Why Volition Inc.'s 'The Punisher' Is Worth Playing

MarvelVideo Games

Aug 17

The Punisher is one of those comic-book characters that, despite being popular and having his fair share of live-action adaptations, hasn’t had a lot of video game adaptations.

However, it’s easy to see why Frank Castle hasn’t had many video game adaptations: It’s a mixed bag.

While Capcom’s beat-em-up adaptation is loved by many, Punisher: No Mercy was hated and later delisted from the PlayStation store decades ago. There are also Punisher video games for earlier Nintendo consoles that came and went with little fanfare.

But there’s one video game adaptation loved by fans, and a fun video game to play. That video game is ‘The Punisher’, developed by Volition Inc., which would later create the Saints Row franchise.

The Punisher is based on Garth Ennis’ earlier Marvel Knights Punisher stories and the 2004 film adaptation starring Thomas Jane as the fan-favorite vigilante, who also returns to voice the character. Garth Ennis and Jimmy Palmiotti wrote the video game’s story, which focuses on Frank telling his story of how he ended up in Ryker’s Island Penitentiary, which includes Frank facing off against Bullseye, Ma Gnucci, The Russian, and Bushwacker.

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On paper, it sounds like your average Punisher story. But thanks to the writers and Volition, they were able to craft a cool and entertaining story filled with blood, violence, and cool cameos from other Marvel characters like Iron Man, Kingpin, and Nick Fury.

The video game also has a nice variety of levels where you’ll end up going from being in a crackhouse to an island filled with terrorists to Wilson Fisk’s hideout to Rikers Island. Also, as a comic-book fan, I couldn’t help but laugh at having the ability to do over-the-top kills at a place like Stark Industries, of all places.

The gameplay is a third-person shooter similar to other third-person shooters like Max Payne, but what’s cool about the video game is that you can interrogate your enemies to get through a section of the level more easily or gain access to weapons. Another cool thing about the gameplay is that when your rage meter, or whatever it’s called, gets filled up, Frank becomes an unstoppable killing machine and uses knives to kill his enemies with ease.

I also love the variety when it comes to weapons. You get the usual ones like machine guns and shotguns, but then you get ones like a flamethrower and even a katana. I do commend the developers for going all out with not just having Frank Castle jumping around diverse levels, but also with weapons.

If there are some things to complain about, I will say that the game has shown its age in terms of graphics. The graphics do hold up pretty well, but some of the faces do look weird. It’s trying to be a mix of cartoony and realism, but there are times when some characters look off.

Also, there were moments where the game got pretty dull, but that’s due to having to revisit some past locations in a few levels. Luckily, the video game does pick up again, especially at the end, where Frank fights through Riker’s Island to stop Jigsaw.

You’d think there’d be a sequel to this video game, right? Sadly, it got canceled. There has been concept art for the canned sequel, which would’ve had Deadpool and Elektra making appearances, and a prototype was made showing that the sequel would’ve had an open-world setting.

Since the release of Punisher: No Mercy, there has not been another Punisher video game. However, with how popular the character has gotten thanks to his MCU appearance and big return in the comics, it’s only a matter of time until Frank Castle gets his own video game again.

Speaking of video games, can someone ask Nightdive Studios if they could remaster this video game? That’d be cool.

What do you guys think of this video game? Would you like to see Frank get another shot at a video game?

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