The Punisher (Xbox)
As one of my personal favorite Marvel "heroes" (he's more the anti-hero class), it's surprising that it took me so long to get and play a copy of this game. It was most due to the fact that I didn't want him to get ruined, I've seen way too many superheroes get their own video game, and it flops completely. But, I decided to bite the bullet finally and try this one out, so let's see how it does.
These controls are pretty straightforward for the game type, and it works fairly well too. Everything is very responsive and placed perfectly so it all works together and you're not struggling to do something that should be simple.
Your main objective over the course of the game is eliminating the Gnucci family, with each level giving you it's own objective of eliminating someone lower on the food chain, working your way up to the bosses. Each level, you'll work your way through a series of rooms in a building, sometimes with outdoor areas.
All the weapons you can use are picked up through each level. You'll find them either sitting on tables, or they'll be dropped by the numerous gang members you kill. Certain weapons, such as pistols and uzi's, can be dual-weld, while the bigger two handed weapons like shotguns can only be carried one at a time (sorry, no spin-cocking the shotguns like in Terminator). All the weapons can be fine-aimed by clicking the right joystick, but it honestly isn't necessary because the guns pack plenty a punch on their own.
Killing the criminals will earn you style points, and these are earned in different ways like I mentioned above. You can just straight up kill them, where headshots earn you more than body shots, you can go in for a quick kill, or you can grab them to perform an interrogation.
The interrogations are played as mini-games. You'll grab the criminal, and two bars will appear on the screen. One bar represents their health, and the other represents their stress level. In the middle of the stress bar, is an orange colored zone. You control the interrogation with the joysticks, and the goal is to hold the meter inside the colored zone for a few seconds, but the key is getting it into that sweet spot while they're still alive.
Successfully completing interrogations is one of two ways in this game that you can regain health in this game. The other is by activating Punisher's Slaughter mode, which is represented by a bullet-shaped meter underneath his health bar. One push of the button is all this takes, and while in Slaughter mode, you can throw knives (one to knockout an enemy, two to kill), move faster, and slowly regenerate health.
The final thing you can do in this game, and it's another way to earn the Style Points, is by freeing captive civilians that you come across. Most are just hiding in a back room somewhere, but some can be taken as a human shield by one of the criminals, so if you're not quick enough, you run the risk of them getting killed, which doesn't hurt you, but if you're determined to beef up your score you'll be losing points here.
The interrogations can be a moderate challenge, but only barely so. The difficulty here is in finding - the sweet spot in the colored box, before you end up killing your subject. However, the time limit helps you greatly here, as you only need to keep it in the bar for 3 seconds. So really all you have to do is get their stress level to just over top of the colored box, and leave it alone and it should meet the time requirement before it leaves the zone.
Your enemies will be a bit of a challenge, but these also barely make it into a moderate rating. You'll never deal with too many at once, and the ones you do have to deal with prefer to find cover rather than bumrush you with their weapons. Most of the difficulty here comes from the fact that you'll have to play hide and seek to take everyone out. You'll think you've cleared an area and start to head to the next one, only to have a few bullets end up in your back.
Lastly, the bosses in and of themselves are a moderate challenge, but they're easier when comparing them to the regular combat enemies. This is mostly due to the fact that you face these guys in closed off, arena-styled levels, and the AI of these bad boys isn't all that fantastic. You have plenty of objects to break line of sight, and if you dash around quick enough they'll become confused as to where you are, allowing you to run around and pop them a few times from behind.
All in all, there isn't a huge challenge to this game. But does that matter? Let's look at what's good and bad about this one before deciding one way or the other.
- Castle Done Right. This is by far the greatest aspect of this game, and I'm not just saying that because he's one of my favorites. One thing that I feel gets lost in translation with the superhero games is you lose the aspect of the hero themselves. There's games that include so many heroes that if you're lucky they'll get one move that's actually specific to themselves. But in a game like this, where the focus is solely on the one character, capturing that character is key, and The Punisher does it greatly. Whether it's in the cutscenes and through how Frank talks, or just the sheer brutality evidenced in the levels themselves with him blowing people away with a constant flow of bullets. It's the thing that Castle surrounds himself with because it's all he thinks about due to the loss of his family, and it's what drives him against the street crime in his city. If you play this game, you are truly playing as The Punisher.
As much as it pains me to say it, as just a game, this one isn't all that worth it. You'll get your monies worth since a CIB copy will cost you no more than $10 (closer to $15 if you want it to play on PS2), and even less for loose discs. But again, there just isn't anything amazing about this one that makes it desireable, except for the fact of The Punisher. So if you're a fan of the anti-hero, you will definitely love having this one in your collection. But if you're not, then there's really no reason to open your wallet for this one.
