Even today, when hardware effortlessly renders billions of pixels, sprites, and polygons that look like they came out of someone's doctoral thesis on animation, it is not at all easy to make a run-and-gun that visually dazzles while remaining playable.

There are plenty of fantastic games that are Doom-like today, games like the amazing Prodeus (review coming soon). A game where the pixel graphics and the limitations of old school shooters work in the game's favor. This, however, is not that. Yes, I'll start in a somber tone, because how else to begin a review of the Painkiller reboot? 

The mere mention of the word Shinobi brings two concepts to mind for the older generation. Either it's a synonym for ninja or a game from the SEGA Master System. I'm sure that for most, a cranial flash from the 90s immediately lights up when arcades were temples, and anyone who could throw a shuriken from half a meter away became a local hero.