About
The Punisher is a 2005 third-person shooter based on the Marvel Comics antihero, developed by Volition and published by THQ for Windows, PlayStation 2 and Xbox. Players control Frank Castle through linear combat missions, using a system of human shields, quick kills and signature interrogation 'hot spots' where enemies are coerced through death threats and torture. It is remembered for its extreme, over-the-top violence (which forced an edited black-and-white censor filter on the most graphic executions) and its faithful, ruthless portrayal of the character. The PC version was never released on Steam and is no longer commercially available.
Identity
Launch
- Binary
- pun.exe
- Needs files
- none beyond the binary
Proton
- Version
- GE-Proton
- Winetricks
- —
- ProtonDB
- ProtonDB Pending not enough reports yet
⚙ Setup notes
Game: The Punisher (2005, Volition / THQ) — third-person shooter with Thomas Jane as Frank Castle, never sold on Steam. DirectX 8 title.
Install: Add the game's pun.exe (the actual game executable, ~2.6 MB) as a non-Steam game and force GE-Proton. Note Punisher.exe in the install folder is only the graphics/config utility, not the game itself. Community gameplay confirms it runs well on Deck.
Display: Apply ThirteenAG's WidescreenFixesPack (drops a d3d8.dll ASI loader plus ThePunisher.WidescreenFix.ini into the game folder) so it picks the Deck's native resolution instead of stretched 4:3. Set your resolution in the .ini if it doesn't auto-detect.
DirectPlay: Required by the engine but Wine/Proton provides it, so no extra winetricks are typically needed.
Cosmetic: An optional gore patch restores full violence (removes the black-and-white censor filter on executions).
The one thing to know
Supply your own copy: Never released on Steam (no appid) — supply your own copy and add the game's pun.exe (not the Punisher.exe config tool) as a non-Steam game.
Controller: No native gamepad support — the game is keyboard/mouse only, so apply a Steam Input layout (community Deck/Xbox/DualSense configs exist on SteamInputDB and the Steam Controller DB; a JoytoKey config also works).
Display: DX8 game — use the WidescreenFixesPack d3d8.dll wrapper for correct resolution; if Steam Input feels flaky note it stems from the DX8 input path.
Install: Install outside Program Files so the game can boot.
deckport links nothing.
Community guides
Write-ups and threads from people who got this (or a similar) game running. deckport links to them — it doesn't reproduce them.
Get the artwork
deckport never hosts game images. Open this game on SteamGridDB, pick
the cover / hero / logo / icon you like, and drop them into the
game folder under .deckport-art/ before you push it to the
Deck. The importer files them under the right names automatically.
Run it on your Deck
Two files: the one-time importer (deckport.py) in your
Deck's home folder, and this game's install helper. Copy the game
into ~/Games and run the helper with Steam closed — it
writes the recipe (binary, launch options, Proton version)
and registers the shortcut with artwork.