The Punisher (2005)

"Brutality and vigilantism at its finest"

Produced and released around the same time as the 2004 Punisher film, the Punisher game serves as a follow-up to the movie, even going so far as to have lead actor Thomas Jane return to voice the Punisher himself. Around the time of its release, a lot of noise was made about the game's violence. It has bone and gristle in spades, but provides some visceral shooting action that's bound to keep shooter fans entertained.

Story:
The Punisher, having established himself, finds his life threatened and dismantles various criminal organizations (such as the Italian mob and Yakuza) to get to whoever is trying to finish him permanently. The story follows the "Welcome Back Frank" arc as well as the 2004 film, and is quite well done. You'll find a ton of cameos in the game, such as Nick Fury, Iron Man, Black Widow, etc ... the list goes on and on.

Presentation:
The Punisher looks great and runs smoothly. Characters animate smoothly and they are modelled with a fair amount of detail, even if this game suffers from the clone syndrome that just about every game is plagued with. There's a fair bit of gore (which is not unexpected). Heads (and sometimes other limbs) will explode, and blood splatters very nicely. Audio-wise, the game excels with the voice acting but could fare better with the music. Thomas Jane does a tremendously good job with the Punisher, and the rest of the VAs aren't half bad either. A really nice touch is having Frank talk about the various guns he's accumulated in his arsenal. The music is very much forgettable, save for the stuff that plays in the main menu.

Gameplay:
The whole game basically boils down to shooting practically everyone who is armed. The shooting mechanics are fairly standard for a third person action game. You can carry 2 guns: one side-arm and one primary weapon. Side-arms and primaries can both be dual wielded to great effect, allowing you to blow away scores of enemies - dual M60s are particularly fun to use. Fine aim is available for most weapons for when you need to hit something precise. You'll unlock a humongous arsenal of guns, with a variety of machine guns, pistols, shotguns, etc and they're all very fun to use.

However, this isn't any ordinary shooter, and Frank has some interesting moves of his own. If he gets close to an enemy, he has the option to take them hostage or perform a quick kill on them. Taking someone hostage is self explanatory, and vital to your survival in later missions/higher difficulties. Quick kills will result in Frank either savagely beating someone with his gun or carving them a new orifice with his combat knife - both are extremely satisfying to watch. Lastly, performing kills will build up Frank's "Slaughter mode" meter. Once "Slaughter mode" is triggered, Frank is nearly bulletproof and has infinite throwing knives with which he can impale his enemies.

The most interesting bit, however, is being able to interrogate enemies. Aside from the small health boost gained from doing so, interrogations can provide you with stuff such as extra weapons, or convincing enemies to surrender, etc. There are 4 basic interrogations: gun tension (where you apply pressure to the trigger), punching, face smashing (particularly satisfying) and choking. Next are the special environmental interrogations, such as edging someone's crotch closer to a laser beam, shoving someone's face into a running fan or strapping someone into an electric chair. All of these play out the same way - you move the mouse, which controls the needle along the tension meter. You must get the needle into the hot zone and make it stay there within 3 seconds. This can get quite challenging later on as you try to keep your hostage alive while still beating the interrogation. The mouse control is quite sluggish here, as someones it doesn't register your movements at all, while a slight flicker will send the needle flying. Should you fail these interrogations, you're treated to a grisly (but black and white) cutscene of the aftermath.

In the course of beating these levels, you'll accumulate points, which can be cashed in for upgrades. The point system is fairly simple - you accrue points based on how you killed someone (extra points for headshots or particularly brutal quick kills) and accumulate a multiplier based on how many kills you make without taking damage. You also get points for rescuing civilians. You'll want to play as skillfully as possible to maximize your point gain, as many of these upgrades are very useful, such as adding scopes/silencers/grenade launchers to your weapons, increasing your ammo capacity, etc.

This game is very enjoyable the first time through, but if you're not a huge shooter fan you would probably get bored quickly. Once you're doing playing you can play through on higher difficulty levels to score more points, or play the Punishment and Challenge modes to unlock stuff. These modes are basically the same as the normal game, but with specific goals that must be accomplished for level completion.

Summary:
It's a great shooter, so if you love that stuff, get this game.
Pros:
+ Awesome presentation
+ Good story with lots of cameos
+ Great action
+ Brutality :D
Cons:
- Weak interrogation controls
- You'll see most of what it has to offer early on

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/28/08

Game Release: The Punisher (2005) (US, 01/18/05)