In the Resident Evil 4 (RE4) remake, the Punisher is the first handgun you can buy from the Merchant when you meet him for the first time in the Abandoned Factory Grounds during Chapter 2. The Punisher will cost you five spinels, which you’ll be able to afford if you’ve completed the first two Merchant Requests, Destroy the Blue Medallions and Pest Control, each of which will earn you three spinels. But there are other valuable items you can trade for spinels, and the Punisher doesn’t actually have much better stats than the SG-09 R handgun you start with. So, is it really worth getting the Punisher? Which of these two RE4 remake weapons is the best?
How is The SG-09 R Handgun Better Than The Punisher?
The SG-09 R is only better than the Punisher in two ways in Resident Evil 4. First of all, it has a higher power rating, so it does more damage. At level 1, the SG-09 R handgun has 1.00 power, while the Punisher only has 0.90. The other way in which the SG-09 R is better than the Punisher is that it’s your default weapon, so you don’t have to spend rare spinels on it when you could be spending them on something else. For example, the Merchant himself recommends buying the Treasure Map with your first spinels.
How is The Punisher Better Than The SG-09 R Handgun?
The Punisher has slightly lower power than the SG-09 R, but its other stats are all slightly better. It has higher ammo capacity, faster reload speed and rate of fire, and better precision, but its stats aren’t that much better than those of the SG-09 R, and you won’t notice that much of a difference in combat. But, and this is a big “but”, the Punisher has one major advantage over the SG-09 R. The Punisher has the Penetration Power perk, which means that its shots pass through the first enemy hit and can hit enemies standing behind the first enemy. This is useless against lone enemies and powerful bosses, but it’s extremely effective against large swarms of enemies. And there are a lot of those in the Resident Evil 4 remake.
Resident Evil 4: Punisher or Handgun?
Given that fights against multiple enemies are common in Resident Evil 4, and that ammo can be scarce, being able to hit multiple enemies with one shot is really useful. You can, of course, do that with other types of weapon (for example, a shotgun). But being able to do it with a pistol is really handy, and makes the Punisher a better pistol than the SG-09 R handgun. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that you should buy it as soon as you get the chance, as there are other good items to spend your spinels on.
