User Reviews (1 - 11 of 26)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

Frank Castle is dead. Call me...THE PUNISHER.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: April 19, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Finally, after abysmal attempts on the Sega Genesis and the Nintendo Entertainment System, THQ stepped up to the plate and cracked a home run with their 2005 incarnation of our favorite anti-hero, Frank Castle...a.k.a. The Punisher.

Thankfully, this game is not an origin story - The Punisher is already an established icon, taking out New York City trash in body bags. When the War Journal begins, we realize that this will be more than just your standard shoot 'em up.

The Punisher's business is killing: and tonight, there's going to be a fire sale.

The controls for the game are surprisingly simple. The shooting controls are (no big surprise here) the L1 and R1 'trigger' buttons. The weapons will automatically reload until they're empty, but there's rarely a shortage of weaponry here. Climbing and crouching buttons are used for the stealth moments of the game, but the true enjoyment comes from the interrogation tactics.

For example: Let's say you wander into a room and you see a character with a white skull over his head. This means that character has information that you can use. By grabbing that character, you have a choice - either quick kill him, or interrogate him. Now, The Punisher's interrogation techniques may not be approved by the Geneva Convention...but they're effective. The four standard interrogations include:

(1) Threatening the character with a gun to their forehead.
(2) Slamming their face into the floor.
(3) Choking the character.
(4) Punching them in the head/stomach.

After a successful interrogation, the toughest foe will give up anything you want to know. But be careful! If you get overzealous, The Punisher may end up killing his prey before they spill their guts. This not only makes certain parts of the game harder, but it causes you to lose points.

There are also hot spots throughout the game for special interrogations or special kills. It's been reported that there are 100 ways to dispatch enemies in this game, and with its replay value, you can try to find them all. For the true sadists, there is a 'Slaughter Mode' that temporarily allows The Punisher to become invulnerable and slice through his enemies like a hot knife through butter.

This game succeeds in several ways:

First and foremost, it's not a Teen rated game...this is rated M, and for good reason. The foul language, body count, and interrogation/torture scenes are most definitely NOT for younger players - THQ makes it very clear that if you step into the world of The Punisher, it's not going to be sugar coated, and the fans of the game (and comic) appreciate that.

Second, the story is extremely well written. It's a combination of the Welcome Back, Frank series as well as The Punisher (Extended Cut) movie starring Thomas Jane, who lent his signature gravelly voice for Frank Castle in the game as well. THQ's development team PERFECTLY intermingled the Punisher's sadistic violence with his dark-humored wit: comic book fans and video game fans, rejoice!

Third, this game has a HUGE replay value. The Punisher can be upgraded with longer Slaughter Mode times, greater ammunition capacities, better body armor, and much more. There are unlockable comic covers. There are special 'Punishment Mode' challenges for the true aficionado. There are cheat codes to allow the more casual player a chance to dabble in punishing without ending up like a piece of Swiss cheese. Plus, there are more comic book cameos than you can shake an AK-47 at.

As far as the drawbacks, there are a few:

First, the Punishment Mode challenges are at polar opposites. Some of them are entirely too easy, while others can frustrate the most dedicated gamer into madness.

Second, the targeting system is a little on the sluggish side, and that makes certain moments (like rescuing hostages or sniping) very difficult and frustrating.

Finally, the score multiplier takes a long time to accumulate and if The Punisher is hit just once, the chain is broken and you have to start over from scratch. This can cause no end of aggravation for players looking to beat their own scores and unlock more extra goodies.

In conclusion, because of the fine scripting, the replay value, and the opportunities for successful sequels, I would highly recommend this game for the Mature audience of video gamers.

"They laugh at the law...but they don't laugh at ME."

Not revenge...PUNISHMENT

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: October 16, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game is awesome. I had it for X-box before I lost it in a fire, and I had to get it back. As a huge Punisher fan, it's a must for anyone out there like me who's always loved the big white skull.

Awesome fact - the "flashbacks" are all from the comic "Punisher:Born" Or at least all I've seen thus far are. Waht a great tie in. If you're interested, the Born collection is availiable on Amazon (where I got it) and it's an awesome read. It's truly where the Punisher is born, in Vietnam as a hardcore, ruthless, but fair Marine Captain. IT really puts what Frank Castle became into perspective.

