Summary
Ever sinceNaughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann name-dropped the Punisher as a Marvel character he’d be interested in developing a game around it’s been intriguing to speculate about what that would look like. There’s already a lot aboutNaughty Dog’s work that makes a Punisher game a perfect match, too, and it’s easy to see why a tragic, violent Punisher game would be in the right hands.
There is currently nothing to suggesta Punisher gameis in development besides baseless rumors stirred by Druckmann’s seemingly innocent remark.
That said, it has long been considered unfortunate that Naughty Dog hasn’t been working on a Daredevil game. Indeed, both Punisher and Daredevil meet the qualifications of a meaty, grounded—pun intended—superhero Naughty Dog could chew on, offering the harrowing stories and pulse-pounding combat that Naughty Dog is known for now. Both characters are on the table for a Naughty Dog adaptation until the developer states otherwise, and choosing both of them rather than one might be its best potential course of action.
Naughty Dog Shouldn’t Need to Pick Between Punisher and Daredevil
Why a Naughty Dog Punisher Game Makes More Sense Than Daredevil
It comes down to the fact that whileNaughty Dog’s games aren’t all necessarily centered on gunplay and shooter mechanics, they are nearly all shooters in essence now.Unchartedis arguably more of a shooter thanThe Last of Us, which has diverse melee options in combat as well as a plethora of firearms, but it’s still undeniableThe Last of Usis rooted in the same gameplay. Therefore, a standalone Punisher game would make more sense because Naughty Dog could lean on its foundational strengths and amplify them further, while a standalone Daredevil game would need to shelve guns entirely.
The only distinct feature Naughty Dog would be able to immersively transfer intoa Daredevil game is its Listening mode, and while that could be excellent it would still deny Naughty Dog what it has shaped its last handful of games around if Daredevil’s melee and traversal options weren’t exceptional.The Last of Us’ melee encounters are gripping and have incredibly satisfying finishers, but the blind lawyer from Hell’s Kitchen would need to be far more agile and acrobatic than Joel or even Nathan Drake in order to truly sell that style of fluid combat.
Naughty Dog Could Marry Punisher and Daredevil as Dual Protagonists
Instead, a viable solution that could appease the desire for both a Punisher and a Daredevil game would be to have both playable in the same game. Say Naughty Dog develops a Punisher game, for example; it can feature Frank Castle and Matt Murdock together as protagonists to split those gameplay mechanics, similar to howAbby has a unique play style apart from Ellie inThe Last of Us Part 2.
This way, half of the game could embellish gunplay while the other half embellishes traversal, and both could have distinguished differences in melee combat. Punisher and Daredevil also have the added advantage of sharing many stories together, so it wouldn’t be difficult for Naughty Dog to explain why and how they’re together in the game.
Of course, sincePunisher and Daredevil have popularly crossed over in the Netflix seriesthey each eponymously starred in, the only issue might be making their pairing feel authentic and original. More superhero games are being announced as ensembles while maintaining their single-player nature than ever, and a tag-team duo with Punisher and Daredevil would be a match made in heaven for Naughty Dog’s skillset.
