Manhunt 2 is an
action/adventureAn 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 GamesRockstar Games is a video game developer and publisher owned by Take-Two Interactive. The brand is mostly known for the Grand Theft Auto, Max Payne and Midnight Club series. It comprises studios that have been acquired and renamed as well as others that have been created internally...
and the sequel to 2003's
ManhuntManhunt is a stealth game developed by Rockstar Games, it was released November 18, 2003 for the PlayStation 2 video game console, and April 20, 2004 for Xbox and Windows. Although it was generally well-received by critics, Manhunt created a controversy due to the graphic violence the player is...
. The game was released in North America for the
PlayStation 2The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony. The PS2 console is the sequel to the original PlayStation console. The successor to the PlayStation, and the predecessor to the PlayStation 3, the PlayStation 2 forms part of the PlayStation series of video game...
,
PlayStation PortableThe PlayStation Portable is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on May 11, 2004 at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
, and
WiiThe is a home video game console released by Nintendo. 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 both...
on October 31, 2007. It was originally scheduled for release in July, but it was suspended by
Take-TwoTake-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is an American publisher, developer, and distributor of video games and video game peripherals. The company's headquarters are in New York City, United States, with international headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Development studio locations include San...
due to a rating rejection in the United Kingdom and
IrelandIreland is a country in north-western Europe. The modern sovereign state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned on 3 May 1921. It is a parliamentary democracy and a republic...
and an AO rating in the United States for being too violent. On August 24, it was announced that Rockstar submitted a modified version of the game, which was re-rated with an M by the ESRB and allowed for an October 31, 2007 release date in North America. It was, however, released in some stores on October 29, 2007. This modified version was again rejected by the
BBFCThe British Board of Film Classification , originally British Board of Film Censors, is the organisation legally responsible for film classification 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.
Gameplay
Similar to
Manhunt, players perform "
executionsin video games are player character moves that often involve the violent and gory death of the enemy it is performed upon. The most famous examples of these types of finishing moves are the "Fatalities" of the Mortal Kombat franchise, which involve attacks ranging from decapitation of a defeated...
" in three deadly shades - Hasty (white), Violent (yellow) and Gruesome (red)
- Firearms can now be used for executions.
- A new feature to executions in the game are the environmental kills, which can be used to eliminate an opponent.
- Loud ambient noises can now be exploited by the player to drown out their foes.
- When hiding in shadows, if an enemy comes close to the playable character, the player will have to mimic a combination of buttons or motions in order to regulate the character's breathing to ensure that he remains calm and undetected. In the Wii version, the player must hold the Wii Remote completely still.
- Climbing and crawling have been included to increase exploration and exploitation of new hiding places.
- The player can smash lights to create extra pockets of shadow to be used for hiding.
- Some lights are provided with a motion sensor that activates when detecting movements in front of it, forcing the player to investigate the dark corners before taking advantage of them.
- "Jump Executions" can be performed from a higher platform.
Story
You play as Dr. Daniel Lamb a scientist who worked on 'The Pickman Project', which is named after its founding scientist, Dr Pickman. 'The Pickman Project' deals with a top secret weapon experiment and is led by Dr. Whyte. Everything looked to be going well until the project suddenly had its government funding cut due to its controversial work methods, which meant that ‘The Project’ would be shut down indefinitely.
Dr. Pickman believed he was close to a break through and decided to do one last experiment, however he needed a guinea pig in order to carry out his work. Daniel volunteered to becoming one of the many guinea pigs for the experiments.
Six years later, Daniel finds himself locked away, with no memory of who he is or his past. Due to a defect in the treatment, unforeseen side effects began to appear in many of the subjects. It was decided to hide these side effects in Dixmor Insane Asylum for the Criminally Insane.
Finding himself locked away in the Asylum, Daniel begins to question his own sanity and if in fact his family and his life before being put into the asylum actually existed. Just at that moment of doubt an electrical storm knocks out the power in the asylum resulting in the security system shutting down and freeing the inmates from their cells.
Inmate Leo Kasper decides this would be a perfect time to escape the asylum and urges Daniel to follow his lead. Unknown to Daniel the events following this freak storm will change his life forever and allow him to discover what happened during the last 6 years of his life.
Characters
The game features a variety of characters, both major and minor. The major characters, or the characters that have a significant influence in the game are four, Daniel Lamb, Leo Kasper, Dr. Laura Whyte and Dr. Pickman. Except the main characters, the player will also meet few supporting characters, like the wife of the protagonist (Mrs Lamb) and scientists. Finally, there are many enemy gangs, such as The Project Militia, that hunt the main player to kill him.
Development
Manhunt 2 entered development in 2004 at
Rockstar Games' Vienna studioRockstar 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 studioRockstar Leeds is an English video game developer. Based in the city from where the name was taken, Rockstar Leeds has primarily published handheld games for Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance , as well as Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition and the Grand Theft Auto Stories series for the PlayStation...
