Manhunt 2
Encyclopedia
Manhunt 2 is an action/adventure
video game developed by Rockstar Games
and the sequel to 2003's Manhunt
. The game was released in North America for the PlayStation 2
, PlayStation Portable
, and Wii
on October 29, 2007.
Originally scheduled for release in July, it was suspended by Take-Two
due to a rating rejection in the United Kingdom, Italy and Ireland
and an AO rating in the United States. Rockstar eventually submitted a modified version of the game, which was re-rated with an M by the ESRB
and allowed for an October 29 release date in North America.
) to escape. Daniel is disoriented and amnesiac, unable to remember anything about himself. Under Leo's guidance, he makes his way back to the ruins of his old home, which is located nearby. Inside, Daniel recovers drugs which help to clear his head, and discovers hints about the details of his former life. He and Leo follow a series of clues to unravel the secrets of Daniel's past, killing anyone who interferes; along the way, they are pursued by bounty hunters and agents of a mysterious organization called "the Project".
As the plot unfolds, Daniel learns that he was once a scientist in the employ of the "Pickman Project", a government-sponsored weapons program involving brainwashing and mind control techniques. The Project's goal was to create the perfect assassin; to accomplish this, they developed the "Pickman Bridge", a brain implant containing the personality of a ruthless killer which could be activated on command. In theory, the two personalities would coexist in the same mind and would be completely unaware of each other, allowing the assassin to be remotely triggered, carry out his mission, and then revert back to normal; this would leave the subject with no memory of the killing, meaning they would show no signs of guilt, and would effectively be immune to interrogation.
While searching for Dr. Whyte (Linda Orth Pallavincini), a Project researcher and one of Daniel's former coworkers, Daniel and Leo are ambushed and sedated. Daniel wakes up in a room with Whyte, who reveals the whole truth to him. Six years ago, Daniel volunteered to be implanted with the Pickman Bridge, hoping that the resulting payoff from the Project's work would allow him to clear his family's debts and provide them with a financially secure future. However, the Bridge malfunctioned soon after it was implanted, causing Daniel to suffer from dissociative identity disorder
, resulting in him being able to directly communicate with the "assassin" personality—Leo—whom Daniel perceives as a real person. Furthermore, Leo is dangerously unstable, and has been working against Daniel from the very beginning; after the implant went haywire, Leo—in Daniel's body—went on a rampage across the city of Cottonmouth, murdering police officers and members of the Project, destroying the Project's records of Daniel and himself, and finally making his way to the Lamb household where he killed Daniel's wife, all for the purpose of weakening Daniel's grip on reality so that Leo could take complete control of his mind. Afterward, to cover up Leo's killing spree, the Project erased Daniel's memory, torched his house
, and had Daniel committed to Dixmor, where they had been working to study the effects of the implant and repair the damage, without success.
The game's final level is a surreal, introspective experience where Daniel enters a deep hypnotic state and faces off against Leo within the confines of his own mind. Daniel is able to let go of the guilt he feels over his wife's death, allowing him to "kill" Leo once and for all. Daniel awakes on a deserted road with his memory erased once more; he is left with an envelope informing him that his name is "David Joiner", providing him with a new home address in San Fierro and wishing him luck. Daniel briefly hesitates before walking down the road and toward his future. An alternate ending portrays these events from Leo's perspective, in which he is able to defeat Daniel and wakes up in full control of Lamb's body.
with a PSP port entering development shortly after at Rockstar Games' Leeds studio
.Intelligent Artifice, November 1, 2007: Rockstar Vienna's missing credits for Manhunt 2 In 2006, Rockstar Vienna was closed by Rockstar and main development of the game was handed to the London
studio. A little while later, Rockstar Games' Toronto studio
was tasked with developing a Nintendo Wii version.
On June 19, 2007, the game received an ESRB rating of Adults Only, effectively blocking the game from being sold in the US, with the UK ratings board BBFC preventing it from being sold. As a result, Rockstar was forced to censor the game in order to get a Mature rating. In August 2007, Rockstar submitted a censored version of the game to the ESRB and received a Mature rating allowing the game to be sold in the US. This modified version was again rejected by the BBFC
; Rockstar won its appeal against this rejection on December 10, 2007, but the BBFC challenged that decision through the courts.
