Manhunt 2 Review - Wii

With so much controversy swirling around it, it’s nearly impossible to consider the subject of Rockstar Games’ Manhunt 2 without taking into account the politics of the game. Condemned by mainstream media long before it ever hit stores, Manhunt 2 has managed to achieve a level of consumer awareness that most games and developers can only dream of.

Manhuntin’

Now that the game is actually out, and its turbulent journey to earn an M rating is history, the results will make most gamers wonder what all the fuss was about. Manhunt 2 certainly isn’t a good game. Really, it’s a mediocre game whose main source of entertainment value would have been the gory and over-the-top execution moves. Unfortunately since those controversial death scenes are now obscured to the point of unrecognizability (especially on the Wii), the game has to rest on the merits of its gameplay.

Manhunt 2 is, in many ways, a step back from the original. No matter what your view of the snuff film premise and gameplay, the original Manhunt created an air of tension seldom seen. It utilized both ambient game and real-world sound in a remarkable fashion, and offered up a grisly, yet stubbornly determined take on stealth gameplay. Manhunt 2 tries hard to move away from the simple plot and mindless viciousness of the original by adding a trite and predictable storyline.

Nerdy Danny Lamb wakes up institutionalized and amnesiac in the midst of a massive inmate riot. Prodded on by a mysterious buddy, Danny moves to escape in the chaos and finds himself reluctantly forced to kill in the process. From there, it’s a journey through the places that remain in Danny’s fragmented memories. Unlike the original game, it’s clear that Danny is far from just a run of the mill nerdy psychotic, but rather a victim of a greater conspiracy.

Moral Gray Matter

Danny’s quest to discover who he is and why he’s so good at stealthily killing people in horrible ways takes him through a grisly S&M club, a porn store, dilapidated buildings, seedy parts of town, and other moody, depressing locations. All the while, mysterious masked enforcers are out to get him, and the game is constantly reminding Danny (and the player) that he must kill or be killed.

Indeed, the game jams this sentiment down your throat so often; you have to wonder if Rockstar was trying to convince the game’s detractors that the violence is all ok because you’re only killing bad guys. From the player’s perspective, it hardly matters. Manhunt 2 feels more like a puzzle game with a gory pay off then anything that will affect you emotionally.

Like the original game, the dogged focus on stealth gameplay is actually commendable. Danny can take on opponents directly, but he’s not very good at it. The game really forces you to stick to the shadows, bide your time, and plan your attack. The gameplay requires patience, and you’ll spend plenty of time waiting for just the right moment.

Obscure Violence

While the basic stealth mechanics work well, the rest of the game is a mess. The enemy AI seems slightly better than a Pac-Man ghost. So, if they spot you in one location, for instance, you can just run to another shadowy area and wait for them to lose interest and wander off.

The level design is incredibly primitive as well. The locations feel like ugly puzzle boxes designed to pick off bad guys. None of the levels feel like real-world locations, or even particularly interesting video game worlds. The graphics only make matters worse. Even on the Wii, Manhunt 2 looks like a mediocre PS2 game.

There is always a grainy overlay to the graphics, and the characters look remarkably low tech. Animation is decent, although on the Wii version, Danny seems to frequently get stuck on air in the middle of moving between crouching and standing animations. The audio is much better. Music is kept to a minimum, but the excellent atmospheric noises are vital to the gameplay. The voice acting is relatively good, although the dialogue itself is often terrible.

Kill! Kill! Revolution!

Hardly the murder-simulator mainstream news predicted, the Wii’s motion controls have more in common with Dance! Dance! Revolution! than any realistic weapon usage. Sneak up behind some poor sucker and press the A button, and then follow the on-screen prompts to move the controllers up, down, side-to-side or even forward. These “Simon Says” controls hardly make you feel like a killer, but thanks to appropriate sound effects, jerky motions, and the often-frustrating gameplay, there is some sense of satisfaction in these mini-game sequences.

Frustration is a key element here, especially on the Wii. Unlike most games that suffer from insensitivity issues with the system’s motion controls, Manhunt 2 has the opposite problem. It’s far too easy to slightly move a controller while you are stealthily waiting and cause Danny to tap the wall, jerk, or just outright leave his cover. Worse is the use of the A button for all actions. If you are sneaking up to kill an enemy who is by a dead body, there’s a better chance Danny will pick up the body instead of attack, which is idiotic.

Grade Z Gaming

Fans of the first Manhunt will argue that Manhunt 2 is a worthy successor, and the mainstream cries against the game have boosted its notoriety even further. In the end though, the game will almost certainly end up as nothing more than obscure footnote in Rockstar’s history. While the stealth mechanics are solid, the rest of the game feels behind the times and completely unimpressive. The compromise to reach the M-rating has castrated the violent pay-off that would have otherwise given the game an extra boost of guilty pleasure. Overall, there’s just not much here to recommend Manhunt 2.

Review by: Jason D'Aprile
Video Produced by: Mark Fahey