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Manhunt pale's compared to this game.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 8
Date: November 29, 2004
Author: Amazon User

A friend of mine was approached by a subsidy of THQ for a lead-development position. One of the tasks they asked him to do in determining whether or not he was right for the position was to develop an entire level for The Punisher game. I was blessed to be able to witness a beta version of two levels of the game and let me tell you this. It makes Manhunt look like Super Mario Bros by comparison. I didn't get to actually play the game, however, from what I saw and as much as fun as it was to watch, this game is going to really make a mark. Putting people into woodchippers, dunking them in deepfryers. And the level detail and design is just beautiful. This is a must have!

Worth the wait

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: January 20, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I first saw the preview for The Punisher game on telivision, and it blew me away. I must admit I was hesitant at first, it's not often a game comes out this long after the movie, but I couldn't deny the amazing look of it. After getting it home I opened it up and popped it in. It opened with the Marvel page flip logo that's in the movies, which I thought was pretty neat. What followed was a great intro, and an amazing game. Any enemy can be grabbed, interrogated, (which sometimes yields a comic book flashback!) or killed. There are certain spots where you can do specialty kills and interrogations. After you grab someone, you can also use them as a body shield as you shoot other people. You can duel wield shotguns, or go into "Slaughter Mode" where you gain health over time, and you forego your firearms for knives. The graphics are great, as is the gameplay and storyline. Easily one of the best games out there.

Make Every Bullet Count... (4.5 stars)

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 25 / 28
Date: January 25, 2005
Author: Amazon User

It's been a long wait, but it's finally here. "The Punisher" is now available for the PS2 (there are also X-Box and PC versions available), and I can honestly say that they have finally come out with a superb vision of the dark and brutal world of this cold-blooded antihero. It's violent. It's disturbing. It's unsettling. It's intense.

As it should be.

You're Frank Castle, a.k.a. "The Punisher." You have cemented yourself in a life of violence as you plead to punish the guilty since the judicial system does not. The story in the game is that you have been picked up by the police and they are now questioning you about a number of "assaults" carried out by you. You relive those flashbacks and gun down criminals left and right while trying to find out who is the mastermind behind the sudden crime wave (not to mention the number of attempts on your life). Your gut says it's Kingpin, but evidence points elsewhere. It's up to you to find out and learn why you're locked up in Ryker's Island to begin with.

The game has a pretty simple formula to it and once you've done it all... you've done it all. And yet, the game is so entertaining and engaging that the replay level is extremely high. The graphics are crisp and clear, the music is haunting and fits in with the mood, and the unfolding storyline guarantees you wanting to complete the game. There are a variety of weapons for you to choose from and different methods for taking out criminals. You can perform quick kills, use them as shields to protect yourself from gunfire, and the best feature of all, interrogate the guilty. You're going to need help along the way, so getting some answers from the criminal scum is a must. There's simple interrogations (gun tension, choke, face smash and punch), and there are also "special interrogations" on each level and section (can you say "buzz saw," "shark" and "electric chair?"). You can also perform "special quick kills" that differ from level to level. Not to mention the intense "slaughter mode" where you assault your enemies with an unlimited amount of knives.

A nice bonus is that the voice of "The Punisher" is none other than Tom Jane, who was the star of the most recent "Punisher" flick. To some, this may not be a big deal, but to fans like me, it is MAJOR. An excellent decision, I must say. He really adds the tone and mood of Frank Castle splendidly.

Some of the drawbacks are that the controls take a little getting used to and the number of enemies on certain sections can be overwhelming. Also, some of the "special interrogations" can be tricky and if you're not careful, you may prematurely kill the only person who can help you out (I suggest using the "special interrogations" on enemies that don't have the white skulls above them, so that way the only penalty you'll get for prematurely wasting them is some lost points). Like I said, once you've done everything, you've pretty much have done EVERYTHING. However, I have to say the replay level is extremely high. You'll want to replay certain levels over and over again.

Overall, I'm extremely happy with "The Punisher" videogame for PS2. "The Punisher" is one of my favorite comic book characters, and this game does a fine representation of it. If you're a fan, definitely check it out as soon as you can.

Remember, it's not vengeance... it's punishment.

It's not Revenge It's Punishement!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: January 30, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This game was actually a pretty damn well made marvel game. you play as Frank Castle and your family has been murdered and you are out to punish those who screwed up your life. The graphics are terrible and there is a bunch of clippings in the game( guns going through walls.....) but overall the punisher is a really good game done well and a good story if you want a good action game go out and buy the punisher for ps2 xbox or pc.

Prepare to keep the coroner's office REALLY busy...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: January 31, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Sometimes the thought of releasing a video game based on a comic book character/movie has been a hit or miss proposition, as has been the cases with Spider-Man (2 hits), Batman (hit and miss) and Superman (Don't let me get started...). So is the case that some people would think that THQ's decision of releasing this game just under a year after the release of the Punisher movie would be virtually like shooting themselves in the foot with a Desert Eagle. However, after a little time playing it, the old phrase "better late than never" never felt so appropriate.

First off, Punisher the game is not a direct spinoff of the movie in any way. The story of the game is an original one written exclusive to the game by the current writers of the Punisher comic book, Garth Ennis and Jimmy Panzotti. The only thing that connects the game and the movie is that the voice of The Punisher is actor Tom Jane, who played the role in the hit movie.

In the story, you (as Frank Castle/The Punisher) are locked up in New York's notorious Ryker's Island prison being questioned by the cops for a series of events (recounted as the levels of the game) that will ultimately lead to you learning how all the events connect and explain why you are locked up in the first place.

