Comic book games have a hit-or-miss track record, but The Punisher is a clear success.
A third-person shooter with first-person shooter style controls, ala Max Payne, The Punisher has everything a Frank Castle fan could want – nonstop blasting, an original story by series writer Garth Ennis, and stylish executions befitting the titular one man army.
While the game's visuals aren't all that impressive from a technical standpoint, they do remain consistent with the comic-book theme of the book, making for a very immersive atmosphere. A particularly nice touch is the inclusion of black text on yellow background comic-like panels for status messages and other important events. An ominous score and excellent voiceover work tops out the package, and Marvel fans will be more than pleased with the wide cast of characters that make appearances here, including Daredevil, Kingpin, Nick Fury, Iron Man and more.
Gameplay is largely straightforward and enjoyable, if not revolutionary. Using a wide variety of firearms, you'll blast through mission after mission, mowing down countless bad guys. What makes The Punisher special is the rock-solid controls and the interrogation mechanic. Sometimes to proceed, you'll need to coax a keycode or other information out of a goon. This is done by way of a pressure-sensitive minigame played with the analog stick. Too little pressure, and the perp won't talk. Too much, and you'll kill him prematurely. It's not a hard mechanic to get a hold of, but it does go quite a way in making you "feel" like The Punisher.
Thanks to an RPG-like upgrade system and a plethora of unlockable weapons and comic artwork, there's always a sense of constant reward for your efforts. There's also three medals you can obtain per level for superb performance, and scores compound for each enemy you kill without getting hit, with bonuses for headshots. Shooting fanatics will quickly become addicted to running through each level multiple times to best their own score.
Overall, you couldn't ask much more from a Punisher game. It's gory, it's violent, it has lots of gritty graphic-novel atmosphere, superhero/villain cameos, and a nonstop feed of cannon fodder. Shooting fans and Punisher fans alike will fall in love with this game.
-George
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