Manhunt
SO not a game for children, but one hell of a hoot for us grown-ups.
Published: December 8, 2003
Manhunt is a curious game, and I say this only because I was never really able to pinpoint exactly what kind of message the game was trying to deliver. Was it a study in the way violence has overtaken our culture (especially here in America)? Was it a digital diatribe, warning of the coming maelstrom should we ever let our fascination with the baser, carnal instincts of humanity fuse themselves with this voyeuristic fascination we have with current "reality" TV? Are the developers just sick, sick people? The mere fact that the game positions itself so perfectly on that line between fun game (and it is most certainly fun) and social statement says something about Rockstar North's ability to deliver a fun game that says even more with less than their GTA games.
No matter what the reasoning, it should be fairly obvious that even exploration of such subjects should fling up a No Kids Allowed sign. Let me be perfectly clear on this. Under NO circumstances should Manhunt be considered appropriate for kids. In fact, if you are a kid, this review probably isn't going to be a good read either. The violence, be it a metaphor for something larger or just simply shock value, is delivered with such acidic, visceral, unapologetic aplomb that there can be making no mistake that this is a game for adults, meant to spark adult conversation about adult topics that kids simply shouldn't be a part of. Once they grow up, however, and used in the proper light, Manhunt could be a very interesting way to show what happens when true anarchy exists, when the consequences of murder are tossed away and the instinct to survive takes over.
Manhunt starts out, like all good games, rather simply. You play the role of James Earl Cash, a truly bad guy who is to be executed for crimes truly fitting for someone on death row. To the world, Cash dies in a public execution, but in actuality, he is simply drugged and tossed into the middle of Carcer City, an enclave of sorts where there are no rules, and the only point of the unfortunate game Cash finds himself in is to stay alive. Hundreds, if not thousands, of cameras are scattered around the makeshift city, magnetically lapping up the events that unfold. Manning these cameras is the mysterious Director, known to those that buy the snuff films he crafts from the footage in Carcer City as Starkweather (and played absolutely perfectly by Brian Cox, who most will know from Super Troopers or more recently X2).
The Director communicates directly to Cash through an earpiece, chiding or congratulating him depending on how things are going. If you own a headset like the one sold with the original SOCOM or one of the fancier versions kicked out by Logitech, this is where the real sense of immersion kicks in, since all the radio messages sent to Cash will play in your ear, and the noises you make in the game with the mic can be heard by the enemies in the game. Because of this, you'll often find yourself hiding in the shadows, trying desperately to not alert the thug mere inches from your face peering into the darkness with your too-heavy breathing.
This is the core of Manhunt: fear. The concept and goal of the game is simple: survive being dumped repeatedly into the heart of gang territory throughout the dilapidated, scummy ruins of Carcer City. Each section of the city has its own specialized gangs, each possessing some form of depraved bloodlust (Skinz are racist bigots, ex-military Wardogs, and just plain psychos the Smileys).
Your only defense against all of these gangs is the shadows and the weapons you loot from the corpses of the enemies you kill; so long as an enemy doesn't see you run into the shadows or bumps into you by accident, you're invisible. When the time does come, and the tables are turned, it's your job to take the would-be attacker out. When Cash approaches an enemy with his back turned, he'll raise his arm indicating a killing stance. By simply holding a button, you can make Cash's attack more brutal, and the more brutal the kills throughout a level, the more goodies you can unlock in the Secrets menu like concept art and sketches.
There's more to the story, of course than mindless killing (though a good 90% of the game experience is indeed hunting or being hunted), but you'll have to stay alive long enough to find out exactly why you're in Carcer City, who The Director is, and what kind of help - if any - you have while trapped. Along the way, the gameplay slowly morphs from simple bludgeoning and cutting instruments to full firearms and rifles, then incorporates both styles towards the end of the game. As more progress is made through the city, cutscenes interspersed throughout the narrative slowly fill in pieces of the puzzle. It's an ingenious way to keep the same patterned gameplay slightly tweaked, while a storyline slowly plays out.
Of course, the gameplay is patterned, and all the atmosphere, chilling sneers in your ear and fancy, moody graphics can't really hide that. Some will tire early on of the excessive violence, not to mention the fact that because Manhunt is so difficult, you'll often retry (and subsequently rekill) many of the same levels and enemies over and over again. Enemies have a set pattern they walk, but distracting them by making noise will set them on an entirely different (and seemingly free-form) path to search you out. While the AI isn't perfect, and is at times even buggy (in a couple instances, enemies changed awareness from full-on chase to completely unaware of Cash's presence), the temptation of finding out more of what's going on does tend to keep things entertaining enough for "just one more try."
If this game of trial and error (and early on there's plenty of room for the latter, though as you progress through the game, strategic kills become increasingly more important) seems like it would grate, well, you're right, it does to an extent. The difference between Manhunt's difficulty and, say, Stuntman is that for the most part when things go wrong, it's because you screwed up. There are some odd AI glitches here and there, but by and large the effect of someone chasing you down to kill you was caused by an errant bump into something you shouldn't have. The only real exceptions come towards the end of the game where things seem to break down into some hair-pullingly hard shootouts, which give the game a feeling of cheap difficulty, especially when things start to really roll along with steam once ranged weapons are encouraged alongside the more direct approach.