On January 25, 2008, the BBFC won their case in the High Court that the game had been approved for release on a misinterpretation of the law. The VAC, however, approved the game for release a second time on March 14 and the game was released on October 31, 2008 in the United Kingdom, a year after the game was released in the US. The original, unedited version remains banned in the UK.
Five voice actors were confirmed to have recorded dialogue for the game. Even though two of them chose to remain anonymous, the third voice actor James Urbaniak
publicly announced it on his blog on March 16, 2006, only to remove it days later. Of the other two voice actors said to have recorded dialogue for the game, one of them also recorded dialogue for the original Manhunt, like Urbaniak.
stated that "really, the game warrants a 4 [out of 10] because it's technically playable and, despite its best efforts, probably won't plunge the industry into a period of navel-gazing and political sanction. Everything else about it is largely forgettable." Gamespot
said the game's "not as shocking as you'd expect, but Manhunt 2 still satisfies your primal instincts." IGN
declared that "Manhunt 2 isn't the tour de force title that will grab your attention and keep you there like the first one did." The review went on to state that "the AI doesn't feel as good as the first game, the setting and environments don't feel as menacing, and the story is definitely weaker. That isn't to say that Manhunt 2 isn't a good game, because it is."
GamesRadar
reviewed "if you're in the mood for something creepy and horrific that'll leave you feeling a little dirty, Manhunt 2's still-shocking murders and eerie, is-it-real-or-am-I-just-insane storyline won't disappoint." Game Informer
gave the Wii version of the game 7.75/10, saying "Manhunt 2 is every bit as grim and brutal as the first... the writing, as is typical of Rockstar's games, is top-notch, and Daniel and the rest of the characters do come off the screen as very real and human. ... It's a testament to this quality that I was really driven to see the tale out to its end."
Similarly, Nintendo Power
gave the Wii version 7.5/10, stating that while the game does deliver for the most part, they were disappointed by the way external influences led Rockstar to change the game, and that the story, while interesting, is "highly predictable." They did praise the game's audio and uses of the Wii Remote
. X-Play
suggested that the game would be "nothing more than obscure footnote in Rockstar’s history". Yahoo!
reviewed the PSP version, saying "there's simply never been a game quite as squeamishly immersive as this... it's even more terrifying for seeming like the most real thing in a game this year."
promised to file suit to block the sale of Manhunt 2 and Rockstar
's Grand Theft Auto IV
. Take-Two
petitioned U.S. District Court, SD FL
to block Thompson's pending lawsuit. Thompson immediately filed a counter-suit, accusing Take-Two and various other prominent game media outlets of racketeering. The dispute was later settled: Thompson agreed to not sue or threaten to sue to block sale or distribution of any game published by Take-Two. In turn, Take-Two agreed to drop a prior suit accusing Thompson of contempt-of-court in a previous suit over Take-Two's Bully
.
In a letter to Wendy's
CEO Kerrii Anderson, Thompson demanded that the restaurant drop an upcoming promotion featuring children's toys designed after the Wii
games Excite Truck
, Wii Sports
and Super Mario Galaxy
because Manhunt 2 was scheduled for release on the console. An excerpt from Thompson's letter states: "Dave Thomas
never would have tolerated the use of Wendy’s good name to promote Nintendo’s Wii, not with this game available on the Wii platform." Particular controversy was repeatedly heaped upon the Wii version of the game due to the console's highly immersive nature, with certain gaming sites that had a hands-on preview of the game reporting that Manhunt 2 used the Wii Remote
in an interactive manner; for instance, in order to stab someone in the game the player would have to flick the Wii Remote forward, in much the same fashion one would do when actually stabbing with a knife.
PSP and PS2 version thus restoring parts of the AO state was released by a group of PSP crackers
. ESRB commented on this crack stating that it was not Rockstar's fault that this occurred and stuck with the M rating. Later, it was discovered the same method also works on the Wii version of the game.
