Manhunt received a lot of negative attention shortly after its release due to the graphic manner in which the player executes his enemies and has even been blamed for the death of a teenager, resulting in a ban in several countries, including Australia, New Zealand and Germany. Outside the controversy, which i will not be paying attention to in this review, the game itself is not completely horrible, if not a little bit simple with a few overly frustrating parts.
In Manhunt, you play as James Earl Cash, a convicted death row inmate who was thought to be dead after an apparently lethal injection, later waking up to find himself with a man who is know as "The Director" (oddly enough played by Brian Cox from X2 and The Bourne Identity) speaking into your ear through an earpiece, ordering you to do what you do best, killing. Only this time, it's for the camera's. After the promise of freedom from the mysterious man, your quickly thrust into live-or-die quick thinking situations, all for this guy's sick twisted pleasure.
The game is pretty dark in nature, which will turn some people off from playing it. The game is infested with psychotic gangs that have no problem with killing you as brutally as you have to kill them, each having their own psychopathic traits. The running theme of snuff throughout the game is very reminiscent of the film 8MM, mixed with a few other choice movies, such as the Saw films and The Running Game, making it feel dirty. The abandoned areas you come across add to the dark and depressing atmosphere of the game, making it stand out.
The game is the standard Third Person stealth action game that draws from similar games such as the original Hitman: Codename 47 and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell. By this time, this type of gameplay was the standard trial-and-error approach that most stealth-based games had presented before. Stay hidden in the shadows and if someone spots you, hiding in said shadows always makes the bad guys oblivious to your presence, standard stuff. The mechanic that stands out is the way you take people out. The way this system works is you sneak up on an unsuspecting target and hold the attack button.
There is 3 different levels of execution, Hasty, Violent, and Gruesome, each more violent than the last. The severity of the execution depends on how long you hold the execute button. There is the chance that while preparing to execute your victim (a word i use loosely since the people you are killing are more sick and twisted than you), there is the chance that either someone will spot you or the guy your following will turn around, so you should be careful in picking someone. I would say that this stands out, but the hand-to-hand combat is terrible, so you will end up using this as much as possible.
Later, the game implements ranger weapons, making a good portion of the second half shooter heavy. Unfortunately, the game isn't that great with it's shooter mechanics either, making these parts more frustrating than it should be. It also doesn't help that the right thumbstick goes straight to first person view instead of moving in third person, something i don't get since Rockstar did this with the GTA games. A surprising addition to the stealth mechanic of the game is the use of the USB headset for the Playstation 2.
Instead of hiding in the shadows and having to bang on the wall to attract the bad guys to your general area, you can make noise into the headset instead. While not the best implemented feature of the game, it is an interesting addition to those who happened to buy the headset to at least try it out.
The game also features unlockables, which you get after recieving a certain number of stars at the end of each level. These unlockables include Art Panels (pretty self-explanatory) and bonus "scenes" which include specific objectives, such as killing as many of a specific enemy as you can and seeing how long you can survive an onslaught of enemeies. These nice additions to the game give it some replayabilty to the completest's who want to try and get everything perfect.
I've also tried out the PC version and surprisingly it's my preferred version. The controls use the standard WASD keys and mouse, which is an improvement over the right thumbstick going to first person in the PS2 version, which made the game more difficult than it needed to be. The PC version might not have the headset support, but isn't really needed to enjoy the game. Plus the game looks better, which is also a bonus.
If your the type of person who doesn't mind or likes the more extreme types of violence in other media, such as movies and books, you probably wouldn't mind this game. If not, then avoid. Just know that this game doesn't explore any new areas of the stealth genre and gets frustrating in parts of the second half of the game. I give Manhunt some praise for at least trying to present a mature themed product in a form of media known for getting assaulted when it tries to go beyond the movie equivalent of a PG-13.
The Good:
+It has a dark, dirty and depressing atmosphere that gives the game it's personality, even if it's not for everyone.
+The USB headset is a good addition for the PS2 version.
+Unlockables give the game some replayability
The Bad:
-The right thumb stick automatically going to first person is annoying and takes some getting used to.
-The second half of the game become a straight shooter almost renders calling it a "stealth" game pointless.