While they're slowly moving farther and farther away from the entire RenderWare suite, Rockstar North's games still have that GTAIII feel. Though Cash is doubtlessly higher-poly than the nameless anti-hero of their breakaway hit, Manhunt has a touch of that same character design and even the city itself is slightly reminiscent of the more run-down parts of Liberty City. Even animations and sound effects (such as the one made when picking up some painkillers, the game's form of health) seem borrowed from the GTA titles, though in the case of the former, there's far more detail and smoothness.
Regardless of similarities, Manhunt is easily the developer's most polished title. From Cash's shaved head and five o'clock shadow to the bloodied scribblings of "please stop me" on the Smileys' happy-faced masks, the texture work and character designs are fantastic. Carcer City's cancerous, rotten visage is played to fantastic grittiness thanks to a combination of varied texture work and a slick static effect on the video cameras. The rolling lines of interference during the up-close killing sequences you'll unleash over and over again add a wonderfully nuanced touch to the whole presentation.
If at all possible, Manhunt should be played with a) a USB headset and b) a really nice surround sound system. While it's not true 5.1 (not even DTS here, kids, sorry), the Dolby Digital Pro Logic II support is well implemented, and there really is nothing quite like hearing the game all around you - even if it's faked. It's nearly impossible to convey what little yet utterly effective immersion the headset really adds, but suffice it to say it should be standard equipment.
The effects work is dead on, offering sound work as disgusting as it is presumably accurate (I'm not quite sure what a metal bat to the skull sounds like, but I'll assume it's something relatively close to what's in-game), while the music is perfectly attuned to what's happening. While prowling the different levels, the music is nearly silent, though as soon as an enemy is alerted, it kicks into gear, adding in more intense chords and a light percussive backbone. Get actually spotted, and a dirty, grungy grind of music and beats kicks in, heightening the whole fight-or-flight response that the game seems so good at inducing.
With its mixture of elements from The Running Man to Metal Gear Solid to little touches of Texas Chainsaw Massacre and just about every bad dream you've had where you're getting chased, Manhunt is expertly designed to either scare the shit out of you, or get your blood pumping till you see red. It's an extremely stealth-heavy offering with enough violence to give 20 misinformed hypocritical politicians instant heart attacks, and it will doubtlessly cause some kind of controversy a good three or four years from now when those in power finally get a whiff of what gamers have already since played and passed on years before.
Let me say this again: Manhunt is NOT for children, or even teenagers. It is a game made by adults for adults, dealing with very adult matters. The themes and areas it explores are not meant to be absorbed by minds not yet ready for something so raw. In fact, it's safe to assume that there will be plenty of adults that are unable to play the game. If nothing else, take from this review that Manhunt is a fun game that's utterly and completely bone-chilling in some parts. If you're old enough, this is one hunt worth going on.
No matter what the reasoning, it should be fairly obvious that even exploration of such subjects should fling up a No Kids Allowed sign. Let me be perfectly clear on this. Under NO circumstances should Manhunt be considered appropriate for kids. In fact, if you are a kid, this review probably isn't going to be a good read either. The violence, be it a metaphor for something larger or just simply shock value, is delivered with such acidic, visceral, unapologetic aplomb that there can be making no mistake that this is a game for adults, meant to spark adult conversation about adult topics that kids simply shouldn't be a part of. Once they grow up, however, and used in the proper light, Manhunt could be a very interesting way to show what happens when true anarchy exists, when the consequences of murder are tossed away and the instinct to survive takes over.
Manhunt starts out, like all good games, rather simply. You play the role of James Earl Cash, a truly bad guy who is to be executed for crimes truly fitting for someone on death row. To the world, Cash dies in a public execution, but in actuality, he is simply drugged and tossed into the middle of Carcer City, an enclave of sorts where there are no rules, and the only point of the unfortunate game Cash finds himself in is to stay alive. Hundreds, if not thousands, of cameras are scattered around the makeshift city, magnetically lapping up the events that unfold. Manning these cameras is the mysterious Director, known to those that buy the snuff films he crafts from the footage in Carcer City as Starkweather (and played absolutely perfectly by Brian Cox, who most will know from Super Troopers or more recently X2).
The Director communicates directly to Cash through an earpiece, chiding or congratulating him depending on how things are going. If you own a headset like the one sold with the original SOCOM or one of the fancier versions kicked out by Logitech, this is where the real sense of immersion kicks in, since all the radio messages sent to Cash will play in your ear, and the noises you make in the game with the mic can be heard by the enemies in the game. Because of this, you'll often find yourself hiding in the shadows, trying desperately to not alert the thug mere inches from your face peering into the darkness with your too-heavy breathing.
This is the core of Manhunt: fear. The concept and goal of the game is simple: survive being dumped repeatedly into the heart of gang territory throughout the dilapidated, scummy ruins of Carcer City. Each section of the city has its own specialized gangs, each possessing some form of depraved bloodlust (Skinz are racist bigots, ex-military Wardogs, and just plain psychos the Smileys).