Gameplay is amazing, but switching from X-box to PS2 format has been tough, as it always is.

The environments are awesome. For those who are thinking about buying it, the interrogations are awesome, but you have to be careful not to push to hard. Look for the white and gold skulls that marks the board. You cna use a wide variety of the environment to interrogate people you grab. Downside - don't kill them in interrogation mode, even the special ones, as cool as the bad guys' endings are, or you lose bonus points that go to much needed upgrades. This is the one thing I don't like about the game - you should kepp or gain points for using special interrogations to kill the bad guys.

When you go around, you cna max points by interrogating, or quick killing everyone. Be sure to get used to using cover and human shields (an awesome part of the game).

I love going through the levels and just flat out playing "Castle" on the bad guys - being merciless and ruthless. After I release a guy that helps me, and he does what he says, I wait until it's over, and then I go back and kill that guy who weazled out of death. Heck, that is what the punisher is, isn't it?

Just be experimental. The more people you interrogate, the more flashbacks you find. Some levels have two or three. And make sure you get those points up for upgrades such as silencer attachments, grenade launcher attachments, body armor, and even kill recovery. Good stuff.

This is a must for any Punisher fan. You actually get to BE the man himself!

its very great game ever!!!!!! never too boring game!!!!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: January 12, 2007
Author: Amazon User

ohhh yeah!!!! i love this game. make me feel more play as long way and great weapons more than 5... its worth play game. im sure u will love it. trust me!!!!

Punishment

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: March 14, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I am Cindys son, and as extremely happy as I am with this game, I cannot help but wonder why there are kids playing this. This game is very offensive on many levels. The use of profanity is completely over to top.And by that I mean almost every sentence has the 'F' bomb in it. The violence is excessive(and graphic but FRIGGIN SWEET!!!!), and the first level is a crack house. *Sigh* It's after the fact that all of this builds up the fact that...this game just simply RULES! I loved the movie with Tom Jane, but the one with Dolph Lundgren was better. This game is a massive improvement on the seires, it blows the movies to pieces and shatters the foundation of the comic book based game opinions completely. I highly recommend for anyone over the age of 15.

What do you call 125 murders in 5 years? A work in progress!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: March 13, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This game is outstanding. Great story, excellent gameplay, everything the 2004 film wasn't-GRITTY, HARD, FOUL, VIOLENT, WITTY...this game is just great and you cannot beat the price. Do yourself a favor and buy this today.

Punish foes to hell

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: February 24, 2006
Author: Amazon User

The best marvel game I played yet simply. Good graphics, gameplay, storyline this game has everything I want when I want to let out some stress. There's nothing like picking up a M-16 and blowing away every enemy in the room.

PUN-ISHER ! PUN-ISHER !

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: February 02, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Based loosely on the 2004 lion gates film. You take control of [...] of the comic book world known as "Frank Castle" AKA The Punisher. This games got everything too make it fun The Blood , The Violence and The Drama. With features such as Torture mode where you (Punisher) remembers things about his past that fuels him with more hate and anger whitch allows you too take unlimited shots without getting hurt too deliver totall slaughter against the opposition. The Shootings is X-tremely fun and easy , And the Blood and Gore is a clear 10 EX. You shoot the foe in the head his brain flys out , You shoot him in the leg his legs ripps off with X-treme BLOOD which makes it 10x more realistic , They really dont hold anything back with the action and Blood. As for the story , Its good , kind of like your playin a second movie of the punisher , With different characters and story then that of the movie. You also meet some Marvel Bad Guyz along the way such as Kingpin , Bullseye and More. Listen all i can say is this game iz great and if you wanna play a dark bloody action packed game THIS IS THE ONE.

