Who hunts the hunted? (Manhunt (PS2))

Member Name: sparkymarky1973

Product:	Manhunt (PS2)
Date:	25/08/08 (50 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The first truly adult game thats more shocking than even the GTA series.....

Disadvantages: Not for under 18's strictly!!!!!! Anyone who lets their kid play this needs shooting!!!

Released in 2003, MANHUNT is perhaps best known for being the most controversial computer game ever released. Designed by the same people behind the GRAND THEFT AUTO franchise (itself no stranger to controversy) it tells the story of a convicted felon, James Earl Cash, who, instead of being given the lethal injection, is released into a limited area of Carcer City to hunt down and brutally murder assorted gang members under the tutledge of a man known only as The Director who films the whole shebang for a snuff movie. ROCKSTAR GAMES have always enjoyed pushing the boundaries with their games, one of their titles last year called BULLY faced wholesale media damnation and could only be released on PS2 as CANEM CANIS EDIT, (though has since come out on the XBOX360 as BULLY again now that the media storm has died down and people have actually seen that the game condemns bullying and doesn't condone it as they feared it might without actually playing the damn thing in the first place!!) but this has got to be the furthest they have tested the waters to date. In 2004 the game was linked by the media to the murder of Stefan Pakeerah and, although police could never actually find a link between the two, nonetheless the game recieved a kind of notoriety for being the training guide needed for becoming a serial killer. A sequel to MANHUNT (imaginably titled MANHUNT2) still remains to be released after much controversy of it's own and repeated banning of submitted edits by the BBFC!!! Whether or not we ever get to see it remains to be seen but so far thankfully, this original game has not yet been successfully banned despite it's bad reputation which ultimately has only boosted it's profile and sold more copies!! Figure that one out!!!

The fact of the matter is this is an ADULT game and as such should only be played by adults. It is exceedingly graphic and allows you to despatch your enemies with everything from a shard of glass through the eye, a plastic bag, baseball bats and a crowbar amongst other things. Later you get firearms but to begin with you have to improvise with whatever is closest to hand. Holding down the targeting button in stealth mode also enables you to perform nastier kills for which you get higher points and you can carry around human heads if you choose which can later be thrown to distract the enemy if they start getting too close to where you are hiding in the shadows whilst waiting for the perfect oppotunity to strike.

Yes, this is a sick game and yes it is heavily laced with violence. But does it deserve it's bad reputation- no, not really. What difference is there between this and the hundreds of war games available out there where you can despatch dozens of lives in the blink of an eye as you storm through levels as much like a gun-crazy teenager as any military commando? The only thing that damns this game is the method of killing and to be fair the only people you kill here are those who are hunting you in return in any case. Not innocent soldiers sent out to fight for their country whose only crime is being on the wrong side as decided by whomever is winning the war.

The controls are relatively simple and the basic concept of MANHUNT is similar to any other stealth game you might have played. If you try to take on more than one enemy at once, you are going to get your ass handed you with a spoon. If you run straight in yelling and screaming, then you will die very quickly. No this is all about hiding in the shadows and picking people off and in that respect is a brilliant strategy game. The game has two difficulty settings- fetish and hardcore- but it is only in fetish that you get a radar to show you what enemies are within earshot and if they are suspicious of your presence. Play in hardcore and you have only your eyes, ears and wit to aid you. Scoring high opens 4 mini-games with such elaborate titles as MONKEY SEE, MONKEY DIE (try and work out that one if you dare) and if you have a headset of the variety used in games such as SOCCOM, then you can hear The Dirctor's voice directly in your ear. Of course this also means you have to be quiet too and not speak into the microphone unless you are trying to distract your enemies. Don't do what I did and mid-game turn to your wife and ask her for a cup of tea or you will return to the screen to find your character getting his head kicked in by multiple enemies thinking all their birthdays have come at once!!!

It's not all about just killing either- there actually IS a cohesive storyline that you follow as you play. In later missions, you must protect a journalist trying to expose The Director from corrupt police officers paid to make her disappear and there is a fellow snuff star named PIGGY who you also have to face. If I had one complaint it is not that the game is sickeningly violent (I already knew that because I read the back cover and made sure I had all the facts I needed before purchasing the game- it's an 18 rating what did you expect fluffy bunnies??!!??) it is that the end battle and scenes are disapointingly short and that, after all you have gone through to get there, are over too too quickly.

Things I love about the game are that it is set in the same universe as GTA so there are plenty of subtle references to pick up on. Carcer City, the setting for MANHUNT, is itself mentioned on the radio broadcasts on GTA 3!!! Also that this is an unashamedably adult game designed for adults by adults with all the graphic violence and thrills an adult game quite rightly deserves!!!!

Don't play this if you are of a weak disposition!! Don't play this if you abhor violence!! Don't play this if you are easily offended!!

Take a hint- you are probably the kind of person CRASH BANDICOOT or RATCHETT AND CLANK were designed for- don't try and stop me from playing games I want to play!!! I am old enough to make up my own mind!!!!

Summary: A convicted felon becomes involved unwittingly in a sick plot to make snuff movies!!