That's gonna leave a mark- A half-schlitzed PAIN review

Whilst in the midst of my usual daily perusal of PS3 Fanboy and the Playstation boards, I was quickly reminded of the fact that today was Thursday. As such, the weekly PSN updates were up and, wouldn't ya know it, Pain made its November launch deadline.

I've been watching this game since I first heard about it through E3 coverage and thought, what the heck, it's ten dollars. I've noticed a lot of folks refuse to buy downloadable games until they get the chance to read some reviews. Given how slowly these types of reviews come out, I thought I'd offer my own opinion and, well, you can take it or leave it. Though I suggest you take it.

First of all, I've gotta say I'm extremely impressed with how much work has gone into Pain. The world is ridiculously detailed and the physics are crazy-good. Also, the humor is a bit sophomoric, but in a game where your objective is to load a dude into a giant slingshot and fire him at inanimate objects in an effort to inflict as much, get this, pain as humanly possible, the cheap laughs are pitch perfect.

The Pain crew could have let things rest at that point and had a decent little title on their hands but, instead, opted to go several steps further. Rather than just shoot the character through the air, there are several pose, grab, and chain options to keep in mind while directing his flight. Also, you can re-watch each launch with a decent array of options allowing pause, slowdown and even a free-roam camera.

On top of this you have several single player modes, multiplayer modes and the clear promise of future content. There are also a bunch of medals and trophies to unlock through creative gameplay so, for those collectors out there, be prepared to spend a decent number of hours on this title.

For ten dollars, you really can't go wrong with Pain if you're looking for a fun diversion or a fantastic party game. It's guaranteed to keep you and your pals busy for quite some time.