Painkiller Remake 'Hell & Damnation' Announced

Back in 2004 a little game entitled Painkiller was unleashed upon an unsuspecting world by new Polish developer People Can Fly (now a subsidiary of Epic Games and responsible for Bulletstorm and the upcoming Gears of War: Judgment).

Following an 'old-school' methodology and inspired by classic titles Doom and Quake, the game dropped the player in hellish environments, with awesome weapons such as the titular 'Painkiller' and the hilarious 'Stake Gun', to face off against vast swathes of demonic creatures. The main difference between Painkiller and the games it riffed off was its sheer diversity. By attempting to create a truly hellish world, the player moved through many different environments, each with its own unique art style, whose only common theme was the ability to creep the pants off you. Levels including castles, monasteries, a prison, an asylum, a swamp, a military base, an opera house, a circus, an orphanage and hell itself were all present and filled with all manner of ghastly ghouls.

The game told the story of Daniel, who had been ripped from the mortal coil along with his wife by an unfortunate car accident. His wife makes it to heaven but, due to a shady past, Daniel gets stuck in Purgatory and is caught up in a fight between an angel named Samael and Lucifer himself. His task is to stop the armies of hell and Lucifer's generals (big boss-fights) from invading the different areas of Purgatory and gaining the upper hand for a full on war with Heaven. Along the way, he is assisted by another trapped soul, a lady named Eve (yes, that Eve), who seems to have lost her clothes.

The original game also spawned numerous expansions and add-ons, and a healthy modding community that is still actively creating content to this day.

Polish developers The Farm 51 have now announced that they have been working on a high definition remake of the original game, entitled Painkiller Hell & Damnation. Fans of the Painkiller franchise can rest easy, as most of the founders of The Farm 51 previously worked on the original for People Can Fly. This is also much more than just a coat of HD gloss over the original; the whole game is being remade from the ground up (or should that be 'from Hell up'?).



The game's publishers, Nordic Games, had the following to say about the remake:
We’re committed to offering games of the highest quality and rewarding the fans with additional content that truly adds depth...The game is an explosive action classic that has been packed full of the darkest parts of hell and fantastic bonus material, for an extreme, demonic experience.We've also been treated to a slew of artwork and screenshots for the title, showing off Eve (who seems to have located some clothes) and some of the creatures you'll be mercilessly mowing down, including new versions of the Devil Monk and the Electro-Freak. The screens also show a selection of the different environments from the game, including ones which were originally part of expansion pack Painkiller: Battle Out Of Hell, such as Loony Park.




























Painkiller Hell & Damnation is due to kill your pain on January 22nd 2013 in the UK. A release date for other territories is still to be confirmed.