PainKiller Dosage

[OldsterHolster]

Hi everyone. Just thought I'd better post something before my lurking guilt got any worse. Things seem a little slow, lately, and I realized I wasn't doing my part, either. I'm starting to miss hearing from a whole lot of you, so I thought I'd bitch about it, a little. Heh, heh. Keep in mind that even idle-chat posts are welcomed and enjoyed by most of us, and everyone has something to say; so don't be shy. Gaming, of course, is our common bond, but we have places to talk about anything; so pound out a line or two every once in a while and enjoy the response.

Well, I said I wasn't going to fool with PainKiller; but I lied. I tried BF 1942 single player, (I'm a dial-upper) but I found it boring. I guess I'm just addicted to first person shooters, and squad based games are not my cup of tea. Hell, in one battle, I never fired a shot and we still won. Anyway, I got PainKiller, last week; and its a little bit of a surprise. I like it!

Any time Serious Sam and "mindless shooter" are used to describe a game, I automatically flinch. Serious Sam kicked my ass on normal difficulty, a few years back, and I spent forever finishing that damned thing. Now I'll have to admit that I went back and played it on "easy," and it was more fun; but there were still just too many damned bad guys and no "off" time while you were playing. PainKiller, I find, is much more moderate; although there is surely no shortage of targets. Heh, heh. (My skills just might have improved a little, too.)

Actually, I've found that its been pretty easy, so far. I'm just through with the Swamp Thing, so there's lots to go; and the boss battles are still the usual pain in the ass, but not as bad as some. The music and atmosphere are seriously scary in some parts, and; although I'm not a fan of the horror genre, this thing has made me chuckle when the chills ran up and down my spine. Neat weapons, too! Love the stakegun and the weedwhacker gizmo. There's replayability, too. I'm doing my usual "barge in, kill 'em all, and let God sort 'em out" style; so I'm not collecting much gold, tarot cards, or secret objects, and there will be plenty to do the second time around.

Has anybody else had problems with the game? I'm running a 2.6gig processor, 5900XT, 1gig of RAM, machine; and I had absolutely no problems until I was trying to kill the Swamp Boss. Then, it started crashing to the desktop with a Script Error message about every five minutes. I spent the afternoon reading the DreamCatcher forums, and found that others had the exact same problem and a lot more. I got by it by deleting all my saved games and replaying the level, but most of the advice I saw gravitated toward "uninstall/reinstall" and patch. (I got the patch. 86megs/5hr. on dial-up.) Anyway, I was just wondering how you other PainKiller players were doing on the technical side. There's nothing like bugs to spoil a good game.

So, all things considered, I'm having fun with it. Maybe it'll get me through until Doom III comes out in a little over a month. (Supposedly) I never dreamed I would run out of good shooters to play, but they aren't keeping up with me, lately. Heh, heh.

Nothing much else going on with me. Old, poor, hermits are not the most exciting people in the world, you know? No girlfriends, no money, and its hot as hell down here in Daytona Beach this time of year. No relief until October, and the A/C quit in my little car, and the window unit in my bedroom is clattering like crazy, too. When it rains, it pours; and Murphy is in charge of the timing, right? No matter, life is good; and I've got a game to play, tonight. If I just had a few more posts to read on the forum, my life would be complete. Heh, heh. Y'all can move this post to wherever you want since I've meandered from PC Games, to The Lounge, to Hardware. I didn't know what I was going to say, so I just picked PC Games and started typing. You folks do the same, and keep smiling. Edward.

[Nova]

Hehe (http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/?t=archives&date=2004-02-18), it is indeed a fun game. Not the best shooter around, but still enjoyable.

I didn't really experience any technical problems with the game other than the copy protection thing and random CTD's. My rig is worse than yours and it ran pretty good.

[SupaTroopa]

I didn't have any tech prob's with PK at all, it seemed very polished, I don't think I ever actually finished it though as it just got too repetitive, wil some day though and then it'll probably collect dust or go on E-bay. It's definitely a fun little game but was completely over-hyped.

I think the only games left on my PC to play are Thief: DS, COH and Morrowind: GOTY and KOTOR, which I haven't played for a couple of weeks now since my RoadRunner went caput (have to go the DSL route now - ugh).

I have been enjoying my Xbox in the interim I just bought, Halo is a lot of fun and March Madness 2k4 is one of the better sports games i've ever played.

Living with a GF has not helped me to find time for gaming at all lately, just no time for it anymore. I would love to spend a full weekend doing nothing but finishing up games and getting my fix in for 2-3 days straight....maybe some day.

[Mr. Natural]

Edward always good to hear from you. I gave Painkiller a good look over, but after hearing about Safedisk accompanying the game I just couldn't bring myself to purchasing the game. A new patch (http://www.3dgamers.com/games/painkiller/#filelist) was recently released for the game. But since it's coming in at a whopping 86 meg it's not likely you'll be able to download it on dial up. Maybe find a friend with highspeed access and a cd burner who can fix you up.
I'm in gaming limbo myself right now. Been playing jdoom in small sessions. But kinda waiting for something to tickle my fancy.
Things are not so peachy/rosy in romance land for Mr. N either at this point. Maybe a return to some Friday night gaming goodness may be in the future. OK by me and only time will tell.

