The trivia has been
split up into two categories. Game trivia which consists off pieces
of information related to Manhunt and references, where any game
or any form of media that Manhunt in referenced in or references
will be mentioned.
It is also worth pointing out that the majority of the references
are based on observation, rather than being fact of basis. Rockstar
has stated that Manhunt was primarily based on mood, so a lot of
these similarities might just be coincidences and nothing more.
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New Zealand: On November
24th of 2003 the game went under investigation by Films,
Videos and Publications Classification (FVPC). The game
was banned in the December of 2003 in New Zealand. More
about the issue can be read by clicking HERE.
Or alternatively you can read the entire 12 page document
file about it by clicking HERE.
United Kingdom: On July
29th 2004, Dixons (a large electronics outlet in the UK)
pulled Manhunt off the shelves due to the death of Stefan
Pakeerah. Various other independent outlets removed the
game from shelves. Despite the fact of this happening, the
game was never formally banned in the UK and the retail
outlets that removed the game have since restocked it.
Australia: On September
20th through to September 28th 2004 (almost a year after
the games release) the Office of Film and Literature Classification
(OFLC) in Australia decided to reclassify Manhunt due to
the death of a teen in the UK. The game was originally rated
MA15+. You can read more about the review process by clicking
HERE.
On September 29th the game was refused
classification which in effect means that the game can not
be legally sold. All copies still on shelves and owned by
retailers must be returned or they are in breach of the
law. The reasoning for the refusal of classification is
as follows “Specifically, it contains some depictions
of high impact, we well as scenes of blood and gore that
go beyond strong. It also contains a high impact theme.”
You can read more about it by clicking HERE.
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| There is a timeline conflict. Grand
Theft Auto III is supposed to take place around 2001 and we
are told that the Carcer City, Police Chief Gary Schaffer
had been cleared of corruption charges on one of the radio
stations. Yet at the journalists apartment we can see from
the calendar on her kitchen wall that the date the game takes
place is the 19th of November 2003. The only other explanation
is that this is the second time that the Police Chief has
found himself in trouble. |
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Throughout the game there are
numerous nods to other games and little quirks that
only the most observant player will pick up on. The
following is a list of such things. |
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It is known that the beta version of Cash
never made it into the final build of Manhunt
but a few images of Cash did. One such image
can be found in the reporter’s apartment
during the mission ‘Press Coverage’.
The reporter goes into her secret room inside
her apartment and pulls a box from under
the tabe.
If you look closely a picture of the beta
version of Cash can be seen clearly on the
wall with a bunch of headlines around his
head. The reporter was clearly fixated on
Cash and documented the whole thing leading
up to the games climax.
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You are going to require the trainer
for this one. During the bonus scene ‘Time
to Die’, there is a hidden save point
and bottle of pain killers. In order to view
the hidden save point and bottle of pain killers,
you are going to have to jump over the gate
where the scene starts out (f6) and you will
see a small alleyway, head down the alley
and you will see them.
Why they are here is unknown, people speculate
that it is primarily for loading purposes,
or perhaps they originally intended to extend
the scene.
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During the scene 'Press Coverage', while
exploring the news journalist's apartment,
there is a calendar. The calendar shows the
month and year as being November of 2003 with
a small smiley face that has been drawn on
the 19th. The 19th of November 2003 was the
game's release date in North America.
The calendar is positioned directly behind
the kitchen door to the right, directly in
line with the double glass doors that lead
you out to the balcony.
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There appears to be an alternate Piggsy character
model, the very first time you encounter him
his penis is visible. The second time it isn't.
It also isn't visible when you change the
player skin. This was presumably done because
it was too visible. The very first time you
encounter Piggsy it is very dark and it plays
subtle.
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Once
you have finished the game a short video clip
plays (around 10 seconds) that shows a robotic
chef speaking backwards. When the sound is played
backwards (the correct way) it displays the
God mode cheat. Many suggest that the chef video
is there to suggest that Starkweather has recorded
over an old video that originally had a kids
TV show recorded on it. |
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Piggsy's Corpse can be seen in the unlockable
bonus scene ‘Hard as Nails’ the
interesting thing about this being he now
has his head chopped off and is laying in
a pile of guts and gore, obviously the result
of the handy work of one James Earl Cash.
