In 2007, Manhunt 2 was on its way to the Playstation 2, Wii and Sony PSP systems. It is considered to be the most viciously violent video game on the market even today. The more the negative media attention the title received, the more my curiosity followed. I stalked all the electronic game blogs for fresh juicy news to sink my teeth into. An unfortunate news article then caught my eye. Manhunt 2 was delayed to late 2007 (Halloween to be exact). Rockstar had to censor the game with all sorts of filters and flashes during the kill scenes. The censorship was a lot less opaque in the PSP and PS2 editions. The unfortunate truth for a Wii-owner (like me at the time) was that the Wii version included additional blurs to the kill scenes. The result was like scrambled porn for your Wii. In my opinion, how violence on a video game can offend anyone is absurd, especially when it’s fine and dandy in movies and TV. Those who agree and are in the US, rejoice! As of November 6th, 2009 the uncut Adults-Only rated edition is now available on Direct2Drive.

History lesson aside, Manhunt 2 puts you in the shoes of Daniel Lamb, a former scientist that participated in scientific works, called the “Pickman Project”, which was pulled due to the supposedly horrific effects that took place on test subjects. You wake up in the Dixmor Asylum for the Criminally Insane and you don’t know what’s going on and to stir things up, you have a second “killer” identity that goes by Leo Kasper. Daniel is quickly brought up to speed when he finds out that the “project” is now hunting him down to an extent where (like in the first Manhunt) authorities get involved. A great deal of murder has to take place. You don’t conk them out. This isn’t espionage stealth-action. This is insanity stealth-action.


What set the Manhunt series apart fromany other game is the brutality. This concept is simple. Get behind someone undetected and the longer you stay behind them, the more brutal the the kill ends up. During Daniel Lamb’s escape he will pick up anything from a pen to even a circular saw to be used as a weapon. Firearms also make an earlier and significantly more important appearance in the sequel. For instance, unlike the original Manhunt, Daniel or Leo can perform the cinematic executions with firearms as simply as they can with a melee weapon like a glass shard. Get behind someone with, say, a crrossbow and should you succeed, why just aim and shoot when you can silently, risk-free, execute the enemy. You can manually aim and fire or even use melee weapons to attack with, though failure at stealth usually leads to a chase to your death. Executing stealth well is rewarding and nearly mandatory in a game like Manhunt. Speaking of stealth, for the genre there must be a way to hide. My, what else but shadows? How about any shadow in the game? Yes, you can hide in practically any shadow in the game world. This is a good thing but its implementation is so-so. By “any shadow” I mean ANY shadow will make you completely invisible. There are occasional sequences where you have to “don’t move” by keeping a circle inside a moving circle or else you will be detected. Enemies will be spooked when they bump into you in the shadows. This is still a mechanic that makes the title lacking in difficulty. ~8/10


For 2009 the game is visually dated. The game easily looks almost identical to the Wii version (with some minor graphical tweaks). Rockstar’s PC port is lacking in presentation. I never touched on the Stereoscopic 3D monitor compatibility, but other than that, the AI is frequently really dumb. Not just with shadows, but you’ll sometimes have enemies run right past you in the middle of an intense pirsuit. Bugs and no extra features or missions make this port disappointing to say the least. I at least wanted Rockstar Games Social Club connectivity. I think R* would’ve had a lot of fun thinking up of creative additional Social Club functionality.As disappointed as I am, the game, is exclusively over-the-top with the violence and gore right out of the box. You’ll mash enemies’ heads in with a sledgehammer, pin someone to a dentist chair and use a sickle to cut up someone’s mouth and even jump down at a guard and slit a hedge cutter through his neck. It’s satisfying for people with a savage gaming palate. ~7/10


This game is not to be picked up if you’re a good hacker with a Wii, PS2 or PSP. Just get a uncensor patch for those editions. If you missed out on this twisted psychological thriller before, then pick this one up. Blood and gore fans, get more blood for your buck and make this your next purchase.
7.5 OVERALL

Blood and gore fans click here!

I don't think you could pay me to play this game but good review, 400 Viz.