Manhunt 2

Manhunt 2
Developer(s)	Rockstar London (PS2) Rockstar North (overseeing development) Rockstar Toronto (Wii) Rockstar Leeds (PSP) Rockstar Vienna (formerly involved)
Publisher(s)	Rockstar Games
Engine	RenderWare
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Wii
Release	October 29, 2007
Genre(s)	Action, Survival horror, Stealth, Psych. Horror
Mode(s)	Single player

Manhunt 2 is a video game developed by Rockstar Games, and the sequel to 2003's Manhunt. The game was released in North America for the Wii, PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable on October 31, 2007. It was originally scheduled for release in July, but it was suspended by Take-Two due to a rating rejection in the United Kingdom and Ireland and an AO rating in the United States for being too violent. On August 24, it was announced that Rockstar submitted a modified version of the game, which was re-rated with an M by the ESRB and allowed for an October 31, 2007 release date in North America. It was, however, released in some stores on October 29, 2007. This modified version was again rejected by the BBFC; Rockstar won its appeal against this rejection on December 10, 2007, but the BBFC challenged that decision through the courts. On January 25, 2008 the BBFC won their case in the High Court that the game had been approved for release on a misinterpretation of the law. The VAC however approved the game for release a second time on March 14.

Development

Game development began in 2004 at Rockstar Games' Vienna branch.

Five voice actors have confirmed to have recorded dialogue for the game. Even though two of them chose to remain anonymous, the third voice actor James Urbaniak publicly announced it on his blog on March 16, 2006, only to remove it days later. Of the other two voice actors said to have recorded dialogue for the game, one of them also recorded dialogue for the original Manhunt, like Urbaniak.

Characters

The following is a list of characters in Manhunt 2, however only Leo and Daniel are playable.

File:Daniel Lamb.jpg

Danny inside of the Dixmor Insane Asylum

Daniel "Danny" Lamb

The main playable character. He was a former scientist with "The Pickman Project" but ended up locked away in the Dixmor Asylum for the Criminally Insane for six years. A lead researcher and scientist, Daniel's recent invention of the drug Cortexa was revealed in an audio recording of a clinical session. The drug is used to help Danny temporarily recover from his amnesia. When the Project lost its funding, Danny volunteered to be a test subject for the "Pickman Bridge." His family was not supportive of this, but it is implied that he was deeply in debt and his family needed the money. The process seemed to be a success, but the killer personality implanted in him - Leo Kasper - was able to act too freely on his own. Leo convinced Danny to burn any records of their past, unknowing that Leo was really attempting to start a new life in Danny's body. The final link to Danny's past was his family, so Leo took over once more and murdered Danny's wife. Danny was captured and put in Dixmor for six years, when the game begins. He has no recollection of who he was before the Project started. Leo - whom he thinks is an actual person - is his only link to his past. After working with Leo for a long time after escaping, Daniel learns that Leo killed his wife and attempts to defeat Leo in his own mind. If the player plays as Daniel, Daniel kills Leo several times but he keeps coming back, not being human after all. The ghost of his wife comes and tells him to bury her body in his mind to end it all. Once he does this, Daniel smashes Leo in the face with a shovel until he is dead. After this, Danny wakes up on the side of a road in the middle of no-where. His memory has been wiped clean and in his hand is a note giving him a new name, and a fresh start. After reading the notes he looks around with a face of "What happened" and walks down the road.

Leo Kasper

The second playable character (but although only playable in flashback missions except for the bonus level). A psychopath who was also put in the asylum by the Project. He was once a government agent and has expertise in combat, evasion, infiltration and assassination techniques. He helps Lamb escape and teaches him his own well-honed tricks of the trade. His personality was taken by the Project and implanted into Danny while remaining separated from Danny's own mind by the Pickman Bridge. However, the Pickman Bridge was not perfected yet and it resulted in Leo being able to freely talk to Danny inside Danny's head. His personality also took over at times when it was not called upon. More than anything, Leo wants the Pickman Bridge removed so he can takeover Danny's mind and body forever. Leo helps Daniel a long way, but secretly trying to get Daniels body. In one ending, Leo confronts Daniel in his mind. If the player plays as Leo, Leo fights Daniel and wounds him with a gun. Cursing the Project and those involved in it, Leo steps on Daniels neck, killing him. Leo shouts aloud that he won and is then awakened by Whyte in Daniel's body, she explains she removed the Pickman Bridge, thinking he is Daniel. Leo tells her to gather the staff to resume work on the project.