As I all but said in this review, I personally love this game. Punisher, to me, has always felt like one of those under-the-radar Marvel stars, which are the ones I always get drawn to. For Marvel, it was always about Punisher and Daredevil (who, until the Netflix series started, didn't get the brunt of the attention that Spider-Man and The Avengers were getting), and for DC it was Flash and Green Arrow (again, didn't that much attention until TV shows chimed in...apparently Hollywood agrees with my superhero preferenes). Anyways, I really like this one, and while I haven't finished it yet, I am most definitely going to. I'm currently somewhere in the middle, honestly not counting levels just because of how much fun I'm having.
The Story
The plot of the game follows the movie which was released the previous year. Frank Castle, aka The Punisher, has dedicated his life to stopping criminals after his family was killed in front of his eyes during a mob hit. The game starts off with Castle taking down a gang of Yakuza members, but when he leaves, he's arrested and brought to Ryker's Island for an interrogation. Through a series of flashbacks, Frank tells them how he went to a local crack house for some "target practice. Upon leaving the crack house, after killing it's leader, he's almost run down by a car which, afterwards, he ends up tracing to a local chop shop that is owned by the Gnucci crime family. Fueled by his mission, and adding in the rage from them almost killing him, The Punisher takes to the streets to eliminate the mob family once and for all, telling the story of how he ended up in the Yakuza hold.The Controls
The Punisher is a 3rd person shooter, with a strong emphasis on gunplay. You control Frank with the left and right joysticks for movement and looking/aiming. A lets you manually reload your weapons, grabs an enemy, or interact with items in the world, B makes Frank dive in whichever direction he is facing, and X triggers a quick kill or initiates an interrogation on a grabbed enemy. The right trigger fires the weapon in your right hand, and the left trigger either fires the weapon in your left hand if you're dual wielding, or throws a grenade if you're single wielding. The black button picks up a weapon that you're standing over, white button activates Slaughter Mode, and lastly, the D-Pad allows you to select through your weapons.These controls are pretty straightforward for the game type, and it works fairly well too. Everything is very responsive and placed perfectly so it all works together and you're not struggling to do something that should be simple.
The Gameplay
Levels in this game are extremely linear, and are broken apart into individualized levels, which there are sixteen of, instead of one flowing story. So right away, it starts off with an arcadey feeling, which isn't helped by the fact that you earn a score throughout each level based on a few different factors : earning kills, how you earn the kills, successfully completing interrogations, and saving civilians.Your main objective over the course of the game is eliminating the Gnucci family, with each level giving you it's own objective of eliminating someone lower on the food chain, working your way up to the bosses. Each level, you'll work your way through a series of rooms in a building, sometimes with outdoor areas.
All the weapons you can use are picked up through each level. You'll find them either sitting on tables, or they'll be dropped by the numerous gang members you kill. Certain weapons, such as pistols and uzi's, can be dual-weld, while the bigger two handed weapons like shotguns can only be carried one at a time (sorry, no spin-cocking the shotguns like in Terminator). All the weapons can be fine-aimed by clicking the right joystick, but it honestly isn't necessary because the guns pack plenty a punch on their own.
Killing the criminals will earn you style points, and these are earned in different ways like I mentioned above. You can just straight up kill them, where headshots earn you more than body shots, you can go in for a quick kill, or you can grab them to perform an interrogation.
The interrogations are played as mini-games. You'll grab the criminal, and two bars will appear on the screen. One bar represents their health, and the other represents their stress level. In the middle of the stress bar, is an orange colored zone. You control the interrogation with the joysticks, and the goal is to hold the meter inside the colored zone for a few seconds, but the key is getting it into that sweet spot while they're still alive.
Successfully completing interrogations is one of two ways in this game that you can regain health in this game. The other is by activating Punisher's Slaughter mode, which is represented by a bullet-shaped meter underneath his health bar. One push of the button is all this takes, and while in Slaughter mode, you can throw knives (one to knockout an enemy, two to kill), move faster, and slowly regenerate health.
The final thing you can do in this game, and it's another way to earn the Style Points, is by freeing captive civilians that you come across. Most are just hiding in a back room somewhere, but some can be taken as a human shield by one of the criminals, so if you're not quick enough, you run the risk of them getting killed, which doesn't hurt you, but if you're determined to beef up your score you'll be losing points here.
The Challenge (or lack thereof?)
