After the brouhaha a few months back when Manhunt 2 got slapped with an “Adults Only” rating, it's no surprise its eventual edited-for-content release courted controversy. Still, it took only a day for industrious Russian hackers to break through the blur filter effect that Rockstar placed over the ultra-gory executions so as to receive a “mature” rating (it is, however, way complicated to replicate their mod).
Surprisingly, the ESRB ratings board stuck to its guns, unlike their earlier run-in with Rockstar over GTA: San Andreas’ “hot coffee” mod which allowed gamers to pleasure their virtual girlfriends.
“Manhunt 2’s rating makes it unmistakable that the game is intended for an older audience,” said ESRB president Patricia Vance. “The unauthorized hacking into the code of this game doesn’t change that basic fact.” They go on to basically say parents should try, y’know, parenting and make sure their kids aren't downloading weird shit off the internets to mod their rated games.
Ironically, the hacked versions were on PS2 and PSP, not the Wii version which had raised the fuss in the first place because the motion-sensitive controllers let you re-enact the execution moves, sparking critics to describe it as a “murder simulator.”
The latest folks to board the bashing bandwagon include Dr. Phil, the National Alliance on Mental Illness who accuse the game of perpetuating stereotypes about crazies, and Common Sense Media, a group that “advises parents about entertainment that may be inappropriate for children“ and yet has requested a federal investigation over a game that's clearly already rated 17+ .
So anyway, how’s the game itself? Well once you get used to its attempts to shock you, which pale next to torture-porn flicks like Hostel or Rob Zombie’s oeuvre, it’s only slightly above average. The censored execution effects are annoying (though the sound design team did a fantastic job at freaking me the fuck out) and the graphics themselves are totally last-gen (though the grainy look is intentional).
The story is unrelated to the creepy original which involved a snuff film producer. Now you’re an amnesiac escapee from an insane asylum trying to piece your life together and if you kill a few orderlies, bystanders and S&M freaks along the way, well, so be it. Especially, if you can use real-world stabbing motions.
In the end, Manhunt 2 is gritty and gross, depraved and nihilistic…and though it does not in any way mark the end of civilization, you probably shouldn't let toddlers have a go.