Painkiller: Gold Edition

Life Getting You down? Can t be bothered with the latest high-maintenance real-time strategy epic with the impenetrable interface? Want some ridiculously OTT dumb fun? From the same DNA as Doom, Duke Nukem and Serious Sam, Painkiller is a nobullshit run-and-gun blaster that sets you loose in purgatory against the devil and his hellish minions.

Fortunately, god has blessed you with some serious meaty weapons, including a shotgun which has a superb alt-fire freeze ability, and a stake-gun that fires wooden projectiles that nail enemies to walls. Painkiller uses Havok physics to hilarious effect, so within I seconds you'll be hurling ragdoll bodies around and staining your monitor with buckets of bloody gib-splattering.

Enemy Al is simplistic, with creatures including mad monks, asylum freaks and Templar knights simply blundering towards you, but the quite beautiful levels packed with foes, giant boss battles and decent multiplayer modes make for some intense action. For just over a tenner, you get the original Painkiller and the not-quite-so-good expansion pack Battle Out Of Hell -both a healthy cure for PC gaming malaise.