Also visible is one of Piggsy’s arms
that were removed and various other bones.
There is also a head of what looks like a
family member or perhaps a Hoods member, or
it could possibly be Piggsy’s head without
the mask on.
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There is a second key at the end of ‘Kill
the Rabbit’, to view the key you must
kill everyone so that the gate to end of the
level opens up, but rather than exiting the
level through the gate, walk to the right
and be sure to stay close to the wall (so
that you don't inadvertently end the scene)
and the second key is visible, however the
key cannot be used.
It is likely there for loading reasons, so
that the other key can be shown, this is probably
also the reason for it being hidden and inaccessible.
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In the scene ‘Border Patrol’
you can see a corps nailed to a cross like
shaped tree just outside of the entrance to
Starkweather’s mansion. The corpse is
quite easy to miss as it is dark during this
scene, the best way to view it is to use the
shotgun with a light on it, be sure that you
have eliminated all the Cerberus first however
as the light would alert them to your location.
It would appear as though the Cerberus members
have decided to hang the corpse as a trophy
of sorts. It is believed that the corpse is
of a member of Cash's family, on closer inspection
however it appears as though it is the same
model used during ‘Kill the Rabbit’.
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There is a group of five bottles and a knife
bundled together during the scene 'White Trash'.
They are located at the first locked off fence
gate where you need to cut the rope with a
knife that is keeping the fence locked. It
is also where you encounter the first member
of the Skinz.
If you look directly to your right you will
see the bottles and knife through the window
of the small building. The trainer is required
in order for you to be able jump over to the
building. The reason for them being here is
unknown.
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In ‘Kill the Rabbit’ there is
room with an executed corpse sitting in an
electric chair, which is part of a much larger
execution chamber, glass separates you from
the corpse. You are able to see that he is
no longer strapped into the chair, so he was
presumably placed here or was tortured into
death. His tongue is also hanging out and
he has a hood of sorts on, perhaps another
member of the Hoods or another theory is that
it is a dead family member. The same type
or corpse can be seen in ‘Border Patrol’.
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Fuelled
By Hate |
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Drunk
Driving |
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In ‘Fuelled by Hate’ and ‘Drunk
Driving’ another easter egg appears,
this time it is the ‘Stallion’
car from the Grand Theft Auto franchise. It
is broken down and rusted in both cases so
it’s not for driving about, it likely
belongs to someone from Liberty or Vice City
that was passing through and was ambushed
by someone in Carcer. Or it could belong to
one of the gang members that drove it into
Carcer one evening.
The texture appears to differ from each scene
so it is presumably intended to reflect that
they are two separate cars, rather than the
one that could have possibly been moved. Who
knows, it could have even belonged to tramp.
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At the start of ‘Mouth of Madness’
where you must kill ‘Fug’ in order
to pass the locked gate, if you look through
the glass door you can see a man strapped
to an electric chair. If you flick the switch
outside the room he begins to get electrocuted.
The machine next to him reads:
‘High Tech Solid
State 1500 Watt Zapping Machine. Please note:
This really fucking hurts!’
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When news first broke of a new game by
Rockstar Games it was known for over a year by the name
of ‘Project Manhunt’ this was presumably a working
title that several publications took to be the final name.
The website www.valiant-ent.tv
was set up for fake production company ‘Valiant Video
Enterprise’ by Rockstar Games. Valiant is the video
production company that sells Starkweather's films and was
used as away of virtually marketing the game. To this day
people stumble across it believing it to be a real website.
The final script for Manhunt was over 520
pages long with 500 pages dedicated to the dialogue of the
hunters and Starkweather alone. The entire story and cut
scene portion of the script came to around 25 pages.
The hunters in the game have over 8000
lines of dialogue that they can speak. There are over 500
whistle and hum noises on top of all the lines of dialogue.
