PAIN's concept is simple; you load a character up into a giant slingshot, aim and launch them into the environment (a downtown city area in this case) for the purpose of causing chaos, scoring points and, of course, inflicting pain. The most interesting part of PAIN however is the heavy use of Havok engine-driven physics on absolutely everything within the game. From the launchable characters and unassuming pedestrians, to entire subway trains, nearly every item and structure in the city is interactive in one way or another. When your ragdoll character is fired from the slingshot and hits anything, it usually sets off a chain of unpredictable and chaotic events. On top of simply launching into things, your character can also "grab" whatever he (she or it) makes contact with in order to further push or pull the action along. And then as the chaos of exploding propane tanks, crashing cars and flying glass begins, you also have the ability to "ooch" your character over slightly to steer them into other precarious and dangerous positions, thus setting off another chain of painful events. It's this dynamic domino effect that makes the game fascinating to play and watch, time and time again.

The game is somewhat lacking when it comes to gameplay modes, though for a downloadable game of this sort it's not really a problem. The single player mode is broken into 3 events, all of which have multiple difficulty modes and online leaderboards (for the highest difficulty level at least). PAINdemonium/Aftermath is a straightforward points-based event that keeps track of your very best, most painful "launch" score; Mime Toss has you grabbing a mime and throwing him through several panes of glass scattered about the city in as short a time as possible; and Spank the Monkey requires you to find and "spank" (uh... make contact with) a few dozen monkeys hiding about as quickly as you can. They all start off easy enough, but become exponentially more difficult, especially when looking to place on the leaderboards. They have one thing in common, all the modes are stupidly addictive. There are also a few multiplayer modes such as Bowling and HORSE that will keep 2 or more players quite busy as well.

PAIN may look visually simple at first glance, but when you witness the sheer amount of interactivity offered within the 3 or 4 block radius of the downtown city environment, it's pretty impressive technically. For a downloadable title, it sports some rather nice textures, models and effects, even if the art is obviously done up as parody of "xtreme" games and sports. The sounds are also well done, with breaking glass, twisting metal and people screaming well represented in Dolby Digital surround sound. The voices can be irritating if you take them seriously in any way. There's something satisfying about slamming a cocky gen-x-er or baggy pants wearing rapper wannabe into a billboard, under a train and then through several windows. Besides the "P-A-I-N" title music, PAIN has no music at all during gameplay. The ambient sounds usually do enough to keep your ears satisfied before the real action begins.

When PAIN was first announced, a few features such as online head-to-head mutliplayer, the ability to download/upload replays and deeper community interactivity was planned to be included. Alas, they were not ready at the time the game launched, which is a disappointment. We were informed that a number of enhancements are planned for the future though, and hopefully the developers can work some of them in as soon as possible. One other contention is the fact that the game is clearly designed as a downoadable content vehicle, with already 2 new characters being made available to purchase (for $.99 a piece), and if the in-game ads are any indication, presumably a new "Indoor Amusement Park" area in the near future as well. To be honest I felt a little cheated at first. After putting in several hours with the game, however, I concluded that what's included in the game by default is fair for the price. A little more free content would have certainly been appreciated.

PAIN is really a fun and addictive little game, assuming you aren't turned off by the blatantly juvenile humor and nickel and dime-style DLC scheme. Give it a try.