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User Summary
You play as Daniel Garner, a man who dies in a car crash along with his wife, Catherine. While Catherine goes to Heaven, Daniel is trapped in Purgatory, and has to become a "hitman" for Heaven in orded to be reunited with his wife.
The game takes you through many levels of different feel and designs, ranging from an asylum, a medieval castle or middle-eastern city to a modern-day dock, opera and military base. The gameplay is akin to that seen in the Serious Sam series - run and shoot, with no puzzles or any other elements to distract you from the action.
Painkiller includes boss fights with enourmous enemies, legions of different foes to kill, and great sound and music (both ambient and combat music). It has been expanded by the "Battle out of Hell" expansion, and has two stand-alone sequels (though neither of them is immediately connected to the plot of the first game): Overdose and Resurrection.
- Addresses an important, timely social issue
- Clear, explicit messaging about consequences
- Subject matter may be heavy or depressing for some players
- opioid epidemic, corporate power, accountability
- Mid-to-late 1990s United States pharmaceutical industry
- ethical/sociopolitical simulation
- Spindle Top
- The Great Patch
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Economic-engineering — Maximize profits while avoiding penalties; financial maneuvering.
- Engine Building: Efficiency — Maximize profits while avoiding penalties; financial maneuvering.
- Human toll mechanics — Represent social costs that affect outcomes, highlighting consequences.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- I'm going to learn Dutch. I already speak a little bit of French and a little bit of Spanish.
- The board game industry is fascinating. It is extremely accessible in terms of starting a company and publishing your own games.
- I want our games to have a clear message. I want them to be about topics that are not super well represented around the hobby.
- 95% of what I do is online now anyway. I'm going to tap into remote, digital resources.
- The openness and willingness to share experiences in this industry is really motivating to me.