Dr. Pickman

Head of "The Pickman Project." The Project is named after him. After the government cut funding off for his work, he went underground and continued his research. He is a heartless and cruel person, caring little about the suffering that his experiments cause on his test subjects. He created the "Pickman Bridge," the final product of the Project, which would implant a separate personality with an expertise in killing into an unknowing subject. Using codes hidden in the broadcasts of a television station that the Project runs, the subject's separate personality would trigger and perform their duty, afterwards reverting back to the subject's real personality. Danny was the first recipient of the Pickman Bridge, but after Leo proved to be uncontrollable, Pickman ordered his capture. After Leo killed Danny's family, the Project finally caught him. Instead of helping Danny, Pickman locked him away in Dixmor and continued his research. When Daniel and Leo get too close to him, he begins to threaten then plead for Daniel to stop. When they find Pickman, Daniel captures him and Leo takes over and attempts to get Pickman to remove the Bridge. Instead he begins saying a phrase to seriously hurt Leo. At the last second, Leo grabs a scalpel and stabs Pickman repeatedly, killing him.

Dr. Laura Whyte

High ranking medical practitioner within "The Pickman Project" and a friend of Danny. She often disagrees with Dr. Pickman's methods, including hiring mercenaries to kill Danny and Leo. She believes that Danny should be captured alive and cured of Leo with therapy sessions. At the end of the game she instructs Daniel to go into his mind and defeat Leo. If playing as Leo she appears in the ending explaining she removed the Pickman bridge and will summon the staff to continue the Project.

Judy

A fellow scientist that has connections with various clubs and brothels that recruit test subjects for the Project. Danny and Leo confront her for answers, but she is shot and killed before revealing any worthwhile information.

Michael

Danny's best friend and fellow scientist in the Project. He was murdered by Leo years ago because he informed the Project that Leo was taking over Danny's mind.

Gangs

• Asylum Staff: The orderlies at Dixmor Asylum. They are paid by the Project to keep the patients in line with brute force and constant druggings.

• The Watchdogs: The Project's "clean-up" crew. They are sent to kill anyone who knows too much about the Project and destroy any evidence that may reveal the Project's existence. They wear black suits with black fedora hats, and some wear surgical masks and sunglasses over their faces.

• The Pervs: Violent leather mask or animal mask-wearing sado-masochists who work in a sex club. They are hired by the Project to lure potential new test subjects to the "dungeon," a location beneath the club, promising more action. There, unlucky customers are tortured and killed in numerous ways.

• The Bloodhounds: Redneck bounty hunters who are hired by the Project to track down and kill Danny and Leo. They are very enthusiastic about their jobs. They are stereotypical far-right southerners and call Daniel a communist and tell him to "go back to France".

• The Red Kings: A local street gang. Danny and Leo are forced to trek through their turf at one point in the game.

• The Project: The Project's own private army. It is made up entirely of ex-Special Forces members. They use military jargon and are an elite and brutal fighting force.

• Police/SWAT: Regular law enforcement that primarily appear in the flashback levels. They lock down an entire neighborhood in search of Leo.

• The Legion: A group of Dixmor Asylum inmates in the same part of the building as Lamb in "Awakening". They are seen with large bandages covering certain parts of their body and have gimp-like masks on and other leather like contraptions on their bodies. They wear the same inmate uniform as Danny and Leo. They also mock Danny by saying things like he can fix his brain and that the bridges in their heads are broken and are going to explode.

Gameplay

Similar to the first Manhunt, players perform "executions" in three deadly shades - Hasty (white) Violent (yellow) and Gruesome (red)

• Firearms can now be used for executions.
• A new feature to executions in the game are the environmental kills, which can be used to eliminate an opponent. For example, you can push an enemy face-first into a live fuse box, use telephone cords to strangle an enemy or you can beat an enemy to death in a toilet.
• Loud ambient noises can now be exploited by the player to drown out their foes.
• When hiding in shadows, if an enemy comes close to the playable character, the player will have to mimic a combination of buttons or motions in order to regulate the character's breathing to ensure that he remains calm and undetected. In the Wii version, the player must hold the controller completely still.
• Climbing and crawling have been included to increase exploration and exploitation of new hiding places.
• The player can smash lights to create extra pockets of shadow to be used for hiding.
• Some lights are provided with a motion sensor that activates when detecting movements in front of it, forcing the player to investigate the dark corners before taking advantage of them.
• "Jump Executions" can be performed from a higher platform.

