Well I haven't played the demo, but a while ago there was a 'painkiller first look build' that was floating around here at the office.

I played 2 levels - some graveyard/crypt thing, and some kind of burning/decaying city?

The cheats were permanently on in the build I had, so I can't comment on the difficulty, but the game ran pitifully slow on my work computer (geforce3 and 1ghz cpu), slow to the point where I couldn't look in some directions on the 2nd map because it went to like 1 fps (this is why I stopped playing in the end!)

The levels looked nice, but as someone mentioned above the gameplay/layouts of the maps was very repetetive. Personally I find the environments and general theme of the game toooo over the top cliche horror/scary etc.

Not very impressed by the build I had, maybe the demo is better.. :D 

it's very nice that they gave more than one or two levels to play.
i like all the details and such... the first map was really cool with all the junk littering the ground etc... i really like the stake gun. that gun rocks in so many ways! the stakes even fall after a while in the air instead of going straight forever! awesome! it's fun shooting someone in the head, and seeing this big massive piece of wood jutting out of his eye! >:)

i'm looking forward to the full game when i'll be able to SAVE. shit, that was the most annoying thing in the whole game.

it's a little linear too... just felt like going from battle to battle... and didn't really have a sense of flow. 

For anyone who doesn't read BluesNews and wants to find the secrets:

http://members.shaw.ca/dircen/ 

"We will likely be releasing a world editor, but not a level editor. The world editor will allow you to repopulate the levels, setting your own spawn points etc., but will not allow for level design."

That is really sad news. I was totally wound up ready to play the game to death and make some maps for it. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.

Sock 

The reasons for it was becuase they made all the maps in Maya and populated them with the world editor(at least, that's what I've heard). I hope they at least leave the ability to create new levels with that, or other high end 3d packages... they only said they weren't releasing a specific level editor. 

Some people already make UT, etc. levels by importing the geometry. Texturing and items must still be done in the level editor.

It didn't say if importation is part of the world editor to be released, but it's certainly part of the system they use. 

It would not take too much effort to allow the import of new maps from Maya. But I got the impression you are just going to be able to add some new monsters, re-arrange some debris and add new treasure. Maybe the Maya sections are like lego or something and you can re-arrange them into new patterns.

But to be totally honest, with a game like this feeling so nice and visual and apparently having CPMA testers for the MP section of the game it does not matter too much about the editing tools.

Sock 

... who downloaded this demo finished it? Without the ability to save, I just got going in the third arena in level 2 before dying and calling it a day.

Is the third map nice? Don't know if I'm motivated to try again. 

is just a boss fight, but its quite cool watching him destroy everything :) I see no problems in playing level 2 again, it rocks! :D 

Painkiller doesn't particularly like chugging along on this computer, and it crashed about halfway through the first map. I completed the other two maps without much difficulty; though I think I turned the skill setting down so there would be fewer monsters and consequently the game would run faster. 

i got the game to crash in the last fight on the second level. :P 

it on EASY :) 

I'm now playing it on Easy too (which is indeed very easy, e.g. I started level 2 with 100 health and finished with, ummm, 360 or something), it compensates for the lack of save and allows me to appreciate what the style of the game is like. 

Use the alt fire on the default weapon (orange globe you shoot and recall) a lot. When you fix the globe to the floor and keep it in centre screen an orange beem runs from there to you which does a fair bit of damage. Also, baddies you kill with a direct hit fly towards you making it easy to pick up the soul. And for short distances it's the best damage/sec weapon, so that's what you need to take down the fat guys.

I really love that weapon, I was able to beat levels 1 and 2 on the hardest setting with only that weapon. 

Good - good action, old-skool feel, reasonably controllable, nice atmosphere and architecture, good physics, soul collecting mechanism.

Bad - lack of saving, head bob sucks arse, can't use certain keys, horde reliant, damage feedback for player and enemy is poor, a bit cartoony, boss arena is as tedious as expected, progression is very artificial

Most prominent aspects - hmmmm, the new Quake, maybe....maybe not... I'm not particularly keen on horde based action as it's often boring, and found this a bit hordey, mostly in the second map. However it's generally good fun, weapons are good, monsters are entertaining etc etc. Although the Axemen take ages to die, with no damage indication. The basics for a good, if basic, FPS. The soul collecting is a very good gameplay mechanism, and the beserker mode is cool if too slow and short-lived. Pity about having to kill enemy to lower gates to progress, that spoils the otherwise good atmosphere. On the plus side the physics enhance that atmosphere for sure. There's also some interesting trick potential including mad bunny-hopping....could be the new speedrunning game =).

To buy or not to buy?? - Probably. As far as old skool action goes this is pretty satisfying, and I can see it being a good one to dip in and out of for a quick blast.