(PS3; $9.99; Rated T for Crude Humor/ Sexual themes/ Violence; us.playstation.com)
Allegedly born out of a brainstorming meeting by the Sony marketing department (always where the best game designs come from), "Pain" is a simple downloadable game who's target demographic falls along the maturity spectrum between the TV series "Jackass" and the "American Pie" films. It is for those who can't get enough of ball-to-balls hilarity on "America's Funniest Home Videos" and TiVo reruns of MTV's "Scarred."
For me, it's only mildly amusing and only for a very limited period of time- place me on the spectrum where you will.
"Pain's" environments are three different bobby-trapped cities. The player's character is launched from a giant sling-shot into the environment- the goal being to hit as many things on the way down to the ground, chaining higher and higher scores for the amount of pain caused to the character. Shoot him into a gas tank on a billboard, that blows the character to a giant bowling-ball statue, which will roll over him and send him flying through plate-glass windows and onto the tracks of a people mover, knocking him onto the street where the character is hit repeatedly by cars, and finally down a manhole; big points- you get the idea.
The thing is, there's not much more after that.
Sure there are minigames where you try to catch a mime in mid-air and throw him through a series of panes of glass for points, or try a pain-filled version of HORSE in multiplayer, but beyond that- it's just more of the same. And each time you launch your character from the slingshot, the same "WooHoo!" is yelled over and over again, which is irritating enough to launch myself out a window.
The idea of chaining combos of destruction is nothing new: the "Burnout" series' Crash Mode made a puzzle mode out of wanton destruction, the most recent Tony Hawk titles add bonuses for the number of limbs broken in a bail; but those where fun distractions from a complete game-
"Pain" is entirely a distraction.
Which I can't totally fault "Pain" for. After all- it is priced as a simple, casual game- in no way should it be placed on the same level as a "Burnout" or "Tony Hawk." Nevertheless, it should be placed on the same level as a "Geometry Wars" or "Ms. Pac Man," and as such- at $10, "Pain" is way too expensive. At half the price, "Pain's" score would likely jump up a star, but the value of this game isn't high enough to justify its price.
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