The Punisher: No Mercy

Still My Favorite Downloadable Title On The Playstation Network.

User Rating: 10 | The Punisher: No Mercy PS3

By razzkazz | Review Date: March 23, 2010

I purchased The Punisher: No Mercy on launch-day and despite the really harsh reviews it's gotten, it's still my favorite downloadable title on the Playstation Network. The reviews have really bashed it for it's lack of a full-fledged singleplayer mode. It does have a few botmatch challenges with some nice comic scenes spliced in and a sparsely featured skirmish mode, but it's meant to be an online deathmatch game like Quake 3 or Unreal Tournament. As a huge fan of old-school arena shooters, No Mercy offers that nostalgic gameplay, but also throws in current-gen FPS features like upgradeable weapons and perks that give you special abilities. Testing out new combinations of these abilities is a lot of fun once you finally unlock them, hunting people with the invisibility perk and the crossbow is one of many awesome experiences those who master the game will be rewarded with.

No Mercy is very true to the Punisher comics, each of the original 8 playable characters spout phrases directly from the source material. The taunts are appropriately vulgar and, depending on the character, hilarious. This attention to detail makes it feel like a true Punisher game and not a generic cash-in. (I've heard complaints that the taunts get repetitive, but they can be turned off in the options menu.) It's not a movie tie-in, but the Punisher skin does seem to be modeled after Ray Stevenson and fans of Punisher :War Zone will be glad to see the glass recycling plant make an appearance.

While there aren't too many levels, each one is memorable and plays differently. The game runs on the Unreal Engine but these don't feel like throwaway UT3 maps, they have their own gritty style that captures the feel of The Punisher comics and the more I play, the more I'm impressed by their level of detail. That right there should be enough to keep you playing for hours, but The Punisher: No Mercy also features numerous unlockable weapons and costumes. The reviews complained that these items take too long to unlock, personally, I love that added incentive to keep playing. Most of the 12 trophies offer a decent challenge as well, it took me just over 50 hours to unlock everything and earn them all.

Some may think by giving this game a ten out of ten, I'm being too generous or trying to get the rating average to go up, but my score is sincere. To get over 50 hours of enjoyment out of a ten dollar downloadable game is an incredible value and it's still something I can pick up and play anytime. I guess Punisher: No Mercy isn't for everyone, or the lag problems at launch (which have been patched) and time consuming unlockables swayed early reviews, but to me it's exactly what I want out of a downloadable game.

Other Helpful Reviews for The Punisher: No Mercy

• Rating:8

  The Punisher: No Mercy is an action-packed arcade shooter that's easy to pick up and hard to put down.

  By Tikicobra | Review Date: Jul 02, 2009 | PS3

  Great downloadable first-person shooters for the PlayStation Network are few and far between, with some that try to use gimmicks to sell and others that are simply too by-the-numbers to be fun. Fortunately, The Punisher:... Read Full Review

  9 of 11 users found the following review helpful
• Rating:7.5

  With Punisher No Mercy you're getting what you pay for. And what you're paying for isn't half bad.

  By DiabeticDood | Review Date: Jul 04, 2009 | PS3

  When I heard they were making a Punisher game using the Unreal engine I was kind of excited. Being a huge Unreal engine/Unreal fan this had me interested. I followed this game as it went on. And finally its released. I l... Read Full Review

  3 of 4 users found the following review helpful