"The Punisher is going to be the most violent, raucous, and brutal comic-book videogame ever released...

Let's start with some of the new interrogation techniques Frank has learned. Once you reach certain characters, they'll get down on their knees and beg for their lives, but we all know they deserve punishment. You can take pity on them, or you can grab them and hold them like a human shield. When holding a character, a menu comes up that offers you the option of interrogating them. The interrogations are a lot like mini-games, in that you can punch or kick them, put a gun in their mouth, or smack their face on the ground. Doing it too hard will kill them, but if you can do it right, you'll get info, gameplay hints, or extra health.

The interrogations don't stop there, though. Some places have a little skull floating in white mist, signifying an environmental interrogation. If you drag your potential victim over to these spots, you'll be able to interrogate them in a special way. Some of the interrogations I saw involved a wood chipper, a pool of piranhas, and a stovetop. As in the other interrogations, you have the choice of killing your victim or just scaring some info out of him. I find that it works best to get the info out of the perp, just before jamming him into the chipper. This part is pretty nasty, even to a hardened gamer like me. He lets out a blood-curdling scream as he's pulled into the blades, and the sound of his flesh and bones being ground up is pretty disturbing.

Of course, the game isn't all about slow torture. There's lots of running and gunning, too. Utilizing the newest Havok engine, The Punisher has some of the best ragdoll physics that I've ever seen in a console game. When you shoot a baddie, each bullet that hits his body causes him to jerk back realistically. Using an M-16 will cause your enemy to do a macabre death dance, which is actually kind of funny. However, it's the shotgun that really does some damage. Shooting someone in a limb with the shotgun will not only blow them back a bit, but will blow the limb clean off in a spectacular geyser of blood. It's pretty nasty, but it's pretty awesome, too. You can even do damage to the dead bodies of your enemies, blowing off each limb as well at the head.

Taking a page straight out of Max Payne, The Punisher also offers an effect that is a lot like bullet time. When your slaughter bar is full, you can go into slaughter mode. This makes the screen slow down and go black and white while Frank pulls out his dual pistols. Targeting reticules will lock on to enemies, and you can shoot multiple enemies at once by pulling the trigger buttons" (xbox.gamespy.com).