The Painkiller franchise continues with the latest addition to the series, Painkiller Overdose which ironically started as a community based project but proved so popular among fans that the original publisher decided to allow DreamCatcher Games to turn the title into a fully fledged standalone game.

Features: A Prequel to the eventual Sequel bridges the storyline and ties up wandering ends. Overdose introduces a new character and storyline that examines the repercussions of Daniel defeating Lucifer in the original Painkiller! 16 NEW levels of fast-paced pain-killing action! 6 New Daemonic weapons grant the powers of a demi-god to souls awaiting damnation everywhere! Crafted and designed completely by Mindware Studios; long-time advocates and fans of the game. A reshuffled Tarot deck infuses Belial with new powers and devastating combinations. An innovative direction in the Painkiller universe! Over 40 demented and sickly-twisted monsters from Hell New End Bosses of colossal statures standing guard over Hell's crumbling domain and the entrances to the other realms! A revitalized commitment to multiplayer introduces a series of stats tracking features and game server options intended to revamp the multiplayer experience. Multiplayer compatibility with original Painkiller multiplayer maps and game modes!

Painkiller Overdose is your classic first person shooter with a touch of demonic magic thrown into the mix to give a rather clichéd and sometimes over the top gaming experience. Interestingly enough, it works on both counts. Whether you have played the original game or add-ons, both new and old gamers will easily be able to start this playing immediately without a convoluted history lesson.

Gamers start as the character called Belial who has been trapped for thousands of years as something has been stealing his powers. Needless to say, Belial is not pleased and once he tastes freedom, those in his road best move. As with the previous games, this current incarnation gives the player a variety of quests that must be completed in the mission which is done through a tarot card system that assists you in obtaining your objectives.

Thrown right into a world of demons and other otherworldly nefarious creatures, you basically fight your way through a plethora of demonic enemies and once you capture 66 souls from your fallen enemies, you unleash your demonic powers in the "berserker" mode which is thoroughly entertaining. In your demonic berserker mode, your vision becomes black and white with colours indicating enemies as you unleash your dark powers. Really cool.

The artificial intelligence of the title are a little lackluster in the brain department, depending on which difficulty you have selected and at times it seems the enemies are never ending. The control system is also easy to master and features your traditional controls.

Graphically, Painkiller Overdose feels a little dated on the PC when compared to other titles and shows its age in a few places. The background environments are quite well created and really give a contrast to the real-world which assists with the gaming experience.

Characters move well with have decent looking textures and match that with some good lighting and special effects and its still an enjoyable experience, especially if you enjoyed the previous installments. Painkiller Overdose contains some great strange and bizarre sound effects and some cheesy voice acting by Belial himself. The soundtrack is quite decent although nothing too memorable.

In conclusion, Painkiller Overdose is an interesting title that although doesn't offer anything new to the genre is more suited for those gamers who enjoyed the original titles. Still, the title is quite affordable and I would recommend this game to people who enjoy those horror first person shooter game to check this title out.