In September 2007, an uncensored PAL
PS2 copy of the game was leaked onto the internet by an employee of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, who was later fired.
In 2009, a fully uncensored version carrying an AO rating was officially released for PC download from Direct2Drive
. However, the game was later removed from the service after Direct2Drive was acquired by Gamefly
, due to Gamefly's policy of not carrying AO-rated games.
Action-adventure game
An action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres...
video game developed by Rockstar Games
Rockstar Games
Rockstar Games is a major video game developer and publisher based in New York City, owned by Take-Two Interactive following its purchase of UK video game publisher BMG Interactive. The brand is mostly known for Grand Theft Auto, Max Payne, L.A...
and the sequel to 2003's Manhunt
Manhunt (video game)
Manhunt is a stealth game developed by Rockstar Games. It was released to the public on November 18, 2003 for the PlayStation 2 console, and on April 20, 2004 for Xbox and PC. Although it was generally well-received by critics, Manhunt created a controversy due to the graphic violence the player...
. The game was released in North America for the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
, PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
, and Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
on October 29, 2007.
Originally scheduled for release in July, it was suspended by Take-Two
Take-Two Interactive
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is a major American publisher, developer, and distributor of video games and video game peripherals. Take-Two wholly owns 2K Games and Rockstar Games. The company's headquarters are in New York City, with international headquarters in Windsor, United Kingdom...
due to a rating rejection in the United Kingdom, Italy and Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
and an AO rating in the United States. Rockstar eventually submitted a modified version of the game, which was re-rated with an M by the ESRB
Entertainment Software Rating Board
The Entertainment Software Rating Board is a self-regulatory organization that assigns age and content ratings, enforces industry-adopted advertising guidelines, and ensures responsible online privacy principles for computer and video games as well as entertainment software in Canada, Mexico and...
and allowed for an October 29 release date in North America.
Plot
During a severe lightning storm, the security systems at the Dixmor Asylum for the Criminally Insane go offline, allowing inmates Daniel Lamb (Ptolemy Slocum) and Leo Kasper (Holter GrahamHolter Graham
Holter Ford Graham is an American actor and labor union leader. He made his feature film debut at the age of 13 in the 1986 comedy-horror film Maximum Overdrive...
) to escape. Daniel is disoriented and amnesiac, unable to remember anything about himself. Under Leo's guidance, he makes his way back to the ruins of his old home, which is located nearby. Inside, Daniel recovers drugs which help to clear his head, and discovers hints about the details of his former life. He and Leo follow a series of clues to unravel the secrets of Daniel's past, killing anyone who interferes; along the way, they are pursued by bounty hunters and agents of a mysterious organization called "the Project".
As the plot unfolds, Daniel learns that he was once a scientist in the employ of the "Pickman Project", a government-sponsored weapons program involving brainwashing and mind control techniques. The Project's goal was to create the perfect assassin; to accomplish this, they developed the "Pickman Bridge", a brain implant containing the personality of a ruthless killer which could be activated on command. In theory, the two personalities would coexist in the same mind and would be completely unaware of each other, allowing the assassin to be remotely triggered, carry out his mission, and then revert back to normal; this would leave the subject with no memory of the killing, meaning they would show no signs of guilt, and would effectively be immune to interrogation.
While searching for Dr. Whyte (Linda Orth Pallavincini), a Project researcher and one of Daniel's former coworkers, Daniel and Leo are ambushed and sedated. Daniel wakes up in a room with Whyte, who reveals the whole truth to him. Six years ago, Daniel volunteered to be implanted with the Pickman Bridge, hoping that the resulting payoff from the Project's work would allow him to clear his family's debts and provide them with a financially secure future. However, the Bridge malfunctioned soon after it was implanted, causing Daniel to suffer from dissociative identity disorder
Dissociative identity disorder
Dissociative identity disorder is a psychiatric diagnosis and describes a condition in which a person displays multiple distinct identities , each with its own pattern of perceiving and interacting with the environment....