8MM, Jacob’s Ladder, Marathon Man,
Romper Stomper and reality TV shows where all used as inspiration
behind Manhunt, however the main form of influence on the
game lays in moods, scenes, tension and mass market voyeurism.
There is no actual 'score' in Manhunt the
music is compiled mostly of fades and natural sounds of
the environment. This was done to heighten the tension in
the game.
People often point out that during the
scene 'Graveyard Shift' that Cash is carrying a pump action
shotgun all while during the level Cash uses a sawn off
shotgun. The reason for this is due to the fact that the
cut scene in question is pre-rendered and not rendered in
real time like some of the other cut scenes.
Manhunt won awards for IGN Readers' Vote's
for Action Game of the Year, Special Achievement in Sound,
Best Action Adventure and Game Story of the Year.
Various ideas where dropped from the game,
some of which can be found in the art panels of the game
while others where shown through publications such as early
screenshots and trailers. The most drastic change was likely
the change in the appearance of Cash. More can be found
out about these changes in the Beta
section of the site.
The God mode cheat actually becomes useable
after you have completed the game on either Fetish or Hardcore
difficulty. When you hold L1, L2, R1 & R2 at the main
menu (on the PlayStation 2 version of the game) you will
hear a voice whisper something, when recorded and played
backwards you will hear the god mode cheat spoken. ‘Daddy
didn't see what would happen if she left me. Mommy's supposed
to care, but she was never there’, at this part the
code below is said backwards once reversed the real code
is revealed, ‘down, down, circle, up, square, triangle,
square, R2, up, up, L1, triangle’ The God mode cheat
makes Cash invincible to attack.
Despite a low key release, delayed TV advertisements
and a ploy by British tabloids to ban the game, Manhunt
entered the overall games chart at number 15 on its first
week of sale. The following week it was in the top 10.
Various on-line retailers claim to sell
the ‘uncut’ version of Manhunt when in fact
the game was never censored. The version you can pick up
in stores today is the same as the one you could back when
the game was initially released.
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If you have the release date for the game
in any country not mentioned, please get in contact with
us letting us know.
Country |
Platform |
Release
Date |
USA
UK
USA
UK
Netherlands
Poland |
Playstation 2
Playstation 2
PC/XBOX
PC/ XBOX
Playstation 2
PC |
November 18th 2003
November 21st 2003
April 20th 2004
April 23rd 2004
May 7th 2004
October 5th 2004 |
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Prior to the release
of Manhunt, Rockstar Games released an interactive
screensaver; with this screensaver they had the ability
to update it via the Internet after its initial download.
As the messenger ran various quotes would appear periodically,
they were designed to look as though they where through
AOL Instant Messenger. And they would be delivered
from a user with the name ValiantentTV, as though
to spoof the Valiant Entertainment website that was
setup.
The following is some of the quotes that pop up through
the screensaver.
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Screensaver
Quotes
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- We will hunt this fuck for your
viewing pleasure.
- We will leak more previews of the next hunt on the
net soon. Join the mailing list.
- Hunt fans fresh meat is on the way soon stay tuned.
- Got new videos. Site Updated.
- You seen the new store on the valiant site?
- November 19th. Don't forget the date.
- It's finally coming next week.
- There are scenes in the next hunt that are gonna
blow your ******* mind.
- Working on this rough cut won't be long now.
- It's almost time, can't ******* wait.
- Videos made to order. Fetish, hardcore, brutality
and harder worth the cost.
- Wait till you see what we have coming!
- Just added mr. nasty's hall of pain to the valiant
site. check it out.
- We will hunt this **** for your viewing pleasure.
- Haha this ***** isn't going to know what hit him.
- Got a special outtake hidden on the hunt site. Gotta
look at all the pages first. check it out.
- Our best hunt ever is coming out November 19th. |
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8MM
is probably the most obvious film that springs
to mind when thinking about the concept of Manhunt.