Controversy

Following Manhunt 2's announcement, attorney Jack Thompson promised to file suit to block the sale of Manhunt 2 and Rockstar's upcoming Grand Theft Auto IV. Take-Two petitioned U.S. District Court, SD FL to block Thompson's pending lawsuit. Thompson immediately filed a counter-suit, accusing Take-Two and various other prominent game media outlets of racketeering. The dispute was later settled: Thompson agreed to not sue or threaten to sue to block sale or distribution of any game published by Take-Two. In turn, Take-Two agreed to drop a prior suit accusing Thompson of contempt-of-court in a previous suit over Take-Two's Bully.

In a letter to Wendy's CEO Kerrii Anderson, Thompson demanded that the restaurant drop an upcoming promotion featuring children's toys designed after the Wii games Excite Truck, Wii Sports and Super Mario Galaxy because Manhunt 2 was scheduled for release on the console. An excerpt from Thompson's letter states: "Dave Thomas never would have tolerated the use of Wendy’s good name to promote Nintendo’s Wii, not with this game available on the Wii platform." Particular controversy was repeatedly heaped upon the Wii version of the game due to the console's highly immersive nature, with certain gaming sites that had a hands-on preview of the game reporting that Manhunt 2 used the Wii Remote in an interactive manner; for instance, in order to stab someone in the game the player would have to flick the Wii Remote forward, in much the same fashion one would do when actually stabbing with a knife.

Certification difficulties

United Kingdom

The BBFC refused to certify Manhunt 2, meaning that it would be illegal to sell the game in the United Kingdom in its current state.

On 1 August 2007, Rockstar confirmed that they had filed an appeal with the Video Appeals Committee (VAC) in the UK to contest the BBFC decision.

A petition was submitted to the British Prime Minister's Office, calling for the game to be released with an 18 rating. It received 3,006 signatures. The request was rejected; Her Majesty's Government supported the BBFC's procedure, and refused to get involved in their appeals process.

On October 8 2007, the modified version was rejected by the BBFC.

On December 10 2007, Rockstar won the appeal, meaning that the game could then go on sale unless the BBFC took further action to contest the case.

On December 17 2007, the BBFC applied for Judicial Review concerning the VAC ruling. The case was heard by the High Court in January 2008, and the ruling that the BBFC should grant a certificate to the game (which would allow it to be sold) was stayed until a verdict was reached.

On January 25 2008, the High Court ruled that the game had to be sent back for verification after the BBFC's previously made argument about the approval for release being granted on a misinterpretation was confirmed and that VAC must now use new guidelines to evaluate the game.

On March 14, 2008 the Video Appeals Committee upheld an appeal by Rockstar games and advised the BBFC that they have no alternative but to issue an 18+ Certificate for the game, with Rockstar arguing successfully that there is no difference between the graphic violence in Manhunt 2 and that seen on other formats. The same day, the BBFC went ahead and issued the 18 certificate [3].

Rest of Europe

The Irish Film Censor's Office announced that the game would also not be available for sale in the Republic of Ireland. This is the first time a video game has been refused certification by the IFCO (although games do not normally require certification, if they do require it, they must receive a certificate to be released). A poll of 1000 people undertaken by the IFCO showed that 80% of respondents agreed with the ban.

Italian Communications Minister Paolo Gentiloni described Manhunt 2 as, "cruel and sadistic, with a squalid environment and a continuous, insistent encouragement to violence and murder."

Manhunt 2 would have been released uncut in Scandinavia and Portugal with an 18+ PEGI certificate if not for Take-Two's suspension.

It was also announced that Manhunt 2 can be released in uncut form in the Netherlands, despite a request by the Dutch parliament for the Ministry of Justice to intervene, as no legal mechanism is in place to ban its sale. This does not mean that the game will in fact see an unedited release in the Netherlands or any other territory with similarly open legal policies, however.

