20 Years Ago, Marvel's Most Violent Anti-Hero Starred In His Own Gory Game

The mid-2000s was a special time for superhero games. After a decade of hit-or-miss titles across both Marvel and DC Comics, developers lucky enough to make licensed games for these iconic heroes finally hit their stride. Games like 2004’s Spider-Man 2 were not only fun but became the template for the subgenre. X-Men Legends and Marvel Ultimate Alliance extended the renaissance to the rest of the Marvel Universe. Meanwhile, Superman would get a pair of solid titles in the Xbox exclusive Man Of Steel and Shadow Of Apokolips on Gamecube and PS2. Coinciding with Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins, Eurocom’s game based on the movie is lowkey a precursor to the Arkham series.

At a time when superhero games were firing on all cylinders, it’s easy to forget that The Punisher, Marvel’s violent, vengeful vigilante, also had his time in the virtual sun. His self-titled game was released on Xbox, PlayStation 2, and PC 20 years ago and remains the definitive Punisher experience thanks to its faithful story, fun performances, and a whole lot of creative executions.

Coming off Red Faction II, developer Volition was tasked with bringing Frank Castle to life in an entirely new way. Loosely based on the 2004 film, actor Thomas Jane reprises the role and absolutely delivers. Jane’s gravely, fed-up portrayal perfectly matches this playable graphic novel. Volition also brought on veteran Punisher comics writer Garth Ennis and artist Jimmy Palmiotti to pen and direct the story.

The story is a great time. Much of its beginning is told in a series of flashbacks told to two New York City detectives who have Castle in custody. The Punisher starts at a low-level crackhouse in search of a rogue before setting out on a rampage across iconic locations like Stark Tower and Rikers Island.

While it adapts scenes like Castle’s encounter with The Russian (wrestler Kevin Nash doesn’t return for this appearance sadly), Ennis and Palmiotti went out of their way to make it a treat for Marvel diehards. Matt Murdock, Iron Man, Nick Fury, and Kingpin all make appearances throughout, placing it firmly in comic book canon.

The Punisher follows the formula of most solid superhero games, borrowing liberally from popular contemporary games and cranking up the essential qualities of the character to eleven. In this case, The Punisher is Max Payne with a performance-based scoring system (a full circle moment as Max Payne is essentially just The Punisher with more of a film-noir flair). Players charge through linear levels armed to the teeth blasting away people and unlocking more powerful weapons as they progress. It’s simple but a ton of fun. And with Jane hilariously constantly spouting off one-liners with all the excitement of a traumatized husk of a man, it’s an absurd adventure that has aged like a fine wine.

The Punisher’s big hook, however, is its interrogation mechanic. There are locations throughout levels where you can pressure bad guys into giving you vital information in the only way Punisher knows how: torture minigames. One level might have you dangling a guy’s face over a piranha tank or threatening to throw a goon into a woodchipper, another might have you holding a dude in front of a charging rhino in a cage. The minigames are fairly grim, until Castle chimes in with a cheesy one-liner, quickly reminding you just how ridiculous it all is.

The pervasive, tongue-in-cheek tone didn’t stop the ESRB from stepping in, however. The ultraviolent (but wonderfully creative) playable scenes were enough for the ratings board to crack down. All versions of the game featured censored interrogations with filters and camera cutaways from the most gruesome bits before the final blow (though the PC version can restore the original scenes with a few mods). It’s pretty funny seeing what was considered crossing the line in 2005 considering what games like The Last Of Us and Mortal Kombat get away with 20 years later.

One of the most interesting observations going back to this gem is how much Volition’s identity seeps through. This is the same team that gave us Saints Row, as all of the insanity the open world series would later be praised for is right here on display. The team started development on an open-world Punisher sequel shortly after release. However, the project was canceled by publisher THQ within a few months. As a result, many of the assets for the canceled project would be used in the first Saints Row released in 2006.

The Punisher hasn’t had a second look in gaming since 2005, and probably for good reason. Of all the Marvel characters to get their own game, he’s probably the least interesting. He’s a white dude shooting bad guys with guns, which accounts for 80 percent of big-budget titles these days. It’s not to say a new Punisher game couldn’t be great. But when there are dozens of other characters with more interesting powersets, it's easy to see why Wolverine, Black Panther, and Iron Man are next up in the medium.

Still, The Punisher is an often forgotten chapter in the superhero gaming renaissance of the 2000s. It’s a game that understands what makes the character so great, and creatively translates it to a timeless and fun video game. If you can track down a copy of this classic, it’s worth breaking out a retro console and joining ol’ Frank Castle on his rampage across the Marvel universe.