Reviewed: February 2, 2004
Reviewed by: Mark Smith

Publisher
Rockstar Games

Developer
Rockstar North

Released: November 19, 2003
Genre: Action
Players: 1
ESRB: Mature

8
8
9
7
8.7

Supported Features:

With games like Grand Theft Auto and the less popular State of Emergency paving the way for their chaotic, crime-inspired games, Manhunt comes to us with a fairly original and horribly brutal theme.

You play James Earl Cash, sentenced to death by lethal injection, but your execution is a fraud and instead, you are forced to participate in a twisted reality TV show where you go up against dozens of gang members in a “kill or be killed” contest of stealth, wits, and pure brutality. Yes, Manhunt is violent, sick, twisted, and perhaps the most socially unacceptable game of all time, but that’s no reason not to love it. You are encouraged to dispatch your victims in the most brutal fashion available and reprimanded when you fail to create enough visceral thrills for the unseen audience.

Like any good director, you are given verbal instructions on what do to, who to kill, and how to do it in the most violent method available. Weapons vary from clubs, shards of glass, a plastic bag, and even conventional firearms much later in the game, but no matter what your pleasure, stealth is the only way to play this game. Sneaking up on a target makes for a somewhat easy kill and the longer you have to prep the attack the more violent the death.

The way the stealth kill system works is this. You sneak up on an unsuspecting target and hold down the attack button. Depending on what weapon you have in your hand will determine the type of kill and how long you hold down the attack button dictates the brutality of the kill. There are three types of kills, Hasty, Violent, and Gruesome. The longer you hold down the attack button the more violent the kill and the more disturbing the cutscene.

Let’s say you sneak up behind punk #1 with a plastic bag. A quick press of the attack button will have you yank the bag over the victim’s head and suffocate him. Boring. Hold down the button for 3-5 seconds and you get a violent kill where you suffocate him and punch him in the face while he’s dying. Better. Press and hold for more than 5 seconds and you are rewarded with a three-part cutscene that includes the first two cutscenes followed by even more violent beatings and body blows and neck snapping. So basically, a complete kill is a three-part movie and how much of that movie you get to see is based on how long you can prep the attack.

Of course, during this “prep time” you are totally vulnerable to discovery and counter attack. The victim could turn on his own, you could move, or you could cough into the mic (more on that in a moment). If you are discovered before or during an attempted assassination you will have to engage in a more direct confrontation and the odds are invariably stacked against you. While many thugs will just fight, others will yell or run for backup.

There is a decent fight engine in Manhunt that allows for a variety of punches, kicks, grapples, and even some combos. There is nothing more wickedly delightful than kicking some punk in the head while he’s down and bleeding while the Director cackles gleefully from his mysterious control room. Even with all of the cool combat moves, you still don’t want to face off against more than one or two opponents at any given time.

Even though stealth is your ally there are times when you need to make a little noise. Much like Metal Gear Solid you can tap on walls or kick over a trashcan and attract the attention of anyone in earshot. But even better, if you happen to have a USB headset you can actually use vocal distraction to lure your targets to their death. Of course, this is a double-edged sword and you can unintentionally call attention to yourself. For example, during one gaming session the phone rang and I called out, “Take a message…” but I forgot I was wearing the mic and my voice brought down the wrath of a nearby gang.

While we are on the subject of the headset, I must commend the designers for channeling the voice of the Director into the earpiece. This really adds to the immersion and puts this sinister SOB right inside your head where he taunts you – it’s almost like a little demonic voice telling you to kill…kill…no, more blood…crush his skull, disembowel him… Naturally, if you hear these voices when you are not wearing the headset then you should probably get some help.

So basically, you have the premise of the gameplay. You sneak up on people and kill them, or if you can’t sneak up on them you make noise to lure them to you. There really aren’t any puzzles other than analyzing patrol routes and figuring out strategies for taking down multiple gang members. You have a brief setup for the weak plot and are thrust into a multi-level killing spree where only the environments and the gang colors change for the most part. The story does manage to pick up around the second half of the game but it’s still paper-thin and not even needed. This is a game of indulgence and living out your most violent fantasies.

