Genre: Action
Developer: Rockstar North
Publisher: Rockstar Games
# of Players: 1
ERSB: Mature
Released On: November, 2003
Also On: None
Introduction
Rockstar Games, already known for their bloody and mature titles, must have the biggest pair of nuts in the industry. Just when you thought that Grand Theft Auto was about the bloodiest you could get, they release something that actually puts the GTA series to shame, atleast as far as mature content goes.
Manhunt is a game even the most jaded fan of violent entertainment will sit back atleast a few times and just say "damn". You star as James Earl Cash, a death row inmate about to be executed. However, you awaken to find out you’re up shit creek with no paddle, but you’re not in Hell. Carcer City is your new home, and after a brief time to collect yourself you’ll probably wish you were in hell.
You’re Gonna be a Star
Upon waking up, you realize you aren’t in control of your life anymore. You have a Director. The Director is watching you at all times, filming you, coordinating your every move. Walk around a corner and see 3 thugs, they are there because the Director put them there. He wants to see one thing, and thats death, whether it is theirs or your own.
Blood, brains and more blood
You can give him death in various ways. Manhunt is all about stealth first, combat second. You don’t want the guys to know you’re there. If someone spots you, they will alert their buddies and they will hunt you down as a pack. This is no GTA. If you’re surrounded, you will die. Avoid detection at all costs.
When stalking an enemy, once you get close behind him, Cash will raise his weapon and the Director will shout for you to finish him off. By holding down square, you’ll start charging off your "kill meter". It has 3 levels, and the executions get all the more gruesome the longer you charge the button. For example, if I am running around with a baseball, a level one kill would be 2 quick bloody shots to the head. Level 2, I’d butt the bat into the guys stomach and come down with a crashing blow to his head and he’s bent over, gasping for air. Level 3, I’d choke the guy with the bat, leave him on his knees in a dazed state, and then with one brutal swing, send half of his head and his brains all over the nearest wall. The challenge is to get off the best kill as much as possible for the best score at the end of each stage. Killing someone usually takes time and makes noise though, so you’ll also have to be stealthy about the time and place or you’ll be dead quick.
Carcer City
Graphics wise, Manhunt is much like it’s cousin GTA. The graphics are not going to win any awards for being outstanding, but at the same time everything in Manhunt is solid. Animations are good, the frame rate is constant, the loading times are very short.
Even Carcer City itself looks pretty good. For a snuff film city, anyways. Everything is dark and moody. There’s a junkyard level that is extremely intense because it actually looks like one of those creepy old junkyards in horror movies and I just know one of these fat men in masks are gonna jump from out of nowhere soon enough and bludgeon my ass with a baseball bat.
If you don’t have anything nice to say...
If you aren’t offended by the games graphic violence, you just might be offended by what comes out of peoples mouths. When an enemy spots you, he’s gonna let you know. "There you are you fairy". He’ll let his buddies know. "I found him. The prick is over here!". When you run for a hiding spot, they will taunt you. "Come on out you pussy", or "We love hanging faggots like you up by their balls". If you have a USB headset, you can plug it in and the Director will speak directly to you through there. Enemies will also hear what you say through the mic. So you’d better be careful on what you say when you see someone around or they might hear you and come running.
Stairway to Heaven
Manhunt is one hard game. Imagine Flashback or Contra back in the day, with that old school style gameplay where you’re gonna have to die in order to learn the levels. That’s what Manhunt has.
Thankfully the difficulty level climbs very forgivingly. Your first level is basically a giant tutorial and from then on each section pretty much progessively increases in difficulty. There are plenty of points where the player will be thinking it’s damn impossible to get past, and then they’ll try again and find another route that is perfect. In the later levels when guns are introduced you’ll definitely die more but that’s also the parts of the game where the gameplay and story really start to take over so don’t give up.
Conclusion
It’s a shame Manhunt will be shunned by some gamers for just being another weak attempt by Rockstar to capitalize on contraversy. They’ll be missing out on one of the best games of 2003 and one of the best stealth oriented games ever made. Sure, the gameplay gets a little stale after you sneak around for so long, but the same could be said for games like Tenchu or Metal Gear as well. Don’t look away just because of the graphic coating, there’s actually a great game underneath and one that takes atleast 25 hours to finish.
