
i actually have no idea - i'm usually anti-DLC, so i don't intend on buying. i was sorta wondering how they'd handle the cinematics.

as the current base game stands, it doesn't feel very unified anyways - each level could easily stand alone and apart from the others (even moreso than the original).
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