Six million ways to die, and instead of choosing one, The Punisher goes über-vigilante and shows off more than 100 macabre slaughters capable of bloodying up the little screen. But instead of erring on the side of violence-for-arousing-politicians'-ire sake, this faithful comic-book adaptation offers up executions with purpose. Frank Castle–The Punisher–goes on a kill-spree after his family gets mangled in gangster crossfire. Castle loses it. Death ensues. Castle cleans up crack houses, shoots dime-store criminals, and carves up the Mafia, alternating between present-day action and playable flashbacks. Eventually, the past catches up with the present, and the body count escalates.
A grim curiosity to see the next fatality fuels the entire experience. Digging up dirt on a crime boss' whereabouts allows for chilling interrogations where you'll pin guns to delinquents' temples, gut-punch them 'til they squeal, or dole out an old-fashioned choking. But if you're careless with your grilling, you could accidentally pull the trigger, punch the victim into a coma, or crush his esophagus. While these homicides sound grisly, they're mild compared to the more sophisticated slayings. The option to dole out an American History X-style curbing is trumped by the option of holding a felon's head under water while piranhas have at his face, which is trumped in turn by baking a crook to a crisp in a cremation chamber. While players might experience some early hesitance about mutilating the enemy, it'll likely pass as they adjust to Castle's murderous mindset.