In Manhunt, you take control of James Earl Cash. Cash has been on death row for many years, for presumably committing some rather nasty crimes. However, the supposed lethal injection wasn't lethal at all - more like a rather strong sedative. Cash wakes up to the voice of 'the director', who informs Cash that his only method of escape is to do what he says. Unfortunately for Cash, the director is in the business of creating snuff films - films involving gruesome deaths - and Cash is his newest star. To escape, Cash must survive being hunted by several gangs, and, where possible, brutally slaughter them.
Easy... Easy... Easy... *CLANG* ...AHHHH ****!
Manhunt is, first and foremost, a stealth 'em up. If you're a fan of the Metal Gear Solid series, then you should definitely check this game out. The stealthiness of the game is actually very good, requiring you to tip toe around and sneak up on enemies, in order to execute them. Pressing the sprint button means that you make a whole lot of noise, and the enemies come thick and fast. This means that the game is fairly slow paced to begin with, so gamers after some quick shooting fun would best be looking elsewhere. If you got fed up with sneaking in Metal Gear Solid quickly, it would also be advised to look elsewhere. This is a game of patience - running through levels, or, as the game calls them, scenes, attempting to get to the objective does NOT work, no matter how hard you may try.
For a stealth game, the lack of crawling, or even a crouch button, is rather odd. They aren't really required at any stage in the game, but their omission is a strange one. Thankfully, Cash is still able to back his way along walls, peak around corners and hide in the shadows, which are indicated by the context sensitive icon turning blue.
Rockstar have taken a leaf out of Konami's book and have included a radar. The radar indicates the noise you're making via red circles that vary in intensity, and the hunters that may be after you, in either patrol mode (yellow) or attack mode (red), after they have sighted you. However, there is a glaring fault. For some reason, some hunters tend to fade in and out on the radar. This is a grand pain in the ass. You are left to guess where the hunters have gone - or, some don't even show up, blindsiding you and sending you back to the save point in a hurry. Aside from this hassle, it does its job effectively.
As is the nature of stealth games, a lot of trial and error is required. However unavoidable, it is still one of the games biggest downfalls, causing large amounts of irritation and frustration at playing the same section of game through multiple times.
On top of stealthy action, Manhunt also has a lot of shooting action, predominately in the second half of the game. Pressing L1 will lock onto the nearest target, and twisting the analogue stick will manual aim. The shooting is generally good considering the fact it's a third person game, as the camera never really seems to get in the way. Weapons include a nail gun, various pistols, a shot gun and so on.
What isn't so good is the hand to hand, or weapon to hand, combat system. In fact, it's pure garbage. Square delivers a hard punch or weapon shot, and X delivers a weak punch or weapon shot. This isn't bad in itself - but the fact that it is clunky and difficult to use is. After the first few levels, it becomes almost impossible to defeat an enemy in one on one combat. For some reason they can take numerous crowbar or baseball bat blows to the head in this mode, where as one will do it when you execute them. This is even more annoying when the last enemy in the stage spots you right before the exit. You think to yourself "sure, I can take this one guy." You quickly learn otherwise. Grr. The controls clunkiness is probably there to encourage the stealth gameplay, but having to use it on every single enemy is an utter annoyance.
The hunters don't particularly sport high intelligence levels - you can often lose them by stepping into the shadows, and they won't be able to see you, despite being a metre away. All generally behave exactly the same, walking around on their patrols, bitching about Cash. Occasionally one will run away after you smack him around a bit, but that's a rarity. Whether their stupidity is good or bad thing is difficult - as it stands, if they were much smarter, the game would be impossibly tough. Although, this could easily be leveled out by a more intuitive fighting system.
One fatal flaw in the game is the sheer amount of repetition in the levels. Nothing really changes for the first half of the game, then guns are thrown at you for the second half, with stealth no longer playing much of a role. The game could have seriously benefited from alternating between stealth and shooting sections, as huge amounts of either become rather boring. A few puzzles wouldn't have gone astray, either.
FINISH HIM!
The gore in Manhunt comes predominately from the execution sequences, in which the game switches to a cut scene to show the execution in its grainy glory. Executions occur when you sneak up behind an opponent, and hit the square button. There are three levels on execution, the violent the better. The highest level takes considerably longer to 'charge up' than the first two levels, so a higher risk of being discovered is involved. However, the more brutal kills, the better your effort will be ranked. These sequences are full on, and directly show heads being removed, or smashed into tiny pieces. Things used to execute people include plastic bags for some suffocating fun, machetes for slicing up the opposition, glass shards for causing a whole lot of damage to the eyes, and much more.
Dark. Yet also red.
Considering its locations, Manhunt is quite a nice game too look at. The environments add to the thick, dark atmosphere of the game, really making you feel like you're in hell. The characters in the game are all well constructed, particularly Cash. In a shocking event, the weapons Cash are carrying are actually visible on his back or belt! Amazing! The only real problem with the graphics is the repetition and pure darkness that constantly surrounds the game, so there is a lack of too many bright colours, despite the executions trying to make up for this with lots and lots of red. This is to be expected with the nature of the game though, but it's unfortunate more excuses for a colour that isn't black or grey weren't found.
Ba-bump... Ba-bump...
The aural aspect of Manhunt is superb, firmly polishing off the dark atmosphere that the game is drenched in. Your emotions will actually move with the score, as it tends to pick up when you are spotted. In an evil move, it sometimes even pretends to kick into swing, causing your heart to race, before backing off again. In a neat effect, as the camera comes closer to Cash, you can hear his heartbeat race.
The voice acting by the cast is also of high quality. The director is convincing in his sinister role, but most impressive is the sheer amount of dialog that the hunters are astounding. Some, not too brightly, scream their heads off while searching you out. Others complain about being Cash being a coward, before being plugged in the back of the head with a crowbar. They also seem quite stupid - as you probably would be reluctant to get into a situation like this by choice - which could be seen as justification for the AI.
The PS2 headset is also compatible with this game. And whilst this reviewer didn't test it, it is confirmed to have the directors comments in the ear - and if you make too much noise and mutter something in surprise, the hunters will hear you. Rather cool.
And the hunt goes on
Manhunt is by no means an easy game, thanks to the impossibility of fighting the hunters, the cheap shoot outs of the second half of the game and the increasingly rarer save points as the game progresses. These are all cheap moves into extending the experience, which is a shame, as most of the game is genuinely absorbing. It would be even more absorbing if the shooting and stealth sections were broken up, as sitting through large amounts of either becomes tedious. As it stands though, the game is quite long at twenty hours the first time through on fetish. Hardcore mode is also available, but whether you will want to play the game through again is debatable. The rankings system mentioned earlier also helps here, rating your effort out of five stars depending on your brutality and speed. A chapter select is also a good option, allowing you to skip back to your favourite scenes once they've been completed.
Being hunted has never been so much fun
Whilst Manhunt has its fair share of problems, there is no doubt that underneath it all is one hell of a good game. It looks and sounds fantastic, can be great fun to play and will last a decent amount of time, as the game requires a lot of patience due to its predominately a slow paced nature. It's just a shame that the irritating repetition and trial and error bring the game down. If you're a die hard stealth 'em up fan though, this should be on top of your Christmas list. For everyone else, give it a rental and see what you think.
Would get the heart racing, though.
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