Manhunt (PS2)
Publisher: Rockstar Games Developer: Rockstar North
From the creators of GTA III, comes Manhunt. Manhunt is a sort of creepy story. It's not creepy so much as I was scared while playing it, but it was creepy because a similar scenario is totally possible in real life. Read the story section below, and you'll see what I mean
Manhunt definitely caught my attention during the first few minutes. It has an interesting story, and fairly decent gameplay. It seems pretty original for a video game, but a similar storyline has played out in at least a few movies.
Gameplay: 8.5
Manhunt starts with a short tutorial level. Once freed from the prison, everyone you meet is looking to kill you. This is when you are given your first weapon. That weapon happens to be a plastic bag. Yes, you heard me right. Some games give you guns, bats, or brass knuckles for a starting weapon, but not Manhunt. They want you to sneak up behind someone and suffocate them with a plastic bag. I've got to say, that's pretty clever! When you slide in for the kill, the camera pans back and shows a cinematic version of you killing the guy. Not only that, but the murder is more gory based on how long you held the button down before being spotted. How cool is that?
After killing your first "hunter" with the bag, it's gone. Now you need a new weapon. They slowly move you up to a shard of glass. Now the murders are starting to get bloody. It's very nice. Each new weapon introduced seems to be more and more gory, but also more noisy. As you can imagine beating someone to death with a bat, or shooting them could be quite loud.
The hiding feature seems to give the game sort of a ninja feel. While hiding from hunters you need to keep your distance and hide in shadows so that you don't get spotted. It definitely makes things interesting, but I do get tired of standing there forever waiting to make my move.
The controls are well places, although things get a little clunky from time to time. I didn't have many problems though. One thing that did seem odd though, was the character's movement. While walking normally, the guy seemed to walk really slow. If you used R1 to run, you could only run for a limited time, and you were also a lot louder. I would think that there would be a happy "medium" speed, but I guess I dream too much.
Graphics: 8
The graphics were pretty good, although grainy at times. Things were shadowed well, and there was a lot of attention to detail. I didn't really have any complaints. The graphics in the game were done as well as portrayed on the box.
Sound & Music: 8.5
The voice over acting was ok, but the music was better. There wasn't much music going on until things started to pick up, at which point some spooky music got progressively louder. The music definitely made up for anything else the game was lacking in the sound department.
Story: 7
*Story may contain minor spoilers.
Manhunt is a story about a prisoner, convicted and sentenced to die by lethal injection. As it turns out, someone has saved you, and the shot only knocks you out, rather than kill you. The guy (who talks to you through an ear piece) instructs you on getting out of the area. He teaches you how to kill, and seems to get excited each time you kill someone. You find out later that he's actually filming you all the time, and recording your actions for snuff films. (This explains the cinematic effects when killing someone.) As you can imagine, this guy gets off on seeing you kill people, so he sticks you in several bad situations. The story is fun, but kind of predictable.
Replay Value: 6
The game is fun, but it is lengthy to play, so I didn't exactly rush out to play it again. It is fun killing people in stealth, however, so I did redo a few parts.
To buy or to rent?Well, this game definitely isn't for everyone. If you're squeamish, then I'd recommend renting this first. Other than that, this game is totally suitable for purchase by most adults. It is a bit tedious at times as well, so if you're unsure about a stealth game, rent it first.
Overall: 8.1
Overall, I'd have to say that Manhunt has some rather enjoyable gameplay, and it's really innovative. It's pieced together pretty well, and I've had fun describing it to friends. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a good (and gory) time.
Additional Information:
Genre: Action/Stealth
Players: 1
Memory Required: 117K
Rating: M (for Mature)
Extras: Dolby Pro Logic II
Copyright (c) 2003-2004, ProjectFUN.net (includes all internal links)