Manhunt (video game)
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Manhunt
Developer(s)	Rockstar North
Publisher(s)	Rockstar Games
Series	Manhunt
Engine	RenderWare
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2, Xbox, Windows
Release date(s)	November 18, 2003 (PS2) April 20, 2004 (Xbox & PC) Download (Steam): January 4, 2008
Genre(s)	Action, Psychological horror, Stealth
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	BBFC: 18 ESRB: M OFLC: MA15+ OFLC: RC (re-rating) OFLC (NZ): Banned USK (GER): Banned
Input methods	Gamepad; optional headset

Manhunt is a third-person video game released by Rockstar Games in November 2003. Although it was generally well-received by critics^[1][2], Manhunt created a controversy due to the graphic violence the player is encouraged to engage in. This resulted in the game being banned in several countries and implicated by media in a UK murder.^[3] In October 2007, its sequel, Manhunt 2 was also released amidst controversy. As of March 26, 2008, the Manhunt franchise has sold 1.7 million copies according to Take-Two Interactive.^[4]

Gameplay

One of Manhunt's unique executions: suffocation by plastic bag.

Manhunt is a third-person stealth action game. The game consists of twenty levels, and four bonus levels that can be unlocked;^[5] the levels are referred to as "Scenes". Players survive the Scenes by dispatching enemy gangs and "Hunters", occasionally with firearms but primarily by stealthily executing them in bloody over-the-top ways.^[6]

The rating at the end of each level is largely affected by the gruesomeness of the killings and the speed of completion. Executions are preferred in order to gain a higher score, thus encouraging players to play as viscerally as possible.^[6] The game's locales are full of 'dark spots' and shadows where the player can hide while being chased by the Hunters; hiding in these dark areas make the player literally invisible.^[7]

Over the course of the game, the player uses a wide variety of weapons, ranging from plastic bags, baseball bats, crowbars and all sorts of bladed items to firearms later on in the game. If the player is running out of health, painkillers can be found which replenish health.^[7] The player can strike walls or throw items such as bottles, cans, bricks and severed heads to make noise to distract Hunters.^[6]

Manhunt also makes use of the Playstation 2's optional USB Microphone and the Xbox Live microphone feature on the Xbox version of the game. When such a device is connected, the player can use the sound of his or her own voice to distract in-game enemies. This in turn adds a new twist to the stealth elements, as the player has to refrain from noises such as talking or coughing, at the risk of creating in-game noise.^[6]

Synopsis

See also: List of characters in Manhunt

Set in dilapidated Carcer City, the story opens with a female journalist reporting on the convict James Earl Cash, a criminal on death row who has supposedly been executed by lethal injection. Cash is awoken to the voice of a person coming from an earpiece, revealing that Cash was only sedated. Cash puts on the earpiece and the person, who refers to himself as "the Director", promises Cash his freedom before the night is over, but only if Cash follows the Director's instructions. Released in a dingy neighborhood, Cash is directed to slaughter his way through the streets, populated by a gang calling themselves "The Hoods" while the Director, watching through security cameras scattered throughout the city, repeatedly mentions the need to please the audiences, revealing his occupation as a snuff film director. However, despite the Director's promise of freedom, Cash is beaten and thrown into the back of a van by a group of mercenaries known as Cerberus.

After his battle against the Hoods, he is also hunted by other violent gangs in various locations across the city. The gangs are organized by Ramirez, an ex-soldier and leader of the Wardogs, a gang of army veterans and experienced hunters. First, Cash is pitted against a gang of white supremacists known as "The Skinz" in a scrap yard. After that, he is put up against Ramirez's Wardogs in an empty abandoned zoo where Cash has to save kidnapped members of his own family. Following the zoo encounter, Cash has to fight an occult group called "The Innocentz" in a shopping centre and churchyard where he finds out in a video that his family members were killed. After one final face-off against the Innocentz in a factory, Cash then faces a gang of psychotics, known as "The Smileys", who have taken over a mental asylum. Here, Cash survives the ending to the snuff film as planned by the Director. Consequently, the remaining Wardogs and Ramirez are hired to kill Cash. However, Ramirez and his gang are killed by Cash and Cash turns on the Director.

The Carcer City Police Department (CCPD), are working for the Director; the CCPD are ordered by the Director to re-capture or kill Cash. However, the journalist seen at the game's beginning encounters Cash and imparts that she is on a mission to expose the Director's snuff film industry and CCPD corruption, and that Cash is vital for this important task; the journalist also reveals the Director's name is Starkweather. Protecting her from the police, Cash manages to take the journalist safely to her apartment, and from there goes on to deal with Starkweather personally. He leaves the journalist's apartment through the window and proceeds through to the subway. There, he finds that the SWAT Team has been dispatched there. Evading them, he moves through the train yard, but Cerberus recaptures Cash. Back at Starkweather's mansion, Cerberus is ordered to kill him. However, Piggsy, an insane, chainsaw-wielding retarded man, who wears a pig's head as a mask and was kept chained up in Starkweather's attic, has broken free and slaughters the investigating Cerberus. This allows Cash to work his way through the garden and mansion, killing the Cerberus leader along the way. Cash finally reaches the upper levels of the mansion, where he and Piggsy stalk one another. Cash triumphs after luring Piggsy onto a trapdoor that collapses, and as Piggsy tries to hold on, Cash chainsaws Piggsy's hands off, sending Piggsy falling to his death. After hacking his way through the last of the Cerberus, Cash finally confronts Starkweather and despite Starkweather's pleas, brutally disembowels and butchers him with the chainsaw. Soon, the press turns up at the mansion with the journalist exposing Starkweather's snuff ring and the police's involvement in Starkweather's operations. Cash is nowhere to be found.

