The 2000s and early 2010s were a weird time for the classic FPS. With military shooters starting to take over with the boom of WWII games that would eventually become the modern military FPS, alongside the regenerating health and limited load outs of Halo, the torch for the classic run and gun monster massacre was limited to just two franchises, before later attempts started to compromise with ideas from the aforementioned Halo and Call of Duty. The most famous of the two was definitely Serious Sam, which has entered a sort of creative renaissance with the boomer shooter revival. The other series, however, might have an even bigger footprint of impact, one most people may not even be aware of.
That series was Painkiller, starting with a 2004 PC game by People Can Fly. You may remember the studio more as the co-developers of Gears of War, Bulletstorm, and a little cult title you may not have heard of called Fortnite. Painkiller was their start, and the beginning of a massive domino effect that would shape the landscape of the FPS genre for decades to come. This is due mainly to former studio staff leaving to form their own studios, creating a surge of games that bare the DNA of this one game. This even includes project lead Adrian Chmielarz, who went on to create The Astronauts, the studio behind The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, and share hot takes. If you’ve played, say, the Shadow Warrior reboot series from Flying Wild Hog, congrats, you have experienced work of Painkiller devs, and there’s so many other examples.
