
Coming out of left field straight from Poland just eight months ago, Painkiller was an awesome surprise in what's turned out to be a great year for high-quality shooters. With its wildly varied environments, impressive physics, huge cast of creatures, creative weapon design, and a focus on pure action over exposition, it was both a throwback and a hair-raising step forward in relentless intensity. Battle out of Hell, the game's official expansion pack, doesn't mess around with the winning formula. It features 10 new levels (each with an original set of enemies and an unlockable tarot card), two new weapons, and some new multiplayer modes and maps. While some of the new levels match the quality of the original, roughly half of them feel like content that simply didn't pass muster the first time around. And now that the game's novelty has worn off a little, some of its design and technical flaws have become more glaring. It's still an impressive ride; it's just somewhat more sporadic than the original.

