I remember watching the movie Constantine the other day. Interesting premise. You've got this detective who finds himself in this battle between heaven and hell, where seeing demons is an everyday occurrence and a run-in with Lucifer seems to be like an office interview. But the movie just didn't have that much fun with its premise. I'm not sure if it was Keanu Reeves or the whole pacing or whatever, but I kept thinking that it could've done more with this whole "eternal battle" storyline. Fortunately, the arrival of Painkiller: Hell Wars takes the more visceral approach, and puts you right in the thick of such a battle.

The game's introduction lays out the facts plain and simple- you're already dead. Your name is Daniel Garner, and you and your wife perished in a nasty car accident. She's already taken the express route to Heaven, but you've been left behind in Purgatory. One of Heaven's messengers says that God's ready to let you in, but first you need to complete a task for him. It appears that some of Lucifer's minions have gotten loose and could wreak havoc on the holy place, and he requests a little clean-up. So, using a variety of weapons and a vengeful killing spirit, you agree, although the task is far from easy.

One major standout in Painkiller's is how inventive the design becomes. One level will have you roaming around cemeteries, chopping zombies apart while collecting their souls. The next will have you taking on ninjas in an opera house, staining the place with their blood. It gets crazier from there, involving everything from exploding asylum inmates to all-out demons. And if that's not enough, the game also has some boss encounters that redefine just what they should be. We're not talking some big lummox who can eat a shitload of ammunition, but rather huge, towering beasts that stand almost three to four screens tall, ready to stomp you into a mudhole.

The boss encounters aren't just straight-up shooting, either. You still have to blast the living crap out of them, but you have to do it with great precision or you'll be wasting your bullets. This is probably the only real time you have to apply logic in Painkiller, but that's not a bad thing. Its pacing works really well for it, aside from some loading time that can be a bit strenuous at first. Fortunately, the loading screens are cool as hell. Actually, it looks like they're flying through hell.

The weapons show a bit of creative spark as well. At the beginning of the game, you're given a gun that combines soul-like laser blasts with a chainsaw-esque blade on the front, so you can run up and chop someone to bits if that's your forte. You gain access to cooler weapons as the game progresses, with the same dual purpose structure as your initial weapon. My personal favorite has to be the rocket launcher/chaingun combo. If some enemies don't respond to pithy bullets, you have an explosive alternative just waiting to be unleashed.

Perhaps one of the coolest items in the game is the ability to morph into an unholy beast. Collect a handful of souls, and you're able to temporarily turn into a demon that can blast enemies apart with one shot. The screen effect for this mode is pretty cool, as the screen goes black and white and your enemies become glowing orange globs. I prefer using normal weapons, but this is still a nice touch that breaks up the regular play.

The game's level selection is pretty impressive as well. It seems that People Can Fly has been listening to the Painkiller community. As a result, many levels are included from the original PC game, and a few from the expansion pack have been thrown in as well. This means some have been left out, so there might be disappointment for those looking for their favorites. Regardless, I think the level selection works fine here, and doesn't slow the game's frenetic pacing.

The gameplay works well with the Xbox control scheme. Weapon selection takes a slight bit getting used to at first, as the game stops and takes you to a separate screen to pick your guns of choice. However, you can easily assign favorites on the D-pad, so you don't have to keep switching back and forth. There's various difficulty selections here, ranging from daydream (easy) to nightmare (very hard). Veteran players looking to get the most out of Painkiller will want to hop right into nightmare, which will give them access to "black tarot" cards. With these cards, you're granted temporary and permanent abilities that help beef up the gameplay a bit. If you need to start on an easier level, the game's still enjoyable. But you're doing a disservice to Painkiller if you don't try nightmare difficulty at least once.

The single-player mode does offer some longevity, as it takes several hours to complete and there's different items to collect. But the real replayability is on Xbox Live, where up to eight players can let loose. There's various modes available here, including typical entries such as capture the flag, last man standing, deathmatch, duel, and team deathmatch, but Painkiller's original modes are worth notice. The light bearer mode, for example, drops players into a battle with a scant power-up available for pick-up. Then there's voosh, where weapon selection is done automatically, and the results of a battle can change pretty quickly depending on who's got the better weapon. The experience online is nice here, even if it is on the older Xbox and not the 360.

The game might have benefited a bit if its development was on the Xbox 360. The graphics here aren't terrible, as the frame rate is pretty quick and the enemies have a haunting look about them. But there are times that the game struggles under its own weight, with screen freezes and slowdown coming into play. With all the time People Can Fly had with this game, you'd think they would iron out these little wrinkles. The sound is alright, although the music selections, made up for hard rock tunes, get a bit repetitive for my tastes. The weapon effects are awesome, especially that chaingun.

Some people may miss out on this game because they just aren't into the old Xbox anymore. But for $30, Painkiller: Hell Wars is a terrific purchase. The online components make for some interesting battles; the boss battles have to be experienced to be believed; and the gameplay offers the kind of balls-to-the-wall action that some games just don't have these days.. Screw Constantine. Go drop some cash and raise some real hell.