Pain Review (PS3, PSN)

Writers comment: I can not promise that this review will be spoiler-free so if you do not wish to have anything ruined before playing this game please do not read on, otherwise enjoy having the game spoiled! 10 Second Snippet: Insane downloadable game for the playstation network. Loads of fun especially on multiplayer. Its even cheaper than going out to the cinema for the night, bargain! When have you ever had the chance to launch yourself from a massive human catapult at 70mph aimed at a flying mime? Interested? Read on. The objective of the game is to cause as much damage to yourself and the world around you flying through the air hitting explosive boxes and massive comical set-pieces. A billboard of a creepy doctor, oversized bowling-ball the sign of a nightclub named the man hole, the list goes on. Simply put all you need to do in Pain is point and aim, afterwards you can control your character in mid-air choosing where to steer him to cause the most damage around you. Your character also has several small abilities: The ability to grab and interact with objects/explosives in the game. The ability to nudge himself in any desired direction. (Muscle spasm? Who knows?) And Finally the ability to pose any of 8 comical poses in mid-air using the L1 and L2 button along with the 4 action buttons, ranging from superman like posing to a cannon ball with added sound affect. The game bases your score on the amount of damage done to your body, such as breaking bones or generally making yourself impotent and how much explosive damage you can cause to the surrounding area, which can range from destroying letters on the side of a building to causing cars to crash and explode into flames! The game surprisingly looks very decent when it comes to graphics, a cartoon style with bright colors and disfigured funny looking characters in a vibrant city landscape full of far too many objects to mention. The soundtrack although very small is great, it fits perfectly with the action of the game and is one of the first things you will notice after downloading. Pain has several different modes of playing but sadly it only has one stage which is its main drawback. Single player modes include a sandbox style which allows the player to mess around and try and get the highest score they can. A mode which involves shooting yourself at a floating mime and using his body as a weapon to smash conveniently placed panes of glass. A mode named spank the monkey which simply involves hurtling towards spawning monkeys with big-bare arses. And last but not least a destruction mode where the main objective is to cause as many explosions within 3 launches of your massive weapon. Multiplayer is a whole different story and is by far the biggest reason to buy Pain, it involves a game of Horse. If you are unfamiliar with the rules of horse one player hits an object in the game and attempts to get a high score, the next player must beat the original score if they fail they get a letter which will eventually spell the word horse (or any other chosen word) and that player will lose the game. Another mode is bowling! Which is my personal favourite, one player launches him or herself at, wait for it… Oversized bowling pins, attempting to get a strike while the other player controls random events they can trigger with a press of a button to hinder the other player from reaching the pins, such as launching an anvil across the screen. The last multiplayer game is simply a 2 player version of the single player destruction game where players attempt to blow up the most explosive boxes. Now down to the nitty-gritty of the game. Pain is a PS3 exclusive Playstation Network game, it will skin you 5 whole pounds to buy and download. One of the biggest drawbacks of the game is that it only comes with 2 playable characters, you can purchase additional characters by paying 69p a pop. Each character has several costumes which helps to keep things feeling fresh. Although Pain has a few minor setbacks it is definitely worth the money. I’m sure you could open your wallet right now and oddly enough find money for the game, sadly you would need direct debit or a credit card to buy the game. Overall Pain is a great little package that is worth spending a few pound on and a few well spent hours on causing random mayhem and above all, pain.

Bronze Y Award

3.5 / 5