, resulting in him being able to directly communicate with the "assassin" personality—Leo—whom Daniel perceives as a real person. Furthermore, Leo is dangerously unstable, and has been working against Daniel from the very beginning; after the implant went haywire, Leo—in Daniel's body—went on a rampage across the city of Cottonmouth, murdering police officers and members of the Project, destroying the Project's records of Daniel and himself, and finally making his way to the Lamb household where he killed Daniel's wife, all for the purpose of weakening Daniel's grip on reality so that Leo could take complete control of his mind. Afterward, to cover up Leo's killing spree, the Project erased Daniel's memory, torched his house
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
, and had Daniel committed to Dixmor, where they had been working to study the effects of the implant and repair the damage, without success.
The game's final level is a surreal, introspective experience where Daniel enters a deep hypnotic state and faces off against Leo within the confines of his own mind. Daniel is able to let go of the guilt he feels over his wife's death, allowing him to "kill" Leo once and for all. Daniel awakes on a deserted road with his memory erased once more; he is left with an envelope informing him that his name is "David Joiner", providing him with a new home address in San Fierro and wishing him luck. Daniel briefly hesitates before walking down the road and toward his future. An alternate ending portrays these events from Leo's perspective, in which he is able to defeat Daniel and wakes up in full control of Lamb's body.
Development and censorship
Manhunt 2 entered development in 2004 at Rockstar Games' Vienna studioRockstar Vienna
Rockstar Vienna was a Vienna, Austria-based developer of video games, and a sub-division of Rockstar Games. Rockstar Vienna was founded on January 4, 1993, joined Take-Two Interactive in February 2001, and was announced to join Rockstar Games during the tenth anniversary of the company in 2003...
with a PSP port entering development shortly after at Rockstar Games' Leeds studio
Rockstar Leeds
Rockstar Leeds is a British video game developer. Based in the eponymous city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, Rockstar Leeds has primarily published handheld games for Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance , as well as developing Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition and the Grand Theft Auto Stories games for the...
.Intelligent Artifice, November 1, 2007: Rockstar Vienna's missing credits for Manhunt 2 In 2006, Rockstar Vienna was closed by Rockstar and main development of the game was handed to the London
Rockstar London
Rockstar London is an English video game developer, and in 2005 was the second newest studio to join the Rockstar Games family. Notable productions include Manhunt 2 for the PlayStation 2....
studio. A little while later, Rockstar Games' Toronto studio
Rockstar Toronto
Rockstar Toronto is an in-house game development team for Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive, located in Oakville, Ontario, Canada, a town located approximately thirty-five kilometres west of Toronto...
was tasked with developing a Nintendo Wii version.
On June 19, 2007, the game received an ESRB rating of Adults Only, effectively blocking the game from being sold in the US, with the UK ratings board BBFC preventing it from being sold. As a result, Rockstar was forced to censor the game in order to get a Mature rating. In August 2007, Rockstar submitted a censored version of the game to the ESRB and received a Mature rating allowing the game to be sold in the US. This modified version was again rejected by the BBFC
British Board of Film Classification
The British Board of Film Classification , originally British Board of Film Censors, is a non-governmental organisation, funded by the film industry and responsible for the national classification of films within the United Kingdom...
; Rockstar won its appeal against this rejection on December 10, 2007, but the BBFC challenged that decision through the courts.
On January 25, 2008, the BBFC won their case in the High Court that the game had been approved for release on a misinterpretation of the law. The VAC, however, approved the game for release a second time on March 14 and the game was released on October 31, 2008 in the United Kingdom, a year after the game was released in the US. The original, unedited version remains banned in the UK.
Five voice actors were confirmed to have recorded dialogue for the game. Even though two of them chose to remain anonymous, the third voice actor James Urbaniak
James Urbaniak
James Christian Urbaniak is an American actor. Urbaniak was born in Bayonne, New Jersey. He lives in Santa Monica, California with his wife Julie and their twins, son Severn Jerzy and daughter Esme Maeve....
publicly announced it on his blog on March 16, 2006, only to remove it days later. Of the other two voice actors said to have recorded dialogue for the game, one of them also recorded dialogue for the original Manhunt, like Urbaniak.