United States

In the United States the game initially received an Adults Only rating from the ESRB. AO is the most restrictive rating given by the ratings body; many American retailers will not carry AO rated titles and Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft have policies prohibiting third-party AO rated titles from appearing on their consoles.

In response to the BBFC and ESRB's decisions, Take-Two has said that they would stand by the game and release it.

On 24 August 2007 Rockstar announced that a reworked version of the game had received an M rating from the ESRB, and would be released on 31 October in the United States.

On 11 September 2007, IGN released a comparison between the Adults Only-rated version of Manhunt 2 and the censored, M-rated version on the Wii. Although most content has remained unchanged, a nasty murder sequence in which the player castrates an enemy with pliers had been removed, and major death strikes have had blur effects, hue filters and darkening applied to obscure the animation.

The post-stage scoring screen carried over from the original Manhunt was also removed. Players were graded on speed of stage completion and number of "Gruesome" level kills, but the scoring system was cut to avoid the appearance of rewarding murder.

Australia

In January 2008, major gaming website RockstarWatch.net, reported that the game was not submitted into the OFLC for classification.

Internet leak

In September 2007, an uncensored PAL PS2 copy of the game was leaked onto the internet, by an employee of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, who was later fired.

Uncensoring

A method that removed the game's censoring code of the M rated PSP and PS2 version thus restoring parts of the AO state was released by a group of PSP crackers. ESRB commented on this crack stating that it was not Rockstar's fault that this occurred and stuck with the M rating. No action has been taken to revise the game. Later, it was discovered the same method also works on the Wii version of the game.

Reception

Manhunt 2 was met with mixed reviews in comparison with the first game. The Wii version received an average score of 65% according to Metacritic, while the PS2 and PSP versions each received 67% and 70%, respectively.

• IGN gave the Wii version 7.7/10, saying "Manhunt 2 isn't the tour de force title that will grab your attention and keep you there like the first one did." also "The AI doesn't feel as good as the first game, the setting and environments don't feel as menacing, and the story is definitely weaker. That isn't to say that Manhunt 2 isn't a good game, because it is." The PS2 and PSP versions both received 7.5.
• North American publication Nintendo Power in issue 223 gave Manhunt 2 a total score of 7.5/10, stating that while the game does deliver for the most part, they (like most critics) were disappointed by the way external influences led Rockstar to change the game, and that the story, while interesting, is "highly predictable." They did, however, praise the game's audio and uses of the Wii controller.
• 1UP.com gave the game 4/10, stating "Really, the game warrants a 4 because it's technically playable and, despite its best efforts, probably won't plunge the industry into a period of navel-gazing and political sanction. Everything else about it is largely forgettable."
• Gamespot gave the Playstation 2 and Playstation Portable versions 7.5/10, saying "It's not as shocking as you'd expect, but Manhunt 2 still satisfies your primal instincts." The Wii version received a 7.0.
• Game Informer reviewed "Manhunt 2 is every bit as grim and brutal as the first... the writing, as is typical of Rockstar's games, is top-notch, and Daniel and the rest of the characters do come off the screen as very real and human. "It's a testament to this quality that I was really driven to see the tale out to its end." The magazine scored the game 7.75/10.
• GamesRadar reviewed "...if you're in the mood for something creepy and horrific that'll leave you feeling a little dirty, Manhunt 2's still-shocking murders and eerie, is-it-real-or-am-I-just-insane storyline won't disappoint."
• Uk import-centric site NTSC-uk reviewed "With the furore objectively moved aside, Manhunt 2 is left a game which has tremendous atmosphere but that unfortunately counts for nothing...especially given that it is little more than the original release dressed up in new clothes but with the violence toned down."
• Yahoo reviewed "There's simply never been a game quite as squeamishly immersive as this... it's even more terrifying for seeming like the most real thing in a game this year."

• X-Play gave it a 2/5, citing simply that "The only thing you need to know is that this...game...BLOWS!"

External links

Official sites

• Official Site
• Rockstar Games
• ProjectManhunt.com
• RockstarWatch.net
• BBC News - Manhunt Wins Battle For Releaswe