Metacritic Games

PAIN (Playstation 3)

[Downloadable Game] PAIN boldly tackles a rarely explored area of video-gaming... comedy. The unique mechanic of the game allows the player to load a character into a human-sized, ultra-powerful slingshot, and fire the character into an active, physics-controlled environment, filled with precarious and humorous situations. Players receive points by stringing together painful collisions and inducing chaos in the environment. Multiple playable characters each with a very unique personality and attributes as well as character specific in-flight poses. Plenty of ways to play in both Single and Multiplayer, including modes like Spank the Monkey, Mime Toss, PAIN Bowling, Fun With Explosives, and even more to come in future releases. Relive every cringe-worthy smash and crash with the replay system in PAIN. Use the free camera to get the best angle on your best ouchies. Unique physics model created on Havok powered events, allow for amazing ragdoll animations, while ensuring that duplicating incidents is almost impossible. Keeping gameplay fresh over and over no matter how many times a player is launched into the same environment. Robust online community feature set lets you compete with other players around the world on Global Leaderboards, track your friend's scores, and connect to the PAIN website, where you can participate in polls, get developer updates, and provide feedback to make for a more PAINful experience in future expansions. [SCEA]

Sony Computer Entertainment America
Action
Players: 4
E (Everyone)
Developer: Idol Minds
Released November 29, 2007

Overall Metascore

This is a weighted, normalized average of all individual scores given by critics, on a scale of 0 (worst) to 100 (best).

71 / 100

Critic Reviews

90 Games Radar
The sophomoric idiocy isn't for everyone, but for what it is and what it costs, PAIN is hands-down one of the best things ever to hit the PS3.
88 Game Chronicles
I had low expectations going into this review so imagine my surprise to find that PAIN is not only a great and totally addictive game, it is probably going to be one of the biggest guilty pleasures in everybody’s PS3 library.
80 Console Monster
PAIN does have significant replay value and is well worth the low price of $10 on the PSN.
80 TheSixthAxis
A hugely entertaining game that can lead to a lot of entertainment and side-splitting laughter, especially if you play it with friends.
80 Cheat Code Central
Pain has been one of my most anticipated titles this year. Of course it can't compare to some of this year's bigger releases, but I am a girl of simple tastes. I thoroughly enjoyed Pain, chiefly because even though it has a simple premise, it creates memorable gameplay through very tight and precise controls, and some extremely interesting modes of play.
80 VideoGamer
While things do get a little repetitive after a while, there's a huge amount here for your money, and though it will likely be little more than a passing fad, Pain deserves plentiful success. With several planned expansions, Pain is another gem in Sony's underrated PSN crown.
80 EuroGamer
While the single stage may at first make PAIN seem very limited, the fact that you'll never end up with the exact same results more than once should be enticing. Even when you think you know every nook and cranny of the city stage, there are still a lot of things to try, trophies to earn, and pins to be bowled over.
75 Gaming Target
Pain’s slingshot gameplay backfires when you realize that there’s no online multiplayer and that modes like Bowling and Fun with Explosives could’ve been converted into fun single-player challenges, but weren’t.
75 Gaming Age
PAIN is really a fun and addictive little game, assuming you aren't turned off by the blatantly juvenile humor and nickel and dime-style DLC scheme. Give it a try.
75 GameSpot
Pain is the video game equivalent of breaking fine china with a hammer: it's simple, crude, and not very cost-effective, but still rather satisfying.
75 TotalPlayStation
PAIN just needed a little more... something. Another level, more stuff to do, I don't know what, but it's impossible to escape the feeling that what's being offered for $10 is spread a little too thin.
75 1UP
Pain has plenty to offer within the realm of silly enjoyment and simple, visceral character interaction; it should be mentioned that you can even pose in the air like Superman or twirl your legs like a helicopter for a bonus score as your cruise towards your goals. As a $10 title though, it feels a bit thin on content regardless of the execution.
75 PTGamers
PAIN is extremely funny. It’s short, and limited, but offers uncompromised entertainment for hours on end.
75 PSM3 Magazine UK
Pure comedy, if not quite as fun as we'd expected. [Mar 2008, p.80]
73 Games Master UK
Flimsy but fun, with more content this could have been a real winner. [Apr 2008, p.84]
73 WHAM! Gaming
For starters, though the game is $10.99 some may feel cheated by there being only two variations of the same level. More content will come available through download, but one level is still only one level.
73 Da Gameboyz
Overall Pain is a very addictive game that not only looks and controls well, but it also demonstrates how the Havok physics engine can be utilized for some pure gaming craziness.
72 PSX Extreme
It may not be chock full of stages to visit, but it's certainly great for a quick diversion, as its pick-up-and-play traits are rather welcoming.
71 Play UK
A visciously addictive way to kill time, although it doesn't hold up too well on repeated play. [Issue#163, p.86]
70 Gamer.nl
Shooting monkeys for points is what everything secretly wants. A game that will make you giggle at all its brilliant stupidity.
70 Playstation Official Magazine UK
It makes experimenting with cartoonish ultra-violence so, well, painless. [Feb 2008, p.90]
70 Thunderbolt
If your like you games over the top, then you can do a lot worse than download this.
70 Boomtown
Not to say that it isn’t fun, but Pain is clearly a victim of its own hype.
70 GameZone
This is a decent enough game, and for the first 10-20 minutes you may find yourself grimacing at the rag-doll antics of your far-flung friend. Then it gets redundant. The challenge is still there but that is about all the game has going for it once the ‘impact’ of the graphics wears off.
68 IGN
The game is underwhelming and feels incomplete.
65 Gamers' Temple
PAIN feels more like a demo than a full game and it will hold your interest about as long as a demo would.
65 Extreme Gamer
PAIN has no reason or rhyme, or traditional ammunition. PAIN is just a virtual excuse to cause PAIN to the poor people who are launched into dangerous heights as unforgiving objects.
62 MEGamers
Though enjoyable for the first 30 minutes, you will soon tire of the same scenery and limited flexibility of the single player modes.
60 Edge Magazine
With just one area to mess about with – and doubtless more to come – it currently feels more seed than flower. [Feb 2008, p.95]
60 games(TM)
For its price and satisfying-yet-asinine fun, it’s difficult not to recommend unless you’re the kind of person who takes everything seriously. [Feb 2008, p.135]
60 GameDaily
Not only is the game too complex, requiring you to utilize all of the SIXAXIS' buttons, but the developers force you to slog through an annoying tutorial in order to unlock single and multiplayer modes. That in itself, is PAINful.
60 Digital Entertainment News
PAIN would be a great game if it were actually a game. Instead, it’s like a brief demo that you’re being charged $10 to play.
50 The Onion (A.V. Club)
An unfinished game that will likely see improvements over time.
50 Gamestyle
Time will no doubt address its faults but for a quick blast with friends or for fans of ragdoll physics it may prove to be an interesting diversion.
50 NZGamer
Pain is one of the more original titles to hit the download services. But while it’s not just a bland tech demo for rag doll physics or the ‘Havok’ physics engine, it does come close.

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