New screenshots exclusive to PC Gamer from the upcoming Painkiller: Hell and Damnation remake bring some extremely good news for fans of the chaotic 2004 first-person meat grinder. In development by Farm 51, a Polish studio that includes two former members of the People Can Fly development team who worked on the Painkiller series, Hell and Damnation will include levels from both the from the original game as well as its first expansion, Painkiller: Battle Out of Hell.
It's great news not only because we'll get the most spectacular scenario from Battle Out of Hell -- the "Loony" abusement park level -- but also because we won't have to deal with any of the four increasingly abysmal expansions and sequels that followed it.
The release date has yet to be announced, but we've confirmed that the entire 14-level Hell and Damnation singleplayer campaign will be playable in two-player co-op mode (online or LAN) and will include Steamworks integration. Hell and Damnation will also include six PvE and PvP multiplayer modes, as well as a new weapon called the Soulcatcher (or "Small Sucking Gun") that lets you extract the souls of enemies like cherry pits and turn them into your minions.
If you thought Painkiller's Stake Gun was a good time -- it's one of my personal all-time favorites -- then it goes without saying that you've got to try finding the perfect parabolic trajectory to nail a killer clown against the wall behind him from the bony bucket seat of a rollercoaster roaring through the underworld. That's what we've got to look forward to when Hell and Damnation releases later this fall.
