It was the 2nd quarter of this year when we first reported that Painkiller is coming to the PSP. Well, it is already November and no word was further heard from this hellish first person shooter. Today, we came across an article saying that its developer DreamCatcher is being acquired JoWooD Productions Software.

We don't know if this has something to do with the delay or the lack of news. However, something like this should be a good news of some sort especially for DreamCatcher. As the Austria-based JoWooD CEO Albert Seidl puts it: "Acquiring DreamCatcher perfectly aligns with JoWooD’s strategy to deliver high-quality computer and videogames globally. We are looking at DreamCatcher as our North American counterpart and there are numerous and important synergies waiting to be exploited by all of us."

DreamCatcher on the other hand has a very good track record when it comes to adventure games and the North American market is definitely most profitable. After all these jazz, or so they say, there is still no word for Painkiller. We hope they go back immediately to making games once they've all settled down.

People Can Fly and DreamCatcher have announced that Painkiller, initially released on the PC some 2 years ago, is coming soon to the PSP and PlayStation 2.

The storyline of Painkiller is that you play as an unfortunate soul who has been killed in a car accident and then (for whatever reason) asked to repel an invasion of the forces of Hell. Painkiller was originally born out of the PAIN engine (a kind of Quake-mod-type engine), and basically let you run around at about a hundred miles an hour and reduce everything in your path in blobs. It was a first-person shooter, and came with the standard equipment, namely a shotgun, rocket launcher etc. but every weapon also had an alternative fire mode, so for instance, the rocket launcher doubles as a chain gun.

I personally think Painkiller has had its day, and the tired old Quake-mod-type engine isn't nearly up to spec for what first-person shooters are these days (mind you the bosses in the original sure were huge!). Nonetheless it might be a bit of fun (or at least a time waster).

No release date has been set as yet.