[OldsterHolster]

I know what you mean. Nothing has tickled my fancy, either, on the gaming front. Far Cry was a breath of fresh air, but its been slim pickins' here lately. By the way, I did get the patch for Painkiller, as I mentioned in my meandering post. Took five hours, but what the hell. Soon as I hit the lottery, I'll get one of those blazing connections, myself.

I think it was your post on disc protection ******** that had me thinking I wasn't going to fool with PainKiller, either; but boredom got the best of me. I'm kinda glad it did because I'm having a pretty good time with the game, so you might want to reconsider. Its a "mindless shooter," for sure; but its done well, and qualifies as decent, idle, entertainment. Let me know if you find anything interesting because you seem like the same games I do.

As far as romance goes, good luck. I'm about to the "bah-humbug" stage, and sometimes think I'd be better off if what little testosterone I've got left would just go ahead and evaporate. Heh, heh. I'll have to admit that I got a little excited about my recent fling with my old friend, Cindy, but I should have known better that to fool around with young stuff. (She's only 50.) Anyway, what's a man to do? Go with the flow, and let life happen, I suppose. In the meantime, enjoy the simple pleasures; like impaling those nasty-ass zombie bastards to the wall with a two-foot wooden stake, or making it rain beast giblets with your whirling blade gizmo. I'm telling you, this silly thing is worth playing; even if its just to sharpen your trigger finger.

I've got another simple pleasure in the toaster oven, even as we speak; (Pizza) so I'm gone. Stay in touch. Edward.

[Gaim Mastr]

I'm looking to have the time time to build my new system toward mid/end of July. After that I'm going on a MAJOR game-buying spree.

I should be getting FarCry for free (NewEgg deal), though it's the OEM version and I'm not sure what that means exactly. Everything but the box ??

Like you, I'm on slow dial-up. Unlike you, I'm on REAL slow dialup. For an 86Mb file it'd take me at least a solid 24 hours of downloading, assuming that my connection didn't drop 5 times every hour.

So I'll be looking to get my hands on some really good shooters that focus on singleplayer at least as much as multiplayer. Those Battlefield games are out for me. They'd be great if I had a high speed connection.

So other than FarCry and Painkiller, does anyone know of some good FPS games that came out over the last 12 months or so ??

I think I'll try the latest Theif game. I'm not really interested in Dues Ex: Invisible War unless it's sitting in the $15 bargin bin.

Where's my NOLF 3, or my RtCW 2 ?? :face10: I admit it, I do love a good sequel to a good game. :yes:

I'm pretty certain that I'll be picking up UT2K4. Not sure about Gangland yet. I'm looking forward to getting Men of Valor.

[Terry Penrod]

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So other than FarCry and Painkiller, does anyone know of some good FPS games that came out over the last 12 months or so ??



Here is Moby Games' list for Windows / 2004 / Action / First Person Perspective:

America's Army: Operations
AquaNox
Armed & Dangerous
Battlefield 1942: World War II Anthology
Battlefield Vietnam
Call of Duty
Chrome
Counter-Strike: Condition Zero
Day of Defeat
Dead Man's Hand
Delta Force: Black Hawk Down
Delta Force: Black Hawk Down Platinum Pack
Delta Force: Black Hawk Down: Team Sabre
Deus Ex: Invisible War
Enter the Matrix
Far Cry
Freespace 2: Interplay 20th Anniversary Edition
Half-Life
Halo: Combat Evolved
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin
Hitman: Contracts
kill.switch
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault: War Chest
New World Order
No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way
Painkiller
Savage: The Battle for Newerth
Thief: Deadly Shadows
True Crime: Streets of LA
Unreal Tournament 2004
Unreal Tournament 2004 DVD Special Edition
Vietcong
Vietcong: Fist Alpha
Vietcong: Purple Haze
Wanted Dead or Alive
Worms 3D
XIII
X²: The Threat

I assume that the inclusion of Half-Life for the seventh straight year means that Seirra must have released yet another retail version with updated stuff since 2003 ended.

Cheers, Terry

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[Mr. Natural]

zen mode

Go with the flow, and let life happen

Best advice I've heard and couldn't agree more. Life is good, let it flow.

/zen mode

[SupaTroopa]

Aside from all the hippy/zen talk :) I would recommend XIII Ed or MC.

It's not the longest game out there but it's very enjoyable and unique, a bit challenging at times, but very fun IMO. You can play some solo MP as well with bots.

Armed & Dangerous is dirt cheap and fun, nothing special though....another fairly short game (just about everything is these days).

VietCong was also a game I really liked.

I also really enjoyed Hitman 2 - great stealth/action game with unique gameplay, a good story and very immersive.

So, Supa recommends:

XIII
Vietcong
Armed & Dangerous
Hitman 2

Good, solid shooters, if you like FPS games, you'll like those I think.

