Marvel really knows how to tickle my fangasm bone.  I’m a die hard fan of the Punisher.  Hell — I’ve even gone so far as to defend the 80’s film adaptation on this very blog.  And yet video games and comic books have a spotty track record at best.  For every gem like Ultimate Alliance and Freedom Force there are a dozen Marvel Nemesis’ out there.  Even The Punisher has had more than a few games before, most of which were stinkers.  So what are the chances that this one might be worth a look?

It’s tough to say.  On the one hand it’s a PSN exclusive.  It might not sound like a big deal, but Sony has been notoriously tough on the quality of downloadable games.  For them to shell out the dough to make this an exclusive suggests that there is something here worth a glance.  On the other hand the film Punisher War Zone comes out on December 5th.  For this to get an announce in September and a release date of 2008 suggests that this is likely a quick cash grab to go with the release of the movie.  And if it is a cash grab, does the decision to develop a smaller title for digital distribution instead of a full-fledged retail game mean that reduced development cost and time could still eek out a winner?

It’s being pitched as an arena-based first person shooter with a complete single player experience tacked on.  Honestly, I don’t know how I feel about the choice of genre.  Here’s hoping the Punisher: No Mercy screenshots released tomorrow give us something to start looking forward to.

No, it’s not a screen from MvC3. As a matter of fact there’s still no official confirmation that the game even exists. Still — Marvel’s President of Production Kevin Feige let it slip to IGN a few weeks ago that Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is possible, “and maybe sooner than you think.”

This led to the folks over at IGN speculating on how difficult it would be to take the engine from the upcoming import-only 2.5D Tatsunoko vs Capcom and slap a Marvel sticker on it. The above screens are from TvC, and I can’t help but feel they’re pretty sharp. The psuedo-cel-shading is a great fit for the Marvel Universe. For now we’ll have to let these whet our appetite until we can hear something more official from Capcom.

Some footage of the engine in action (albeit over somebody’s shoulder);