Windows version
On October 31, 2009, Rockstar started taking pre-orders for a PC version of the game. The PC version was released on November 6, 2009 with an AO rating from the ESRB.Reception
Manhunt 2 was met with mixed to fair reviews. 1UP.com1UP.com
1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....
stated that "really, the game warrants a 4 [out of 10] because it's technically playable and, despite its best efforts, probably won't plunge the industry into a period of navel-gazing and political sanction. Everything else about it is largely forgettable." Gamespot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
said the game's "not as shocking as you'd expect, but Manhunt 2 still satisfies your primal instincts." IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
declared that "Manhunt 2 isn't the tour de force title that will grab your attention and keep you there like the first one did." The review went on to state that "the AI doesn't feel as good as the first game, the setting and environments don't feel as menacing, and the story is definitely weaker. That isn't to say that Manhunt 2 isn't a good game, because it is."
GamesRadar
GamesRadar
GamesRadar is a multi-format video game website featuring regular news, previews, reviews, videos, and guides. It is owned and operated simultaneously in the UK and US by worldwide publisher Future Publishing...
reviewed "if you're in the mood for something creepy and horrific that'll leave you feeling a little dirty, Manhunt 2's still-shocking murders and eerie, is-it-real-or-am-I-just-insane storyline won't disappoint." Game Informer
Game Informer
Game Informer is an American-based monthly magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of popular video games and associated consoles. It was formed in August 1991, when FuncoLand started publishing a six-page magazine, free in all its retail locations...
gave the Wii version of the game 7.75/10, saying "Manhunt 2 is every bit as grim and brutal as the first... the writing, as is typical of Rockstar's games, is top-notch, and Daniel and the rest of the characters do come off the screen as very real and human. ... It's a testament to this quality that I was really driven to see the tale out to its end."
Similarly, Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power magazine is a monthly news and strategy magazine formerly published in-house by Nintendo of America, but now run independently. As of issue #222 , Nintendo contracted publishing duties to Future US, the U.S. subsidiary of British publisher Future.The first issue published was...
gave the Wii version 7.5/10, stating that while the game does deliver for the most part, they were disappointed by the way external influences led Rockstar to change the game, and that the story, while interesting, is "highly predictable." They did praise the game's audio and uses of the Wii Remote
Wii Remote
The , also known as the Wiimote, is the primary controller for Nintendo's Wii console. A main feature of the Wii Remote is its motion sensing capability, which allows the user to interact with and manipulate items on screen via gesture recognition and pointing through the use of accelerometer and...
. X-Play
X-Play
X-Play is a TV program about video games, known for its reviews and comedy skits...
suggested that the game would be "nothing more than obscure footnote in Rockstar’s history". Yahoo!
Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...
reviewed the PSP version, saying "there's simply never been a game quite as squeamishly immersive as this... it's even more terrifying for seeming like the most real thing in a game this year."
Controversy
Following Manhunt 2s announcement, former attorney Jack ThompsonJack Thompson (attorney)
John Bruce "Jack" Thompson is an American activist and disbarred attorney, based in Coral Gables, Florida. Thompson is known for his role as an anti-video-game activist, particularly against violence and sex in video games....
promised to file suit to block the sale of Manhunt 2 and Rockstar
Rockstar Games
Rockstar Games is a major video game developer and publisher based in New York City, owned by Take-Two Interactive following its purchase of UK video game publisher BMG Interactive. The brand is mostly known for Grand Theft Auto, Max Payne, L.A...
's Grand Theft Auto IV
Grand Theft Auto IV
Grand Theft Auto IV is a 2008 open world action video game published by Rockstar Games, and developed by British games developer Rockstar North. It has been released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 video game consoles, and for the Windows operating system...
. Take-Two
Take-Two Interactive
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is a major American publisher, developer, and distributor of video games and video game peripherals. Take-Two wholly owns 2K Games and Rockstar Games. The company's headquarters are in New York City, with international headquarters in Windsor, United Kingdom...
petitioned U.S. District Court, SD FL
United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida is the federal United States district court with jurisdiction over the southern part of the state of Florida....
to block Thompson's pending lawsuit. Thompson immediately filed a counter-suit, accusing Take-Two and various other prominent game media outlets of racketeering. The dispute was later settled: Thompson agreed to not sue or threaten to sue to block sale or distribution of any game published by Take-Two. In turn, Take-Two agreed to drop a prior suit accusing Thompson of contempt-of-court in a previous suit over Take-Two's Bully
Bully (video game)
Bully, also known as Canis Canem Edit for the PAL PlayStation 2 version, is an open world video game released by Rockstar Vancouver for the PlayStation 2 on 17 October 2006 in North America, and 25 October 2006 in the United Kingdom...
