TGS '07: Pain Preshow Update

Back at Sony's San Diego Gamers' Day in May, we saw a new game called Pain that really lived up to its name. The game is all about hurling unfortunate individuals into bustling urban environments, with your score coming from the amount of destruction and pain you cause. The same quaint downtown city level that we saw in May was on display at Sony's pre-TGS preview event tonight, with modes like mime toss (throw a loathsome mime into traffic) and spank the monkey (try to hit every monkey in the level in one go) again available for play.

The biggest changes we noted in this build were the addition of a more fleshed-out character roster and an achievement-like trophy system accessible from the main menu. It looks as if there will be eight characters on offer in the final game, and seven of them had been added to this demo. The character design indicates Pain's unapologetically crass, lowbrow attitude. Since the San Diego build, new characters have been added, such as a squat ninja named Hung Lo. Then there's Ed "T-Bone" Haulstein, who wears a full-body cow suit with a giant, floppy udder. Expect a number of scantily clad and absurdly proportioned young ladies as well, such as the blonde cheerleader bimbo Muffy, as well as Ginger, the nurse with the too-tight uniform. We didn't note any major difference in gameplay between the handful of characters we tried, but there will probably be some differentiation before development wraps up.

As for the trophies, you'll be able to see the ones you've earned from a little gallery linked on the main menu. These seem very reminiscent of the sorts of goals tied to achievements on the Xbox 360, given that they task you with things like racking up 100 "head hits"--presumably getting a character to impact a surface directly on his or her poor noggin--as well as getting a character to fly 5,000 feet in one toss. How your acquisition of trophies may affect the core gameplay is unclear, though they may contribute to unlocking subsequent gameplay content. Then again, they may just be there for bragging rights.

Pain doesn't have a concrete release date, and considering that Sony hasn't elected to show any new levels since the San Diego event, it may be a ways off. We'll let you know when we get firmer details on an expected release date.