While there aren't a ton of areas offered in this game, there are still a few that you'll have to deal with, namely the interrogations, your typical enemies, and your bosses.The interrogations can be a moderate challenge, but only barely so. The difficulty here is in finding - the sweet spot in the colored box, before you end up killing your subject. However, the time limit helps you greatly here, as you only need to keep it in the bar for 3 seconds. So really all you have to do is get their stress level to just over top of the colored box, and leave it alone and it should meet the time requirement before it leaves the zone.
Your enemies will be a bit of a challenge, but these also barely make it into a moderate rating. You'll never deal with too many at once, and the ones you do have to deal with prefer to find cover rather than bumrush you with their weapons. Most of the difficulty here comes from the fact that you'll have to play hide and seek to take everyone out. You'll think you've cleared an area and start to head to the next one, only to have a few bullets end up in your back.
Lastly, the bosses in and of themselves are a moderate challenge, but they're easier when comparing them to the regular combat enemies. This is mostly due to the fact that you face these guys in closed off, arena-styled levels, and the AI of these bad boys isn't all that fantastic. You have plenty of objects to break line of sight, and if you dash around quick enough they'll become confused as to where you are, allowing you to run around and pop them a few times from behind.
All in all, there isn't a huge challenge to this game. But does that matter? Let's look at what's good and bad about this one before deciding one way or the other.
PROS
- Marvel Connections. One of the great things about the Marvel Universe is it always crosses over it's superheroes. Whether it's in the comics, or movies and TV shows, but that's not all as they will appear as such in the video games as well. Certain games, like Marvel Ultimate Alliance, are already set up as these mash-up style game, but The Punisher draws a few connections itself while focusing on the titular character. I won't spoil them, but they are there and they are done properly, Marvel didn't throw a random big superhero in just to draw attention. They're present, and they make sense.- Castle Done Right. This is by far the greatest aspect of this game, and I'm not just saying that because he's one of my favorites. One thing that I feel gets lost in translation with the superhero games is you lose the aspect of the hero themselves. There's games that include so many heroes that if you're lucky they'll get one move that's actually specific to themselves. But in a game like this, where the focus is solely on the one character, capturing that character is key, and The Punisher does it greatly. Whether it's in the cutscenes and through how Frank talks, or just the sheer brutality evidenced in the levels themselves with him blowing people away with a constant flow of bullets. It's the thing that Castle surrounds himself with because it's all he thinks about due to the loss of his family, and it's what drives him against the street crime in his city. If you play this game, you are truly playing as The Punisher.
CONS
- Much Too Simple.While it's fun, there isn't a whole lot to do in this one. With the way the story is designed with broken up levels, you are brought to each place automatically, and all you have to do is kick in doors and pull triggers. If it weren't for the interrogations, this would just be another shooter, but one that happened to be set in the Marvel universe. The Slaughter Mode is a nice addition too, but it doesn't provide any originality to this game to set it apart from other things. Cap it off with the arcade feeling of a broken-up level system and a score meter, and it just doesn't look that promisingFinal Verdict
The Punisher is just your run of the mill shooter game, under the guise of a Marvel superhero. You walk into a building, kill a ton of people, save some civilians, rinse and repeat until the end. The controls are easy, the visuals are very well done, and the soundtrack for each level is just your shots ringing out mixed with the screams of the ones you kill. There's nothing that makes this game amazing, or even great. At best, The Punisher sits at just plain good. However, the one thing that does stand out about this game is it's titular character, since his appearances in Marvel games tend to only be in supporting roles. He only has a handful of games he actually plays a leading role in. But the way this one captures his anger, his emotion, and even the pain of the loss of his family, does plenty of justice to the character.As much as it pains me to say it, as just a game, this one isn't all that worth it. You'll get your monies worth since a CIB copy will cost you no more than $10 (closer to $15 if you want it to play on PS2), and even less for loose discs. But again, there just isn't anything amazing about this one that makes it desireable, except for the fact of The Punisher. So if you're a fan of the anti-hero, you will definitely love having this one in your collection. But if you're not, then there's really no reason to open your wallet for this one.
As I all but said in this review, I personally love this game. Punisher, to me, has always felt like one of those under-the-radar Marvel stars, which are the ones I always get drawn to. For Marvel, it was always about Punisher and Daredevil (who, until the Netflix series started, didn't get the brunt of the attention that Spider-Man and The Avengers were getting), and for DC it was Flash and Green Arrow (again, didn't that much attention until TV shows chimed in...apparently Hollywood agrees with my superhero preferenes). Anyways, I really like this one, and while I haven't finished it yet, I am most definitely going to. I'm currently somewhere in the middle, honestly not counting levels just because of how much fun I'm having.
