Painkiller Preview: Demon Hunting With Friends

If you had asked me about the Painkiller series only a few months ago, I would have been wholly unfamiliar with the property. Yet, thanks to a video put out by Digital Foundry, which highlighted an interesting RTX remix ray-tracing mod for the 2004 boomer shooter, I began my journey with the series, which has inadvertently led me to discover Anshar Studios and 3D Realms’ latest iteration of Painkiller.

Despite my limited hands-on time with Painkiller (2025), which consisted of only two levels, I came away from the experience feeling optimistic about its October release. Unlike its 2004 (and later) release, Painkiller (2025) is a raid-based multiplayer experience that ditches its single-player campaign roots for a game built from the ground up in Unreal Engine 5. Now, for purists or those fond of the 2004 game, Painkiller (2025) might sound like too big of a departure from the original. Still, in truth, Anshar Studios and 3D Realms have smartly positioned themselves in... Read more