The Punisher

The Punisher is a 2005 action game which stars the Marvel Comics vigilante, The Punisher. After his family was murdered by the mafia, Frank Castle devoted his life to the punishment of those who do evil to others. Players take control of the vigilante hero to track down criminals and make them pay for their deeds. The game’s story is a loose mixture of the 2004 film, as well as the 2000 mini-series, Welcome Back, Frank, written by Garth Ennis and pencilled by Steve Dillon (with the title character designed to look like Dillon’s depiction of the character), wherein the Punisher has no aversion to committing acts of extreme (if not gratuitous) violence. A mobile phone game based on this series was also released.

Somewhat similar to Rockstar’s controversial Manhunt, gameplay in The Punisher offers a combination of exploration, stealth and combat. When he comes across an enemy, who could help further the mission or one simply deserving of punishment, the hero can attack immediately, or sneak up to perform a one-button “quick kill”. Depending on the villain, the current location, and a player-determined level of aggression, one of the many gruesome and fatal assaults will be performed. The game’s environments also feature interrogation “hot spots”, where the vigilante can commit violent and torturous acts on his enemies, coercing them to share information that may help him in his quest.

All of the console ports (Xbox and PS2) saw Frank’s torture sequences with the game’s various villains censored to some degree (limited blood and gore, no finishing death scene, etc.). Much of this can be removed with a Codebreaker or Gameshark. Internet codes and a modified Xbox allow some of the censoring to be negated. Other patches intensify the gore and violence.

The game is well-known for cameos of Marvel Comics characters, such as Iron Man, Nick Fury, Black Widow, Daredevil (seen only briefly as Matt Murdock), Bushwacker, The Kingpin and Bullseye. Not to mention several memorable characters from the Welcome Back, Frank comic book storyline such as detectives Martin Soap and Molly Van Richtofen, the Punisher’s neighbors Joan and Spacker Dave, Ma Gnucci, The Russian and General Kreigkopf.