The Punisher (2005 video game)

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The Punisher
"Every muzzle flash means one more monster gone"
Protagonist(s): Frank Castle/The Punisher Genre(s): Third-person shooter Action-adventure Platform(s): Mobile Microsoft Windows PlayStation 2 Xbox Release: Mobile NA: April 12, 2004 PlayStation 2 Xbox Microsoft Windows NA: January 18, 2005 EU: March 4, 2005 Developer(s): Volition Amplified Games (Mobile) Publisher(s): THQ Series: The Punisher

The Punisher is a 2005 action-adventure third-person shooter video game developed by Volition and published by THQ. Playing as the Marvel Comics character of the same name, Frank Castle/The Punisher, the game follows his endless quest to track down and kill major criminals. The story, written with help from Garth Ennis, creator of The Punisher MAX, loosely follows both the 2004 movie and several of Ennis' earlier Punisher works, particularly Vol. 5 and 6, and features appearances of several Punisher villains and other Marvel characters such as Daredevil, Kingpin, Iron Man, The Russian, and others.

Plot

The game begins with a cinematic of the Punisher killing several footmen of the Yakuza. After he leaves the building, he is apprehended by law enforcement in front of an unknown building. He is then transferred to Ryker's Island and interrogated by police detectives Molly von Richthofen and Martin Soap. The majority of the game occurs in flashbacks during this interrogation.

Why It Rocks

1. Just like The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay and Scarface: The World Is Yours, while it's a tie-in video game from the great 2004 film, the game story has some moments that are not seen in the movie.
2. Amazing graphics for 2005 standards and still looks great to this day, with plenty of well-detailed scenes in levels and character designs as well, it also has extremely graphic violence even compared to Manhunt and plenty of points in and out of cutscenes that have very gory violence.
3. Really fun and fast-paced gameplay reminiscent of Max Payne but without Bullet Time, making the gameplay faster and more frenetic while still being easy enough and engaging. You have a very large arsenal of weapons at your disposal, many of which can also be duel-wielded, even if they're assault rifles or shotguns. There's also a torture mechanic where you can grab specific enemies and either torture them on the spot or use special interrogations on more creative areas, though you have to be careful not to kill them in the process lest you miss helpful information, and some will even convince other enemies not to shoot at you if you keep them alive.
4. Similar to the Manhunt games there are special executions on certain objects that are pretty fun and over the top as well as creative animations for killing enemies during special interrogations, which Frank will also comment on in a funny way.
5. Thomas Jane reprises his role as Frank Castle from the 2004 movie and does a pretty appropriately sardonic performance in the game.
   • The rest of the voice acting is also great as there are known actors such as: Nolan North, James Arnold Taylor, S. Scott Bullock, Michael Gough, Steve Blum, Robin Atkin Downes and Nika Futterman.
6. The precise aiming mechanic is great as it can be used to kill enemies from a distance, you can even disarm them by shooting them in the arm, which is a nice detail.
7. The story is very well written, styling it's many different sources in media res where Frank is interrogated about his killing sprees after the fact and goes through them in detail. It also does a great job showing how his sprees escalate with each subsequent level and how he affects many others by taking down major crime syndicates. What's even more impressive is how it manages to organically include many more Marvel characters, plenty of whom were mentioned above; there's the obvious like Daredevil but there's also plenty of others who aren't directly associated with the Punisher storylines such as Black Widow, Nick Fury, Kingpin and even Iron Man.
8. Garth Ennis' signature profane writing style shines in this game, taking a darker tone than one would expect from a Marvel game especially around the time. There's plenty of swearing, dark themes, brutal action, realistic dialogue, and so on. It also delves even deeper into Frank as a character and his purpose in this world, while also giving him a more realistic and sad narrative.
9. You can use a rage mode in a pinch, which makes Frank temporarily immune to damage and also throw more powerful knives and perform more brutal quick kills.
10. Plenty of awesome boss fights with specific villains from The Punisher comics.
11. Great and amazing musical score that sometimes consists of the 2000s dubstep music.
12. Lots of unlockables that you can obtain both by progressing through the game and increasing your score in levels. Some of these include newspaper clippings of Frank's exploits and how the public reacts to them, which isn't always positive. You also unlock weapons to equip after each level as well as a Challenge Mode and a Punishment Mode.
13. Plenty of variety in it's levels, which range from realistic New York locales and other creative and often grungy environments that fit in with The Punisher.

Bad Qualities

1. The black and white grain filter while great stylized can sometimes be annoying and it appears during the special interrogation deaths due to the game being threatened with an AO rating. Luckily there are mods to remove this along with adding more blood and more quick kill animations.
2. The audio was often criticized for being somewhat low quality, plenty of sound-effects aren't synched properly and can sound glitchy or even really quiet.
3. The only way to get a higher score in each level is by not getting hit which is hard since there isn't a cover mechanic in this game, aside from crouching behind objects and doesn't fit with the fast-paced gunplay.
   • Speaking of which the shoot-dodge feature like in Max Payne is toned down as there isn't any slow motion when using it.

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