Manhunt 2

"An exceptional survival story, with a style unmatched on the PSP."

This is a horror survival game through and through, a genre that has endured endless setbacks and criticisms, but for all the harassment Rockstar has developed a game that pushes originality. You may hear complaints about a certain blur to maintain a M rating, but there is already a way to turn that off, so that's why I game it a 10 because you really have the option to play it as gruesomely as it first console release, or with a cool looking electric interference touch that looks like a scene from the Ring when performing an execution, but lets get to the review.

Graphics - 9.5
If you've played The Warriors you know what to expect, an attention to every detail. The shading is perfect, and when it gets really dark and you stop to look around, the environment gives off a comic book grunge look that works great. The environments are vast and there're little details everywhere that really give this game a horror look. Lightning, breakable lights, detailed faces, and creepy little mini cut scenes where you least expect them, are just a few of things that look amazing on the psp from level to level.

Gameplay - 10
The mechanics work well for the psp's single analog, and it plays a lot like Metal Gear meets Sin City. Manhunt 2 revolves around stealth, and while it's not the most realistic in some places, I'm rating it on how enjoyable it was. There are tons of ways to kill your targets, and every person you take seems to have a back story of evil, from sick gimps to corrupt Marines to mad doctors to thugs, you feel like a murderous vigilante. But aside from weapon creativity, there are marked environment kills too, the only downside to killing your way through a level is that when you are spotted the one on one fights can get annoying. There are puzzle aspects and a lot of places to interact with, the developers put a lot of effort to keeping the suspense high, and it shows.

Story - 10
I don't want to give away much plot, but it involves a lot of imagination, literally, the main character, Danny, is insane. After escaping an asylum, you and your imaginary friend go off to recover your memory. This is NOT your standard amnesia flick. The story will keep you guessing and keep the plot moving through the entire game. There are very few, if any, dull moments. By the end of the game I guarantee you'll completely captured by the Danny's point of view. And with a good stock of well done cut scenes, what more could you ask for in a survival game?

Sound – 9.5
Environments each have a subtle scream of pain here and there. Everything from a scythe running through a spine to a car alarm sound the way they should, and while some ambience got annoying to me, it got annoying because it was creepy so I can't really knock it for that. Everyone you kill has something to say prior to becoming a corpse, while they do repeat, there are a lot of people in this game. And best of all Manhunt only gets quite long enough to make you jump when the next thing explodes to life.

Replayability - ?
Do you re-read a really good book? There are a lot of kills and environments that make you want to replay a level, and this is definitely something I'll be beating a few times, but most people will probably only replay one or two levels so I can't really rate this area.

Overall – 9.8
Every aspect of Manhunt comes together like a great survival movie. The load times are good since I didn't mention those, and there's no slowdown even with the PS2 graphics. It's a breath of fresh air to see another controversial game come to life on my psp, and it really lets the systems potential shine.

Rent or Buy?
Rent if you already beat its console version or if you don't like the genre, because it's still worth the play through. Otherwise definitely buy this.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/07

Game Release: Manhunt 2 (US, 10/29/07)