Reception

Upon its release, Manhunt received generally favorable reviews. Review aggregate sites Game Rankings and Metacritic gave the game averages of 77% and 76% respectively.^[1][10]

The game's dark and highly violent nature and technical aptitude were singled out by critics. Gamespot concluded that "Like it or not, the game pushes the envelope of video game violence and shows you countless scenes of wholly uncensored, heavily stylized carnage."^[7] Game Informer praised the game's audacity and competent technical capabilities, stating that "It’s a frightening premise that places gamers in a psychological impasse. The crimes that you commit are unspeakable, yet the gameplay that leads to these horrendous acts is so polished and fierce that it’s thrilling."^[8] IGN complimented the game's overall challenge, calling it a "solid, deep experience for seasoned gamers pining for some hardcore, challenging games."^[5]

Certain gameplay elements, such as the game's shooting mechanics, were called "frustrating" by Eurogamer, where "more than half the time the targeting reticule refuses to acknowledge an oncoming enemy until they're virtually in front of you". Gamespot concurred, further noting that the "AI is much worse in the more action-oriented levels". 1UP.com was less positive overall, asserting that it quickly became "tired of its violence ... AI quirks ... (and) repetitive level design."^[9]

Controversy

Aside from the sensitive subject matter of Manhunt, the controversy surrounding the game stems from the extremely graphic manner in which the player executes enemies, who are known as Hunters in the game. The game has three 'levels' of executions, and the executions get bloodier as the levels of execution progress. Level 1 executions are quick and the least bloody of the three, while Level 2 executions are considerably more gory, and level 3 kills are over-the-top fatalities. An example of a Level 1 execution would be suffocating a Hunter to death with a plastic bag. A Level 2 execution might feature severing a Hunter's testicles by pulling a sickle between his legs. A Level 3 execution can involve stabbing a Hunter in the back with a crowbar, following it up by jamming it into the Hunter's head, wiggling it in the skull, and finally prying the head off from the spine. The game encourages players to execute enemies as brutally as possible, and awards players who do so with higher scores.^[9][11][12]

The murder of Stefan Pakeerah

In the UK, the game was linked to the murder of Stefan Pakeerah, 14, by his friend Warren Leblanc, 17, on the 27 February 2004. Giselle Pakeerah, the victim's mother, claimed^[13] that Leblanc had been 'obsessed' with the game after he pleaded guilty in court. During the subsequent media exposure, the game was removed from sale by some vendors, such as the UK and international branches of GAME and Dixons, leading to "significantly increased" demand^[14] both from retailers and on Internet auction sites. The police denied any such link between the game and the murder, citing drug-related robbery as the motive. The presiding judge also placed sole responsibility with Leblanc in his summing up after sentencing him to life. It was later discovered that Leblanc didn't actually own the game, but Pakeerah did. It was also found out that Leblanc had previously seen a Chucky film at a theater and it went unnoticed that the murder was identical to one seen in the film; when this became known, Manhunt returned to store shelves.

Legal status

• New Zealand: The game was declared objectionable on December 11, 2003.^[9][15] Possession is an offence.^[16]
• Canada: Following a meeting in Toronto on December 22, 2003 between Bill Hastings, the Chief Censor of New Zealand, and officials from the Ontario Ministry of Consumer and Business Services, Manhunt became the first computer game in Ontario to be classified as a film and was restricted to adults on February 3, 2004.
• Australia: It was refused classification (and effectively banned) on September 28, 2004 by the Classification Review Board after having earlier received a classification allowing it to be purchased by those aged 15 years or older.^[17]
• United Kingdom: The game received a BBFC 18 certificate, legally prohibiting its sale to anyone under that age.
• Germany: On 2004-07-19, the Amtsgericht Munich confiscated all versions of Manhunt for violation of § 131 StGB (representation of violence). The game, the court said, portrays the killing of humans as fun, and the more fun, the more violent the killing is. They also sensed a glorification of vigilantism, which they considered harmful per se.^[18]

However, apart from Ontario, Manhunt had little or no controversy elsewhere in North America. The British Columbia Film Classification Office reviewed the game after the controversy in Ontario and believed it to be appropriately rated Mature by the ESRB and comparable to an 18A film rather than an R rated one.^[19]

References to other Rockstar games

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (June 2008)

Rockstar, the developers of Manhunt, have included a number of references to their previous games in Manhunt:

• The setting of the game, Carcer City, is a neighboring city in Grand Theft Auto III.
• The Maibatsu Monstrosity, a motorcycle in Manhunt, was advertised in Grand Theft Auto III as a very fuel-inefficient SUV.
• Also mentioned on the radio in Grand Theft Auto III are police reports regarding Gary Schaeffer, the corrupt Police Chief who is found not guilty following the disappearances of key witnesses.
• The shop Ryton Aide, which appears in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, appears as an abandoned shop in Manhunt.
• "Sprunk", the fictional soft drink from the Grand Theft Auto series, is on the soda machines in Manhunt.
• Manhunt action figures can be seen in Zero's RC shop in San Fierro in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
• Shopping bags for 'The Gash' (a play on "The Gap"), a clothing shop in GTA games can be seen a few times in the game.
• A number of vehicles from the Grand Theft Auto series appear during scenes in Manhunt, including a burnt-out Stallion and images of a Virgo in Starkweather's mansion. The Stallion vehicle continues a prominent place in Rockstar North's work since Grand Theft Auto III's release (later with Virgo in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City); appearing in every Grand Theft Auto game since, as well as appearing in the "Shop Class" cutscene in Rockstar's Bully.
• In Grand Theft Auto III, a WCTR broadcast mentions "Corrupt Police Chief Gary Schaeffer".

References

External links

• Official Manhunt website
• Manhunt at MobyGames