.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 London studio. A little while later,
Rockstar Games' Toronto studioRockstar Toronto is an in-house game development team for Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive, located in Oakville, Ontario, Canada, a town located approximately twenty minutes 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 UK ratings board BBFC banning it outright. 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. However over in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
, the edits weren't enough for the BBFC and still refused to allow the game. The game was released in the US on October 31, 2007 while Rockstar was still battling to get the game to be allowed a release in the UK. It wasn't until March 14, 2008 that the ban on the censored version was finally lifted by the BBFC when it was forced by the higher court of Britain to do so. Manhunt 2 was finally released in the UK on October 31, 2008, a year after the game was released in the US.
Five voice actors are confirmed to have recorded dialogue for the game. Even though two of them chose to remain anonymous, the third voice actor
James UrbaniakJames Christian Urbaniak is an American actor. One of his first noteworthy roles was in the avant-garde playwright/director Richard Foreman's The Universe, for which Urbaniak won an Obie. He has also been acclaimed for his acting in the film Henry Fool and the play Thom Pain , for which he was...
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.
Reception
Manhunt 2 was met with mixed reviews.
1UP.com1UP.com is a video game website owned by UGO Entertainment, a division of Hearst Corporation, following the acquisition of the 1UP Network from Ziff Davis Media...
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."
GamespotGameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 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 purchased...
said the game's "not as shocking as you'd expect, but
Manhunt 2 still satisfies your primal instincts."
IGNIGN is a multimedia news and reviews website that focuses heavily on video games...
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."
GamesRadarGamesRadar is a multi-format video game website featuring previews, reviews, features, videos, cheats, forums and breaking news. It was also formerly known as "CheatPlanet.com". It is owned and operated simultaneously in the and by Future Publishing , a worldwide publisher of enthusiast and...
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 InformerGame Informer is an American-based monthly magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of popular video games and associated consoles...
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 PowerNintendo Power magazine is a monthly news and strategy magazine formerly published in-house by Nintendo of America, but now run independently. As of issue #240 , Nintendo contracted publishing duties to Future US....
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 RemoteThe Wii Remote, sometimes unofficially nicknamed "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...
.
X-PlayX-Play is a TV program about video games, known for its reviews and comedy skits...
's unforgiving review simply stated that "the only thing you need to know is that this...game...BLOWS!"
Yahoo!Yahoo! Inc. is an American public corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, , that provides Internet services worldwide...
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 ThompsonJohn 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/or sex in video games....
promised to file suit to block the sale of Manhunt 2
and RockstarRockstar Games is a video game developer and publisher owned by Take-Two Interactive. The brand is mostly known for the Grand Theft Auto, Max Payne and Midnight Club series. It comprises studios that have been acquired and renamed as well as others that have been created internally...
's Grand Theft Auto IVGrand Theft Auto IV is a sandbox-style action-adventure video game developed by Rockstar North. It is the sixth 3D game in the Grand Theft Auto series....
.
Take-TwoTake-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is an American publisher, developer, and distributor of video games and video game peripherals. The company's headquarters are in New York City, United States, with international headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Development studio locations include San...
petitioned
U.S. District Court, SD FLThe 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
BullyBully, also known as Canis Canem Edit outside of North America for the PAL PlayStation 2 version, is a third person action-adventure 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. An Xbox version was...
.
In a letter to Wendy'sWendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers is an international chain of fast food restaurants founded by Dave Thomas on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio. As of December 2006, Wendy's was the world's third largest hamburger fast food chain with approximately 6,700 locations following McDonald's 31,000...
CEO Kerrii Anderson, Thompson demanded that the restaurant drop an upcoming promotion featuring children's toys designed after the WiiThe is a home video game console released by Nintendo. 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 both...
games Excite Truckis 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 Sportsis a sports game developed and produced by Nintendo as a launch title for the Wii video game console. It 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 Galaxyis a 3D platform game developed by Nintendo EAD Tokyo and published by Nintendo for the Wii. It was released in Japan on November 1, 2007, the United States on November 12, 2007, Canada on November 14, 2007, Europe on November 16, 2007, Australasia on November 27, 2007 and South Korea on September...
because Manhunt 2 was scheduled for release on the console. An excerpt from Thompson's letter states: "
Dave ThomasDavid "Dave" Thomas was an American restaurant owner and philanthropist. Thomas was the founder and chief executive officer of Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers, 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 RemoteThe Wii Remote, sometimes unofficially nicknamed "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...
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 ratedThe 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 and other entertainment software in Canada and the United...
PSP and PS2 version thus restoring parts of the
AO-Science and technology:* .ao, the top-level Internet domain for Angola* Adaptive optics, a technology used in astronomical telescopes* Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Osteosynthesefragen, a nonprofit organization dedicated to musculoskeletal injuries...
state was released by a group of PSP
crackersSoftware cracking is the modification of software to remove protection methods: copy protection, trial/demo version, serial number, hardware key, date checks, CD check or software annoyances like nag screens and adware....
. 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
PALPAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television encoding system used in broadcast television systems in large parts of the world. Other common analogue television systems are SECAM and NTSC. This page primarily discusses the 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.
An upcoming PC port has received an AO rating, leading to speculation that an official uncut release is being made.
External links