The Punisher
review by Head Cheeze

The Punisher is one of Marvel Comics coolest characters, and, in the past few years, was made even cooler by a hip new writing team, more adult themes, and more f-bombs than an episode of Def Comedy Jam. So, when the time came to finally make a video game based on this popular character, developer THQ opted to stick to what worked, and has delivered a game that is as violent and gruesome as the comic book, and features a story arc that merges the goings on of both the comic and recent film.

You play the game as Frank Castle (aka; The Punisher), a vigilante whose family was killed by the criminal mastermind, Howard Saint. The game begins with Castle locked up in Ryker’s Island prison, being interrogated by a pair of cops, and the missions are flashbacks to what has brought him here. From here on out, it’s basically your standard run, shoot, repeat game, with an over the shoulder camera angle, a host of weapons, and animated cut scenes that tie it all together.

You begin each mission at Castle’s apartment, where you are presented with a few options before heading out. There’s the armory, which houses an arsenal of weapons from which to choose from, but most of them are “locked” until you acquire them in later levels. There’s also an area where you can spend your points on upgrading everything from Castle’s body armour to the amount of ammunition he can carry, and, if you play things just right, he becomes a fairly unstoppable force by the time you get to the game’s end. Finally, there is the War Journal, where one can read up about Castle’s next target, see some photographs, and learn just why they’re on The Punisher’s shit list.

The game play, itself, is standard stuff. You basically guide The Punisher through linear levels filled with dozens of bad guys, and fire away. However, there is some cool alleviation from the norm, here, as Castle can interrogate baddies with a selection of brutal methods that include smashing their faces against the concrete floor, pressing the barrel of a pistol through their skull, and beating them to a bloody pulp. There are also floating skull icons where you can drag your victims for extra special brands of interrogation that range from the humourous to the downright nasty.

While most of the levels involve getting to some sort of end boss, the bosses themselves are remarkably easy to kill. There are also some short, clever missions that have Castle “fighting” opponents, but they only really amount to dragging them to a hotspot on the level so that a scripted cut scene shows you the action.

Graphically, The Punisher is nothing special. While the ragdoll physics are nice (courtesy of the Havok engine), and the end bosses and The Punisher, himself, are all modeled well, the levels are flat and generic looking, as are the numerous henchmen The Punisher has to plow through along the way. The game is extremely gory, with many an exploding head, and slashed artery making each level an over-the-top bloodbath, but that’s actually part of this otherwise rudimentary game’s charm. Were it not such a hoot to see how The Punisher will dispatch his next victim, then the game would be nothing more than a run and gun bore.

Another pair of things that separates The Punisher from run-of-the-mill shooters is an engrossing script by comic scribe Garth Ennis, and an excellent bit of voice acting by movie Punisher, Tom Jane. The game serves as something of a prequel to the next Punisher film, as it sets up who will be the main baddie in the movie, and can be seen as sort of a middle chapter. Comics fans will also appreciate the appearances of some of Marvel’s other favourites, including The Kingpin, Daredevil, and Iron Man, who all appear in funny cameos.

The Punisher doesn’t break any new ground graphically, but there are enough entertaining distractions, as well as a quality storyline and above average voice work, to make for a very entertaining game that should appeal to comic fans, as well as stressed out folks looking to unleash the pent up frustrations of their inner sadist.