Back in the day, oh, say ten years ago or so, a first-person shooter needed few elements to be an enjoyable and engaging experience. Hordes of vicious enemies, lots of firearms to take out said hordes, and a smooth framerate were pretty much the only necessary pieces. So long as those three requirements were met, gamers were happy. As the genre, and gaming in general, progressed to deeper levels in terms of both storytelling and gameplay, it became less acceptable to have a simple "blast-everything-that-moves" type of FPS. But for those who miss the glory days, one look at Painkiller: Hell Wars will quickly remind you of how primal and visceral an FPS can be.

Painkiller follows one philosophy: simple is king. Everything about Painkiller is simple. The game starts with the death of the main character. He ends up going to heaven, only to find the gates locked. Pissed off that he can’t access his final destination (or a spare key under a cloud, har har), he decides to wage a one-man attack on Hell in order to gain the favor of God, which will in theory grant him entrance to eternal peace. This set up is as good of an excuse of any for a first-person shooter that centers on mindless destruction and high frag counts rather than clever physics-based manipulation or other types of puzzle-based gameplay.

Painkiller’s gameplay is easily comparable to the Serious Sam games, where for the most part all you’re required to do is mow through legions and legions of enemies. Enemies and weapons alike promise to be creative, making the decimation of Hell’s forces exciting throughout most of the game. Killing enemies drops power-orbs, and if you collect sixty-six of them, time slows down and you can perform some brutal maneuvers when taking foes out. Many of the game’s 20 stages will end with a boss battle. Some of the bosses are massive, and by massive I mean Shadow of the Colossus massive or bigger. Currently it’s unclear how many there will be in the game at this point, but expect there to be several.

Painkiller: Hell Wars may be a port of the 2004 PC release, but there will be some changes to the game. The developer People Can Fly says that they’re going to focus on supporting Xbox Live with the game, including Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and Capture the Flag. The PC version had a "People Can Fly" mode, where the only way to inflict damage was on enemies that were off the ground, though it isn’t clear if it’s going to make it into the Xbox version. An Xbox-exclusive mode will be included, but there are currently no details available. Other changes include more enemy types, new weapons, and additional levels.

Painkiller looks like it’s going to be a good time for those who enjoy mindlessly rampaging through armies of Hellspawn. While it’s not going to be something cerebral, FPS fans may want to keep an eye on this one. Painkiller arrives February 28th.