.
In a letter to Wendy's
Wendy's
Wendy's is an international fast food chain restaurant founded by Dave Thomas on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio, United States. The company decided to move its headquarters to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. It has been owned by Triarc since 2008...
CEO Kerrii Anderson, Thompson demanded that the restaurant drop an upcoming promotion featuring children's toys designed after the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
games Excite Truck
Excite Truck
is a video game published by Nintendo and developed by Monster Games for the Wii video game system. It features malleable environments and tilt-based controls. The game was one of the Wii launch titles in North America. It is a spiritual successor to the Excitebike series...
, Wii Sports
Wii Sports
is a sports game developed and published by Nintendo as a launch title for the Wii video game console , and part of the Touch! Generations. The game was first released in North America along with the Wii on November 19, 2006, and was released in Japan, Australia, and Europe the following month...
and Super Mario Galaxy
Super Mario Galaxy
is a 3D platform game developed by Nintendo EAD Tokyo and published by Nintendo for the Wii. It was released in most regions in November 2007, and is the third 3D original platformer in the Mario series, after Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine. The game follows the protagonist, Mario, on a...
because Manhunt 2 was scheduled for release on the console. An excerpt from Thompson's letter states: "Dave Thomas
Dave Thomas (American businessman)
David "Dave" Thomas was an American fast-food entrepreneur and philanthropist. Thomas was the founder and chief executive officer of Wendy's, a fast-food restaurant chain specializing in hamburgers...
never would have tolerated the use of Wendy’s good name to promote Nintendo’s Wii, not with this game available on the Wii platform." Particular controversy was repeatedly heaped upon the Wii version of the game due to the console's highly immersive nature, with certain gaming sites that had a hands-on preview of the game reporting that Manhunt 2 used the Wii Remote
Wii Remote
The , also known as the Wiimote, is the primary controller for Nintendo's Wii console. A main feature of the Wii Remote is its motion sensing capability, which allows the user to interact with and manipulate items on screen via gesture recognition and pointing through the use of accelerometer and...
in an interactive manner; for instance, in order to stab someone in the game the player would have to flick the Wii Remote forward, in much the same fashion one would do when actually stabbing with a knife.
Uncensoring
A method that removed the game's censoring code of the M ratedEntertainment Software Rating Board
The Entertainment Software Rating Board is a self-regulatory organization that assigns age and content ratings, enforces industry-adopted advertising guidelines, and ensures responsible online privacy principles for computer and video games as well as entertainment software in Canada, Mexico and...
PSP and PS2 version thus restoring parts of the AO state was released by a group of PSP crackers
Software cracking
Software cracking is the modification of software to remove or disable features which are considered undesirable by the person cracking the software, usually related to protection methods: copy protection, trial/demo version, serial number, hardware key, date checks, CD check or software annoyances...
. ESRB commented on this crack stating that it was not Rockstar's fault that this occurred and stuck with the M rating. Later, it was discovered the same method also works on the Wii version of the game.
In September 2007, an uncensored PAL
PAL
PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system...
PS2 copy of the game was leaked onto the internet by an employee of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, who was later fired.
In 2009, a fully uncensored version carrying an AO rating was officially released for PC download from Direct2Drive
Direct2Drive
Direct2Drive is an online game store offering PC videogames via direct download. On May 25, 2011, Gamefly acquired Direct2Drive from IGN Entertainment Group .- Competition with Steam :...
. However, the game was later removed from the service after Direct2Drive was acquired by Gamefly
GameFly
GameFly is an American online video game rental subscription service that specializes in providing games for game consoles and handheld game consoles....
, due to Gamefly's policy of not carrying AO-rated games.