PAIN Mini Review

PAIN recently went on sale for $4.99 in the Playstation store (originally $9.99). The game is little more than a fleshed out tech demo for PS DLC, Ragdoll physics, and Havok. The game is also pretty darn fun and well worth your $5 bucks. If you bought the game for $10, Pain definitely comes up thin on the gameplay modes and features. In fact the most annoying thing about PAIN is that the developers clearly held back on content to nickel and dime you later. The game comes with 1 character w/ 3 costumes and 1 unlockable character and 4 different modes all in the same downtown level. What's annoying is that there are over 10 characters that you can purchase and of course the upcoming Abusement Park expansion level. Given the shear sophmoric fun I had with Pain, I may splurge for the level add on (depending on $$$) but I certainly don't give a hoot about a naughty santa girl and all these other characters. Why not make them unlockable? Why do I have to pay $$ for a new skin on my ragdoll? Having unlockable characters would give players some goal in the wide open PAINdemonium mode other than getting 1 more trophy. Ultimately that's PAIN's problem...there isn't much incentive to keep playing after the first couple hours. You use a Slingshot to fling and hurt your ragdoll...this is extremely fun for the first couple hours, and there's something to be said for exploring the level and finding all the explosions, jokes, etc....but ultimately after playing the 4 modes which are all built on the same mechanic there's no real motivation to keep going and it gets a little monotonous. Only having the 1 level certainly doesn't help.

Gameplay: 7/10 - I need more Levels, Characters and Modes...it gets stale too fast.
Graphics: 9/10 - Graphics are pretty impressive for a DLC game and among the best I have seen for a Downloadable Game on XBL or PSN.
Sound/Music: 8/10 - No complaints...characters say some pretty amusing lines and the rock soundtrack is appropriate.
Lasting Appeal: 6/10 - This game needs some more gameplay wrinkles, modes, levels, and characters. It's a decent deal for $5 but the previous price of $10 is a bit steep.

Tilt: -1.00%

Bottom Line is this game is certainly worth $5 and will offer you several hours of entertainment before it gets stale. It looses some points for the blatant overuse of microtransactions for DLC.

Verdict: 74%