As you play through each level you will face criminals and need information to ultimately find your goal. You can do so by grabbing anyone and executing an interrogation via choking them, smashing their face into the ground, punching them or putting a gun in their face and slowly squeezing the trigger.
Breaking your target gets you info and health which afterwards you can either use them for human shields or just flat-out kill them. However, there are certain people to find that have vital info you need, so you can perform a Special Interrogation with them using anything in the environment (one particularly fun SI is one using a shark that will feel like a slight homage to James Bond). For every successful break with this person you can let them be and kill them quickly or finish them off using the environment, but keep this in mind: killing SI's could cost you style points which you can use to buy upgrades for your weapons and/or yourself between levels. However, just on the off chance that you are completely surrounded and if you really want to increase the body count, you can activate Slaughter Mode, which gives you an unlimited supply of knives, faster speed, deadlier Quick Kills, and a health boost.

The graphics are great, and some of the kills are extremely graphic (Let's just say that one of the Quick Kills will make most guys wince at least once as you play since it gives a whole new meaning to "blow your head off"). But then again, what would you expect from Volition, the team responsible for THQ's other hit shooter series Red Faction?

All in all, this is one game that definitely does the character justice, not punishment...

the story of truth

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: February 03, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Iloved it! It might not be so educational,but it's fun! i think this game should be with mature kids only.

punisher is the best

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 3
Date: February 05, 2005
Author: Amazon User

when this game came out i ran to the store and bought it and loved it.first thing i thought was cool was the voiceovers and our vigilante is played by none other then tom jane.Also wat i found great about this game was the interigations there are over 100 different ways to interigate sombody.THe story line is unbelievable it makes so much sense.Each gun you get in this game you could upgrade from laser aiming to silencer and even to a grenade launcher on it.so i want everybody with a ps2 or xbox to gat this game

BORING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 4
Date: February 08, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I just couldn't get into this game. It started out a real interesting game, but as I reached the next level and so on, I realized nothing is really different than the first level other than the background. The only interesting thing about advancing in this game is that each level has one or two different ways to kill someone than the previous level, but it can only be done in certain spots of the map. Otherwise, killing your enemies is the same thing over and over. This is pretty much for the die-hard Punisher fan. I'm glad I rented before I bought.

Keep comic book games comic book story based not movie based

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: February 11, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This game is very true to the comic book story. THQ did a great job. I found myself hooked getting right into the story and even pulled out the old comic book series when Jim Lee was the artist for Punisher. One thing I dont suggest, little kids should not play this game, its just way to violent for 12 and under. I do recommend it for adults and teens and comic book lovers who wish video game companys would stay more to the comic story line than movie story line. Great job THQ.

Mixed reactions.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 7
Date: February 13, 2005
Author: Amazon User

First things first. I'm not into shooting games. I suffer from motion-sickness, and shooting games don't help the situation. But then again, I'm a fan of Marvel Comics, and even though I've always view The Punisher as some sort of a third-rated hero, it didn't stop me from borrowing this from a colleague who simply can't stop buying games that involve big guns. And how I regret.

I know I shouldn't bother too much about the story. If you've read the comic, or even watch the dreadful movie from last year, you'd have know that the plot revolves around a revenge theme. Frank Castle's family was gruesomely murdered by the bad guys, and he goes on the journey of showing them the meaning of pain. Basically, that's it. Taking the role of Castle, you end up shooting a lot of bullets at a lot of people. Added with some interrogation scenes in between, and you get the most of this game.

To be fair, the gameplay is quite ok. Apart from shooting, you get to grab an enemy to act as a shield, and this takes the action a level higher. However, with the action coming in thick and fast, sometimes, you may just find yourself forgoing this luxury and go for the quick fix. This grabbing ability also allows you to interrogate the victim, which, if done correctly, could give you some valuable information. Of course, most enemies know nothing, so an interrogation will most probably result in a silly one-liner. Some enemies, however, will feed you important snippets. To make it easier for you, these enemies are identified with a skull over their head. Trust me, no matter how "easy" this could sound to you, it actually saves you a lot of time.

Your arsenal of weapons also increases over time. You begin with a customary pair of pistols, but soon enough, you'd see yourself handling items such as machine guns, rocket launchers, and hand grenades. Ultimately, however, the weapons are only as good as their user. The game provides an adequate targeting system, but if you can't shoot properly, you can't. Unfortunately, I'm one of those who can't really shoot properly. Just ask my Army Instructor.

Graphics wise, the game scores ok. It has some specific animations, which look good the first few times, but quickly become old. It's also strange that for a game rated M, the killing sequences seem a little over-filtered. The camera angle automatically zooms out, and the screen becomes black and white when you decide to finish off some poor chap. Now, I'm not into violence, and I'm certainly not a supporter of violence in games. Yes, I know Kill Bill Vol. 1 has a similar b/w segment when The Bride walloped the Crazy 88s. But hey, that was "artistic". This is a bloody game for Christ's sake. Just show us the blood.

Audios wise, The Punisher feature a large amount of voice acting. It's an average effort at best, though, since the dialogue are mostly cheesy. The SFX are disappointing, due to poorly positioned, or even missing sounds. Surely, when someone is shooting at you from distance, you'd expect to hear some firing sound? I mean, even when I'm typing this, I can hear the keyboard tapping.

As a result of some of these issues, The Punisher may not be the most value for money. It's at best an average shooting game that has a slightly higher profile due to its Marvel Comics connections. Perhaps I'm a little harsh, but you may want to rent this game before deciding whether you want to add it to your collection.

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