Every muzzle flash means another monster gone

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: December 15, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I've always been a big fan of Marvel Comics, especially Spider-Man and X-Men. As I continued seeing the films based on the comics, I reached The Punisher. I played this game, and that's what made me see the movie, and which made me buy the Punisher comics, and write Punisher stories, and-
I'm sorry. As you can see, this game is the whole reason I became such a diehard Punisher fan. It's so dark and yet so damn fun. I can't even describe how fun it is, and yet it shouldn't be such a thrill to dangle a guy over a piranha tank. It is, though, because when I play, I get into the mindset of Frank Castle, and I think like him. No, I'm not psychotic, I just see that what he does is right and wrong at the same time. He lost all that his life was, so he "died" when his family did, and the Punisher was born.
Oh yeah, the gameplay. The graphics are very cool, very comic-like but still sharp. The voice acting is awesome, especially Tom Jane as Frank/ the Punisher. With the game and the movie, he IS the Punisher to me. Everyone else is great as well, putting emotion into these characters. You get a fine array of guns: revolvers, pistols, Uzis, sniper rifles, bazookas, machine guns, rifles, shotguns, grenades, flamethrowers,you name it. You can carry two small guns and one large gun, and you can pick up a second large gun but can't keep it or reload it. You don't care, do you? Well, there's a great variety of levels, and tons of replay value, because wracking up points gets you more ammo, health, silencers for guns, grenade launchers, etc. High points: the interrogations- Frank does some pretty sick things to the baddies in this, like putting them in the path of rhinos, sharks, piranhas, and other not-so-happy animals, as well as getting them a bit too close for comfort by fires, crushers, ledges, car doors that leave a dent when slammed into your head, rapidly-turning gun turrets, and more; the great levels, like the finale at Ryker's Island Prison, the fight with the Russian in your apartment, the short-but-sweet attack at Lucky's Bar, the Gnucci Mansion, the Igor Baltivsky freighter, Fisk Industries, a crackhouse, and a chop shop. There's more, but my hand hurts; and of course, the appearances of other Marvel characters: Matt Murdock (also known as Daredevil) is your lawyer briefly, Tony Stark (Iron Man) pops up as you fight armored baddies at his building, Black Widow helps clear the docks, Nick Fury joins you on Grand Nixon Island, and most of Frank's pals from the Welcome Back, Frank comic series (which was used a lot in the movie as well), like Detective Soap and Lt. Richthofen, your neighbors Joan and Spacker Dave (donde esta Bumpo?), and the Gnucci family.
Well, I guess the review's winding down, so I leave you with this: awesome voice work, great story by Garth Ennis and Jimmy Palmiotti, cool levels, comic-like sharp graphics, Marvel appearances, ingenious interrogations, and high replayability. What are you waiting for?

GOOD OR BAD

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: October 17, 2005
Author: Amazon User

ok here's the deal a punisher video game
GOODS
1. complete man slaughter fun
2. Many coll killing devices
3. If u hate the comics does not mean you will hate this
BAD
1. has NOTHING to do with the comics
2. Really easy the punisher can so many bullets and yet he's only human atleast make it a little more realistic.

Short but i hope it works all in all if u like man slaughter gamesu will like this =)

Don't wanna talk? bust his ass, then shoot 'em

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: October 02, 2005
Author: Amazon User

The Punisher has always been one of my favorites. Kill or be killed. The rules still apply with this game except, piss me off, you get killed.The game for the most part has a dark setting, which fits the Punisher. The graphics is one of the games biggest faults. It almost looks like Max Payne, it doesn't have that fresh, crisp look like Devil May Cry or God of War. And sometimes characters you mingle with unintentionally block your path with no way of getting through. Also there were times I knew I was behind cover and was still gettin' shot. The camera can sometimes be a problem when your stuck in a crossfire.
The controls is easy to learn but it seems like a chore to aim and hit your targets at will. Now for the torture mode that everyone seems to touch up on. This is where the game shines in my opinion and why I gave it a 3 and not a 2. The torture mode adds something brand new to this type of game. When you get your hands on a lowlife you have to literally squeeze info out of them. your purpose is to scare the guy into talking, if you over do it and kill him, it can cost you valuable info or certain items. Controlling the scenes is a snap. You can strangle, beat the s*it outta dude, busts his ass wit' a window or pop his top. This is what keeps me playing.
Overall this game is so-so at best and it's not very hard. If you can endure the problems I mentioned, this is'nt really a bad game. However there is action games out there that is light years ahead of this. If it wasn't for the torture mode, this could have easily been brushed off as a Max Payne clone, minus the slow- mo effect, or lost in the shuffle behind games like Devil May Cry 3 & God of War.

Review Page: 1 2 3 Next 

Actions