Kill streak.Reviewing Manhunt 2 was never going to be easy. Rockstar's landmark legal victory over the BBFC's decision to ban it will forever cement the game in our memories. To add further insult to injury, the world's least family-friendly franchise was licensed by Nintendo for release on the Wii, home of good clean wholesome family fun. The irony is enough to save the world's vegans from their inevitable anaemia.
Manhunt 2 is an entirely adult game. Rockstar have never pretended otherwise. Any game that has the tag line: "They took your life. Now it's time to take it back." could not be anything less.
The story follows Daniel Lamb and Leo Kasper, two victims of the mysterious Pickman Project. They escape from the brutal mental asylum and wreak bloody revenge on the Project in order for Daniel to get his memory back. The path could not be darker. The game takes its inspiration from the new breed of gory slasher flicks like Saw and Hostel and it does so unashamedly.
The beginning of the game rings bells instantly as your first task is to escape the mental asylum where you are imprisoned. This whole sequence is very reminiscent of The Suffering. Not that this is a bad thing though. There are odd camera angles and screams galore. The difference between this and Midway's excellent psycho thriller is that the violence is entirely directed towards your fellow man. This is main reason behind the BBFC's decision to ban Manhunt 2 in the first place.
After the initial similarities to The Suffering there is a brief journey through a club inspired heavily by Eli Roth's, Hostel. Manhunt 2 then moves off on its own tangent to explore the murkiest corners of humanity encouraging you to murder people in more gruesomely inventive ways.
Manhunt 2 actually plays really well on the Wii. The motion-sensitive controls add an extra dimension and move the game away from, what would be in the PSP and PS2 versions, an endless stream of increasingly frustrating quick time events. Rockstar Toronto has actually managed to make the combat work well on the Wii. Melee combat is conducted in a similar fashion to boxing on Wii Sports with the Nunchuck swinging a left handed jab whilst the Wiimote swings the right hand or whatever weapon you have equipped. It is simple and effective and the Wiimote's speaker churns out a meaty thwack every time your swings connect with an opponent.
The real joy comes with the finishing moves. When you sneak up behind an unsuspecting enemy you can hold down the A button to carry out an execution. On the PSP and PS2 this engages a bog-standard QTE but on the Wii it invites you to swing, stab and jerk the Wiimote and Nunchuck making it really feel like you are beating a large man to death with the lid from a toilet cistern. There are a variety of different kills available to you as well depending on your selected weapon and the environment.
Manhunt 2 does look and feel very oppressive. It may not be as gloomy as Condemned but Rockstar Toronto has squeezed every drop of performance out of the GTA III engine. Rockstar is also now an expert at getting the best performance out of whatever hardware it has at its disposal and Manhunt 2 is definitely one of the better-looking titles that has been released for the Wii this year.
Despite the extremely graphic nature of the execution sequences they are so distorted and disorienting that it is often difficult to see exactly what is going on. Some may complain about this but it actually adds to realism of the situation. Several quick flashes and your opponent is lying, crumpled, in a pool of their own blood and you almost wonder if it was really you that killed him. It is a nice touch and it really adds to the tension.
Manhunt 2 does have its limitations however. The control system isn't always as sensitive as you'd like it to be and it is not uncommon to find enemies turning around and beating you to a bloody pulp when the Wiimote doesn't register your execution stabs. This can get a touch frustrating but not so much that you will want to throw the controller through the TV screen.
Another limitation is that the storyline is not entirely original. There are plenty of moments where you can see what is coming and the lack of surprise does take the shine off the 'thriller' element of the game.
That said, Manhunt 2 is a title that is perfectly suited to play on the Wii. The motion controls bring the game to life in a way that puts traditional QTEs to shame. Where the PS2 and PSP versions might feel stale and slightly underwhelming, especially given the hype surrounding the game, the Wii version really shines as a pillar of dubious virtue.
The Wii version of Manhunt 2 is definitely a must-have for those of you who crave something a little more grown-up. On a platform that is sorely lacking in mature titles Manhunt 2 shows developers that depraved violence can have a home on the Wii. Just don't let the kids near it.
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peej - on 07/11/2008 at 11:24 wrote:
Good intelligently written review. PSP version was alright and I thought that despite all the press hype about the levels of violence in the title, seeing some of the stuff you can do in Gears of War 2 makes me think that no matter what Rockstar do (unless it's a table tennis game) they're going to end up getting a mauling by the press.
I rather liked the storyline in this as it felt like it fleshed the characters out a bit more than in the original game.
Now it's out though it's amazing how little backlash there seems to be.
NewYork - on 07/11/2008 at 16:50 wrote:
Wow, I'm excited about this game, again.