Recurring evil is not a bad game. It's just that Painkiller, in its current form, has ran its course. It's imperative to make that bold step ahead, to make sweeping changes across the board. With 5 or 6 new levels every semester or two, and all the rest features remaining absolutely the same, it only manages to shrink its target group. Revival, now! [May 2012]
Painkiller: Recurring Evil is nothing but some sort of "horde mode", with five levels and thousands of AI-lacking monsters to kill using the same old weapons, with the same old graphics.
This game is actually not THAT bad.
After playing Resurrection and Redemption, I totally lost my faith in the series. However, I still bought Recurring Evil purely because of curiosity, and it proved to be an average game.
Let's say the downside first: it has no new weapons (despite the Hellgun was promised to be added in it) and there are no new enemies; the loading time is as long as Overdose, and you may find it annoying, especially when you play on higher difficulties and die a lot. If you are expecting something giving you a fresh taste just as Overdose, you will be disappointed.
However, Recurring Evil does something both Resurrection and Redemption failed to achieve: DECENT LEVEL DESIGNS. Unlike those in Resurrection, which are either empty, confusing or totally unplayable, and the ones in Redemption, which are modified versions of the same seven-year-old multiplayer maps, levels in this latest Painkiller title are enjoyable. In most cases, you have enough space to jump around and evade enemies attacks, the foes also spawn in reasonable moments and locations. In fact, most maps remind me of Battle out of Hell, especially the "Highway to Hell" level. And the final level, Angkor, is an unique experience in the whole series.
I have to say the greatest disappointment is that, there is no proper boss battles: the final boss is nothing more than an invincible moving turret, and when you defeat all the minions, it will just disappear.
In short, Recurring Evil is a game greatly limited by budget and technical issues, making it at most a mediocre game. However, if you treat it as a standalone expansion of Painkiller, it is not bad.
If you really enjoy the first Painkiller, and you just want to shoot something in this moment, you may be willing to give it a shot; but if you want to solve some puzzles, have some tactical gamings or build up a RPG character, you will want to stay far, far away from it.
This is the 5th expansion pack to the Painkiller game. While the previous two were total atrocious junk, this one doesn't seem that bad in comparison. It features 5 brand new levels, some really good music and nice atmosphere. It's a third expansion pack made by fans (Resurrection and Redemption were the previous ones) and this one is the best from them. It's still not worth your money and has some serious problems (final level kept crashing) but it's also not total disaster. Pickens doesn't condemn but also doesn't recommend.
If there could be an additional title to this game it should be Vomits of God... Most of the games you play in a browser are far better than this unholy piece of awkwardness. [May 2012]
I am being generous with my rating... the "expansion" keeps Painkiller true. Player destroys hordes of demonic enemies coming at him... yeah good job there. The only real positive thing I can say is that if you like that style (like most of us PK fans are) then you are good. But if you like new content, then pass it on and wait for the all new Painkiller Hell and Damnation.
There is nothing "new" in this. The enemies are recycled from other levels/games/expansions and there are no new weapons. Even the maps feel the same as some others from the original (*cough graveyard cough*). There are plenty of glitches, and I mean PLENTY. Mobs getting stuck, flying thru walls (I got launched thru a wall), and others.
Annoying issue ----- AMMO! Holy cow, I had to like... actually aim my shots so I would not run out of ammo. There just wasnt enough ammo pick ups...
In the end, I gave it a 5. It was a fan based project that went well in terms of keeping it to painkiller. But there are is nothing special about this "expansion."
This is a small fan made project intended for die-hard fans of the PainKiller games. There are five new maps and the rest of the content is recycled from past games, however I think one new weapon is included but was disabled when I played the game on release. I believe this entry came about because of some positive response from the previous "Redemption" entry. Please note that Recurring Evil has some serious issues on x64 platforms, though these may have been resolved since through updates.
This is nothing more than a "map pack" for Painkiller with a grand total of FIVE levels (about 25mins long each).
- Levels are lackluster. They are more open than in the previous game ("Redemption") but still nowhere near the quality of the original.
- Enemies, weapons and music are ripped straight out of previous games (maybe 2-3 new music tracks or variations).
- Story consists of two text-only mini videos of basically nonsense.
- Demon mode is almost useless because enemies spawn one by one on the same 4 spots on each room/area.
- Secrets are few and easy to find.
- As a new feature exclusive to this game there are NO GRAPHIC OPTIONS WHATSOEVER, you even have to edit an .ini file to change the resolution (!?).
I give it a 3 because it's mostly functional and somewhat better than Redemption and Resurrection. Even Overdose is a masterpiece compared to this. Buy it only if it's almost free and you want to play 5 new (although mediocre) levels
SummaryBattle never ceases in the realm known as Hell. This time around it's a battle for the freedom of your very soul. Will you be able to escape from the prison hidden in the darkest deepest chasm of Hell? Do you have enough courage to travel through the most dangerous and twisted areas which are infamous for their unsafety even among demons...