If you like a good story, Mafia is one of the all-time best PC games ever made IMO also, but is a 3rd person shooter/driving game.

[OldsterHolster]

Armed and Dangerous, huh? Heh, heh, heh. I thought I was the only one that played that silly thing, and I was embarassed to admit it since it got such low reviews. To tell the truth, I had a ball with the levels where you had the jump pak. That thing was fun. Anyway, what is XIII and MC? I'm old and slow, and I sometimes miss out on the abbreviations. I skipped Mafia because I heard it didn't have a quick-save feature, kinda like GTA II. I was thinking about Hitman II, although I heard the latest Hitman wasn't anything special, and I haven't heard much at all about Vietcong.

Appreciate all the recommendations. I'll probably need at least one more game after PainKiller to get me through to Doom III and Half-Life II, so thanks, again. Edward.

[MasterChief]

Aside from all the hippy/zen talk :) I would recommend XIII Ed or MC.


Awww I didn't know you cared :)

[Torsion]

XIII is a cell shaded shooter that has a cool comic book style. My friend showed it to me on gamecube and it looked interesting.

Ed, another game that you might want to consider is Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomarrow. Its a third person stealth action game that supposedly is very good. From what I've heard, it also has a fun multiplayer mode in addition to its main single player component.

Also, if you like strategic, chaotic and intense action, you should definately get UT2K4. Its fun and easy but hard to master. The game has an immense amount of content out of the box and is the most hassle free and stable game ever in my opinion. It has plenty of content if you want to play offline as well. I would recommend this game to Gaim Mastr also because it successfully emulates multiplayer combat offline. Really, I can not recommend this game enough to anyone.

I hope that was helpful!

[Terry Penrod]

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Since I'm not up on all the FPS titles you've played recently Ed and because the third person shooter card has now been dealt, you might also get a kick out of Max Payne 1 & 2. And just in case you missed it, Clive Barker's Undying is one of the very best SP first person action games to ever grace the PC.

Cheers, Terry

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[OldsterHolster]

Yes, Torsion, it was. Thank you. I've thought about UT2K4 ever since it came out, and I'll probably get around to it sooner or later. I bought and played the first Unreal Tournament a couple of years, ago, and it was entertaining; but it was obvious that was designed mainly for online play; and I'm sure this one is, too. Still, I've heard nothing but good about it, and I'll probably get it just to see the graphics.

I don't know what cell-shaded graphics are, but XIII sounds interesting. I'll have to go read about it. I'll do the same for the Splinter Cell game you mentioned.

Thanks, again. Edward.

[OldsterHolster]

Thanks, Terry. I've played both the Max Payne games, twice; but I guess I'm just going to have to break down and get Undying. I'll bet you've recommended that game to me ten times, even going back to Gamespot days; so you must feel pretty strongly about it, and I should pay attention to you. Heh, heh. I'll get it. Edward.

[OldsterHolster]

By the way, Gaim; Far Cry was the best I've played, lately, Halo was good, Call of Duty was pretty good, but short, PainKiller I've described, and if you've not played the last two Jedi Knight games, yet, play them by all means. Max Payne II is like I, but I enjoyed it, too. If you come across Armed and Dangerous for ten bucks, get it also; just to play around with the jump pak.

Good to hear you bitch about your Internet connection. I thought I was the last dial-upper left. Heh, heh. I'll bet you're starting to get excited about your new computer, though. Be sure and keep us all updated. Edward.

[Druff]

Hey Old Holster: I just ran into the same problem with Painkiller you described- During the swamp boss battle, script errors crash my game. (googling around led me to your post.) Can you be a little more specific about how you solved the problem? You said you deleted your saves, but does that mean you had to completely replay the game back up to Chapter 2, Level 2? What exactly did you do? Thanks.

[OldsterHolster]

Hi Druff. As I recall, I just deleted the saves from the Swamp Boss level, and started that particular level from scratch. When I replayed the level, I was careful not to quick-save too often; and I got through it all right. I've since deleted my bookmarks dealing with that game, but if you go to the "official" Dreamcatcher website and check out their forums; you can get a wealth of information about the game and its problems. I assume you've already discovered the secret to defeating this particular boss. (Shoot the bubbles until he solidifies, then shoot him.)

As I said, the second patch they came out with caused more problems than it solved; but they quickly came out with a third patch which was supposed to address the problems, so you might want to get it. I never did, and I did play the game a second time just using the very first patch without too many problems. It is a pretty good game, and the very last level is quite extroidinary. (There's a big secret to playing that level, too. If you want it, I'll tell you what it is.) Good luck, and let us know how you make out. Edward.

[Bruenor]

Ugh! Finally finished the game (couldn't play more than a couple of levels at a time).

Two thoughts, lamest end boss ever and lamest ending ever.

Other than that I did enjoy the game, although as I mentioned earlier, I could only play two levels at a time before my brain seemed to turn to jello. It's a good stress reliever, but I just couldn't turn off all forms of thought for long periods of time.

Definitely a trade in game, won't ever be replaying that one.

Heh, should bump up my EB in-store credit to around $140 though. :):