To say Manhunt is a “challenging game” is an understatement. Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven was “challenging”. Manhunt is freaking HARD! You will die, you will die often, and you will replay levels or sections of levels repeatedly. Thankfully there is a nice checkpoint system that keeps this process from driving you to the point where you put the plastic bag over your own head.

Much of this difficult gameplay stems from the stealth aspects and the fact that throughout most of the first half of the game your best weapon is a shard of glass, a crowbar, or a baseball bat if you are lucky. But what really surprised me was the downright scary AI of the rival gangs in this game. Manhunt features some of the best AI seen to date in an action title and I can only hope that future games can come close to this level of “virtual awareness”.

Everything in Manhunt generates some kind of sound whether you are walking on concrete, creaking floorboards, or opening a rusty gate. Much of the game is in total silence so when I accidentally knocked over a metal trashcan I nearly soiled myself. You can monitor the awareness level of the nearby gang members with the in-game radar that color-codes the targets.

The AI grows more aware with each new level driving the difficulty up in a steep progression. While you can dispatch the first few levels of gangs with just a bit of practice, later in the game your opponents become much more skilled and won’t fall for your distractions. They will also stick together in tight groups moving silently and hiding their numbers. They will also start using your own tactics against you, luring you into the open so one of their strategically placed snipers can take you down.

I am forced to admit that the game does get a bit repetitive with all the sneaking and killing. After you have executed a dozen guys with a plastic bag or slit their throat with a piece of glass the cutscenes lose their thrill. The designers do an impressive job of mixing up the environments and even tossing in some interesting mission objectives that include total stealth, total weapons, and even an escort mission through a creepy graveyard.

Make no mistake about it. Manhunt is an adult game that is unfit for younger kids and probably too violent for most adults. There were several death scenes where I winced and even looked away, and I’m a huge fan of gore and violence. Manhunt takes violence to new levels of extreme, and if you aren’t just a little bit disturbed while playing this game then you might need therapy.

Level design is suitably dark and sinister with plenty of places to hide, set traps, and plan your ambushes. Everything looks really trashy, almost with a post-apocalyptic theme and there are some nice subtle and not-so-subtle touches that lend to the realism. One of my favorites is a certain piece of graffiti written on the wall next to your very first victim.

Character design and animation is superb. Cash is a burly man with bulging arms that can throttle most men into submission. His crew cut, violent scowl, and even the way he walks and creeps around define Cash as a man on a mission. The rest of the characters include a creative and wonderfully assorted cast of gang members, corrupt police, and other thugs sporting all kinds of masks, costumes, and other disturbing imagery including a Donnie Darko rabbit costume.

All of the movement is flawlessly animated thanks to some wonderful motion-capture work. I feel sorry for the actors who actually performed these violent death scenes, but their pain and hard work will be appreciated by all of us who play and watch time after time. Even the non-mo-capped action like walking and running looks really good.

This works both ways and you will be able to enjoy plenty of dialogue thanks to your skills of stealth and eavesdropping. The gangs in Manhunt are very vocal, and you will be able to hear hundreds of lines of original dialogue, taunts, and one-liners throughout the game. There is more cursing in Manhunt than The Getaway (if that is possible), further reinforcing the M-rating.

I’m compelled to mention one more time the much-added value of a USB headset. If you aren’t a SOCOM player you can still find headsets sold separately and I highly recommend one. The immersion factor of being able to use your voice to distract thugs and have the voice of the Director taunting you inside your head is a surreal experience.

The music in Manhunt is more environmental creating a certain mood or ambience. The tempo changes based on the events in the game and some of the more tense themes like the heartbeat sounds while hiding in shadows will have the hair standing up on your neck.

Expect 30-40 hours to complete this game on the Fetish (Normal) skill level and only the most dedicated gamers should even think about attempting the Hardcore mode. There are also four bonus levels you can unlock through particularly violent gameplay. These add a bit of incentive to perform well and extend the game beyond the narrative experience.