Manhunt

"For mature players only...in both gore and challenge."

Manhunt is a port of the Rockstar North PS2 game. Unless you've been living in a cave for the past few years, you'll know that Rockstar are responsible for the hip, smart and pop-culture influenced games Grand Theft Auto and Max Payne. Their productions more often than not have a flair for the absurdly violent and vulgar as well as the cinematic. So it should come as no surprise to anyone that their latest effort on display here takes the cake in both categories.

Manhunt can easily be summed up as Rockstar's attempt at the stealth genre, and the game operates much like Metal Gear Solid or Splinter Cell on a psychopathic bent. Your objective is to move from location to location, sneaking in the dark from your foes and lying in wait to perform visceral, gruesome execution-style murders on them. However, this is considerably more difficult than it sounds, and the learning curve and patience required will enthrall some players and alienate others.

PLOT:
Your protagonist in this game could barely be described as such, for starters. You take control of James Earl Cash, a mass murderer on death row about to be executed for his crimes. When his number is up, he finds the lethal injection wasn't quite lethal as he awakens in a dark room. Instructed by the voice over the loudspeaker to put on the earpiece, Cash complies and is introduced to Starkweather. This mysterious benefactor explains that Cash is to execute a number of thugs which are tracking him down in order to win his freedom, all while being filmed by the seedy snuff director's hidden cameras. Thus, the manhunt begins.

GRAPHICS: 8/10

Obviously running on the GTA: Vice City engine, Manhunt still looks pretty darn good. With smaller, more compact areas for the engine to render the detail has been bumped up considerably. The character designs are quite obviously the product of watching too many horror/slasher flicks, which in my book is a bonus. The game is viewed through a number of camera lenses, each with a different filter effect. This simple gimmick very much adds to the feel and atmosphere of the game, which is suitably dark and creepy. The executions, when performed, are done through a special death-cam which gets in for the close-up and often involves blood splatter on the screen for extra effect. If you're squeamish to that sort of thing, stop reading this review now and go back to playing Final Fantasy games. Still reading? Good.

You'll definitely want to crank the gamma in the game settings, or you'll miss out on the details in the pitch-black night-time settings as well as the aforementioned executions, though. One might have wondered how much more the extra detail present in the PC port could have been appreciated, had everything not been obscured by so much darkness. Quite unfortunate, really.

SOUND: 9/10

This is probably the strongest point of the Manhunt experience. The audio in this game is absolutely A-list and highly immersive, pulling its weight in making the title all it can be. The music score is a combination of chilling, uneasy ambient and builds dynamically into sinister, pulse-pounding electro when the action heats up. About the best compliment I can pay the soundtrack is that it reminds me of John Carpenter's best works, and it fits here like a (blood-stained) glove. The voice acting in this game is top-shelf, probably some of the best I've ever heard. The various ''hunters'' in the game have a repertoire of believable taunts and comments, many of which are vulgar and can't be repeated here for obvious reasons. Starkweather himself is voice-acted by the extremely talented Brian Cox, featured in such memorable major films as ''The Ring''.

The sound design is not just flawlessly executed either; audio clues play a massive part in the gameplay as well. Enemies can be alerted to your presence by the sounds your character makes in-game. This can work for or against you in situations; hitting a wall or throwing a brick can lure enemies to your hiding spots for easy kills, while trying to sneak up on your prey can be difficult on noise-emitting terrain such as gravel. Audio cues can tip you off to a hunter lurking around a corner as well, and will help immensely in planning your next move. Playing this game with headphones is highly advised if you're having trouble with certain areas of the game (which you will, trust me).

GAMEPLAY: 8.5/10

Despite the rather ludicrous amount of juvenile swearing and over-the-top gore, at the core of Manhunt you'll find Rockstar's deepest gameplay experience yet. As stated above, this game is mainly geared towards stealth. Cash will come across a number of weapons throughout the game with which to dispose of his enemies, ranging from the conventional (baseball bats, sniper rifles, knives) to the more esoteric (shards of glass, plastic bags, and pieces of wire). However, the one thing you will find out rather quickly in this game is that taking on enemies in direct combat will more often than not result in death as well as low scores. For the best possible mission rating at the lowest cost to health and the timer, you will need to move quickly, intelligently, and most of all undetected. This is also essential in order to put yourself in a position to execute the most impressive assassinations possible, which require more time to pull off.

Unfortunately, the necessity of constant environmental awareness, patience and and more often than not lucky timing can result in a disparagingly high frustration factor. Just as in other stealth-based games, much of the difficulty comes from trial and error. You will find yourself reloading time and time again after the thug you were sneaking up on unexpectedly turns on you, or one of his buddies rounds a corner and spots you, alerting the both of them. Once you are spotted, you have two options; fight or run to a hiding place. The first option will almost ALWAYS result in your death against more than one thug, and the second option only works if you know your surroundings inside and out. Hence, you're better off just starting from the save point, which can be several encounters away from the spot you messed up at. I realize this is a console port, but the game would have been just as challenging if we were allowed to save more than 2 or 3 times a level at certain spots.

One more gripe about the game is that the time requirements are hard to make on the normal difficulty (Fetish) and nigh impossible to achieve on Hardcore unless you know the maps like the back of your hand and can take out enemies quickly with combat. There's just no way to execute all the enemies the game throws at you without being spotted in the time allowed to get that extra rating star, what with a few of them automatically alert to your presence upon appearance. Thankfully, the bonus features unlocked for good ratings are clues to cheat codes and concept artwork, nothing worth the pain and frustration required to score perfect anyways.

Overall, Manhunt is a superb suspense/stealth combination which will unfortunately deter many gamers due to its seemingly insurmountable challenge. In fact, I wouldn't even worry about the ESRB rating. I highly doubt anyone under the age of 18 has the patience and skill required to make it past the first few levels in order to indulge in the more brutal executions and filthy language. In essence, this title is truly for mature audiences only, both in aesthetics and gameplay.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/26/04