Your only defense against all of these gangs is the shadows and the weapons you loot from the corpses of the enemies you kill; so long as an enemy doesn't see you run into the shadows or bumps into you by accident, you're invisible. When the time does come, and the tables are turned, it's your job to take the would-be attacker out. When Cash approaches an enemy with his back turned, he'll raise his arm indicating a killing stance. By simply holding a button, you can make Cash's attack more brutal, and the more brutal the kills throughout a level, the more goodies you can unlock in the Secrets menu like concept art and sketches.
There's more to the story, of course than mindless killing (though a good 90% of the game experience is indeed hunting or being hunted), but you'll have to stay alive long enough to find out exactly why you're in Carcer City, who The Director is, and what kind of help - if any - you have while trapped. Along the way, the gameplay slowly morphs from simple bludgeoning and cutting instruments to full firearms and rifles, then incorporates both styles towards the end of the game. As more progress is made through the city, cutscenes interspersed throughout the narrative slowly fill in pieces of the puzzle. It's an ingenious way to keep the same patterned gameplay slightly tweaked, while a storyline slowly plays out.
Of course, the gameplay is patterned, and all the atmosphere, chilling sneers in your ear and fancy, moody graphics can't really hide that. Some will tire early on of the excessive violence, not to mention the fact that because Manhunt is so difficult, you'll often retry (and subsequently rekill) many of the same levels and enemies over and over again. Enemies have a set pattern they walk, but distracting them by making noise will set them on an entirely different (and seemingly free-form) path to search you out. While the AI isn't perfect, and is at times even buggy (in a couple instances, enemies changed awareness from full-on chase to completely unaware of Cash's presence), the temptation of finding out more of what's going on does tend to keep things entertaining enough for "just one more try."
If this game of trial and error (and early on there's plenty of room for the latter, though as you progress through the game, strategic kills become increasingly more important) seems like it would grate, well, you're right, it does to an extent. The difference between Manhunt's difficulty and, say, Stuntman is that for the most part when things go wrong, it's because you screwed up. There are some odd AI glitches here and there, but by and large the effect of someone chasing you down to kill you was caused by an errant bump into something you shouldn't have. The only real exceptions come towards the end of the game where things seem to break down into some hair-pullingly hard shootouts, which give the game a feeling of cheap difficulty, especially when things start to really roll along with steam once ranged weapons are encouraged alongside the more direct approach.
While they're slowly moving farther and farther away from the entire RenderWare suite, Rockstar North's games still have that GTAIII feel. Though Cash is doubtlessly higher-poly than the nameless anti-hero of their breakaway hit, Manhunt has a touch of that same character design and even the city itself is slightly reminiscent of the more run-down parts of Liberty City. Even animations and sound effects (such as the one made when picking up some painkillers, the game's form of health) seem borrowed from the GTA titles, though in the case of the former, there's far more detail and smoothness.
Regardless of similarities, Manhunt is easily the developer's most polished title. From Cash's shaved head and five o'clock shadow to the bloodied scribblings of "please stop me" on the Smileys' happy-faced masks, the texture work and character designs are fantastic. Carcer City's cancerous, rotten visage is played to fantastic grittiness thanks to a combination of varied texture work and a slick static effect on the video cameras. The rolling lines of interference during the up-close killing sequences you'll unleash over and over again add a wonderfully nuanced touch to the whole presentation.
If at all possible, Manhunt should be played with a) a USB headset and b) a really nice surround sound system. While it's not true 5.1 (not even DTS here, kids, sorry), the Dolby Digital Pro Logic II support is well implemented, and there really is nothing quite like hearing the game all around you - even if it's faked. It's nearly impossible to convey what little yet utterly effective immersion the headset really adds, but suffice it to say it should be standard equipment.
The effects work is dead on, offering sound work as disgusting as it is presumably accurate (I'm not quite sure what a metal bat to the skull sounds like, but I'll assume it's something relatively close to what's in-game), while the music is perfectly attuned to what's happening. While prowling the different levels, the music is nearly silent, though as soon as an enemy is alerted, it kicks into gear, adding in more intense chords and a light percussive backbone. Get actually spotted, and a dirty, grungy grind of music and beats kicks in, heightening the whole fight-or-flight response that the game seems so good at inducing.
With its mixture of elements from The Running Man to Metal Gear Solid to little touches of Texas Chainsaw Massacre and just about every bad dream you've had where you're getting chased, Manhunt is expertly designed to either scare the shit out of you, or get your blood pumping till you see red. It's an extremely stealth-heavy offering with enough violence to give 20 misinformed hypocritical politicians instant heart attacks, and it will doubtlessly cause some kind of controversy a good three or four years from now when those in power finally get a whiff of what gamers have already since played and passed on years before.
Let me say this again: Manhunt is NOT for children, or even teenagers. It is a game made by adults for adults, dealing with very adult matters. The themes and areas it explores are not meant to be absorbed by minds not yet ready for something so raw. In fact, it's safe to assume that there will be plenty of adults that are unable to play the game. If nothing else, take from this review that Manhunt is a fun game that's utterly and completely bone-chilling in some parts. If you're old enough, this is one hunt worth going on.
