Manhunt 2

Publisher: Rockstar Games
Developer: Rockstar Leeds / Rockstar London
Genre: Third Person Action
Release: October 29, 2007
Platforms: Playstation 2, Playstation Portable, Wii

Reviewer: Eric

It took a few years for another Manhunt game to come out, but now it is finally here. This game almost didn't even make it onto store shelves. At first Manhunt 2 received an Adult rating due to a rape scene and the violence. Countries banned the game and some still have a ban on it. Was Manhunt 2 really going to far or is everybody getting all worked up for nothing? We may never see the true version of this game, some scenes were taken out, but what we do have right now isn't half bad.

A secret research facility is home to some of the worst medical practices known to man. Scientist Daniel Lamb agrees to be a test dummy for The Project, a controversial test that no longer has government funding. When something goes wrong Daniel is sent to the Dixmor Asylum for the Criminally Insane. Six years later Daniel is now suffering from amnesia and tries to uncover the truth about The Project and why hunters have been hired to take him done. Along with his friend, fellow inmate Leo, the two set off to discover what really is going on.

Like the first game in the series Manhunt is another stealth game. This time around the game is much easier, whenever you follow your victims you have a very high chance of killing them without physically attacking them. Fans of the first one said how Manhunt was way too hard, enemies would hear you most of the time and completing one stage could take awhile. I didn't think it was necessary to tone the difficulty down that much, Manhunt 2 at times is boring just for the fact how damn easy it is.

The three levels of kills are still here. If you have a Wii then you need to get Manhunt 2, forget about the Playstation 2 version. Whenever you go behind your victim you have to hold in a button on your Wii Mote, the longer you hold it the better the kill. This is where the Wii version shines because once you let go of the button you actually have to move your controller in the direction you're told to. I really love doing this and I know this might sound disturbing, but actually doing the kill motions really shows off what the Wii is all about, being interactive. Manhunt 2 might have been a bad choice for the system, but I think it is about time Nintendo grew a set and let Rockstar release this game.

Manhunt 2 has a camera issue that can make certain parts a little annoying/difficult. In the first game you could hide behind a corner and turn to see what was going on. I'm not sure what happened with Manhunt 2 but if you try to look behind a corner there is a good chance you will have a small battle with the game itself. You will be treated to the wall, that's it. If you messed up and had your character go out too far you'll be seen and a battle will occur. Fighting one guy isn't bad, you get to use the Wii Mote and Nunchuck to kick his ass, just like a boxing match in Wii Sports. Though in later levels there are a lot or enemies and taking on two guys is a real treat. Didn't have handicap matches in Wii Boxing now did yeah?

All your items from the first Manhunt are in here. Favorites like the plastic bag, hammer and sickle are back, along with others, but Rockstar North has something else up their sleeves. Environment kills can be added to all the other gruesome ways you can kill people. If you see a skull on the map all you need to do is get your victim to that area and hold down a button for one to two seconds. Killing this was may sound easier but if you can keep up with all the different motions you can do with your Wii Mote you will be treated to a blood bath, that is if you can tell what is going on. What do I mean by this?

In order for this game to be released, since having an adult rating isn't aloud (didn't they make that mark for a reason?) Rockstar North had to go back and cute a few scenes and edit all the kills. Whenever you kill anybody, even with the plastic bag, the screen turns all weird, showing a mix between red, black, gray and white static moving across the screen. There is a few second delay after you kill anybody also, giving enough time for the gamer not to be able to see anything. You do get to see a non violent dead body, but nothing compared to the first game. Manhunt 2 still does have a lot of violence and if you have a good imagination you can figure out what is going on, but isn't the whole purpose of this game is seeing people die?

The music may not be anything to brag about in this game, same thing can be said about the first Manhunt. Little details matter in Manhunt 2 and those finer details are the sound effects. Breaking light, to hide in the shadows, sounds just like a light bulb breaking. All the sound effects for when you kill somebody sound pretty damn good too. Even though you can't see what is going on the sound will help you out too. The voice acting is another thing though, some of the characters don't seem to match up with their character design too much or their actions don't fit either.

Doesn't Manhunt 2 look a lot like Manhunt, graphically? There really isn't a huge difference between the two. Little things have been added, blood will squirt from victims, some of your killing objects look more realistic and pretty much anything else that people won't notice. Whenever there is dialogue between two characters the mouths don't match up too well, there is delay that can be seen by anybody. Thankfully Manhunt 2 wasn't on next generation consoles, the only way I would give this game credit on the Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 is if they packaged both games in one, that way I'd forget about the graphics, I'd be more excited on earning achievement points by killing people in a certain way.

Final Verdict
Manhunt 2 may not be as gruesome as the first game in the series, but that is fine by me. The camera work could have used a little touch up, same with the characters animations. It is a real shame this game had to be edited like this, if we could have purchased the real version of Manhunt 2 it might be better since the static in-between kills can be annoying half way through the game. There are some hacks on the Internet to fix this problem, but if you are going to do that don't ask me for help, just play the game as it is and just wait for the third game to come out, I'm sure by then things will change.

Rating
8.25 out of 10

Manhunt 2 Trailer