It features a detective who discovers an underground
snuff ring that is being run by three different
men, one of which wears a gimp mask and goes
by the name ‘Machine’. James Gandolfini
plays a character by the name of Eddie Poole
(pictured to the left) who acts as the go between
man in producing these movies. He is a cold
hearted ruthless man that has is set on making
money, at anyone and every things expense, much
like Starkweather. Even Starkweather’s
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physical appearance is somewhat reminiscent of
Gandolfini in the movie. Peter Stormare plays the
part of Dino Velvet, a director that considers his
movies to be an art form, making movies specifically
to meet the consumers needs. Perhaps functioning
similarly to the mysterious Mr. Nasty?
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Machine & Dino Velvet.
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Alice
Adventure In Wonderland |
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In the
book (movie, cartoon, comic, game and every other
form of media) Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,
there is a White Rabbit which Alice stumbles upon,
she follows this rabbit down a hole and meets a bunch
of weird characters. Similarly in Manhunt, Cash must
follow the White Rabbit in order to obtain a key,
along his way he deals with the Smilies (those crazies!)
and the Cerberus. |
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Bully
(Canis Canem Edit) was released in October 2006
by Take-Two and developed by Rockstar Vancouver.
There are many little nods to Manhunt that you
will stumble across. Some hold more water than
others. For starters the game runs on the Grand
Theft Auto: San Andreas engine, that in itself
bonds it to Manhunt as Grand Theft Auto: San
Andreas had many aspects of Manhunt within it.
Among these similarities is the targeting/aiming
system as well as the projectile (throwing)
aspects of the game, and then there is the stealth
that the game uses, although the stealth aspects
of Bully are actually more similar to the Grand
Theft Auto: San Andreas stealth mechanics, which
are originally a simplified version of what
is found in Manhunt. |
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Another amusing animation
that also turns up in Bully is the one when he is
urinating in the bathroom; it looks to be the same
animation as the Hoods member in Manhunt.
There is a barber/clothes shop located in the New
Coventry area called ‘The Final Cut. This seems
to suggest a reference to Manhunt since the poster
and early released review copies of the game included
the slogan Manhunt ‘The Final Cut’, n
the final released game, the slogan was changed to
‘This Is a Brutal Blood Sport’.
Other minor references in the game include kids from
the Halloween stage of the game, one of them called
Pete wears a pink rabbit costume, the rabbit in Manhunt
also wears a rabbit costume although the costume is
white, it is worth pointing out that in Manhunt you
must follow the rabbit but in Bully (Canis Canem Edit)
the rabbit or Pete must follow you around the school.
Jimmy the main character in the game wears a skeleton
costume which looks something similar to the attire
of the Innocentz in Manhunt, another one of the kids
wears a hockey mask which bares a resemblance to the
mask of the Skinz from Manhunt. There is also a member
of the Jocks that wear a mask that slightly resembles
that of the Innocentz and a member of the Greasers
that wears a pumpkin on his head similar to concept
are for the Scarecrow. If you complete the mission
of destroying all of the pumpkins at Halloween you
can unlock a pumpkin mask to wear, this is also similar
to the Scarecrow art panel showing his alternative
attire. There are also headstones that appear during
Halloween.
In the game you can go to such places as an asylum,
a junkyard, a cemetery and a chemical factory called
chem-o-lot, in the asylum you can find a picture of
a pig with the word "piggy" below it perhaps
a reference at Manhunt's Piggsy, an asylum also appears
in Manhunt and is used to enclose the Smilies. The
junkyard in Manhunt is where the Skinz gang are located
and the cemetery in Manhunt is where you must escort
the tramp to safety, you can also find a chemical
factory in Manhunt under the name Carcer Chem.
In the sound department Bully lends heavily from
Manhunt, not in its aesthetic but in its structure
featuring multi-layered interactive themes. When you
hide in a cupboard, locker or bin you can hear your
heart beat (although not as tense as in Manhunt).
And perhaps most interesting enough is the noise of
the bottle rocket launcher reloading sounds to be
an exact lift from the shotgun reloading from Manhunt,
there are numerous other sounds found throughout the
game that seem to have been taken from both Manhunt
and the Grand Theft Auto franchise.
There are drunken hobos lying around the town of
Bullsworth that seem to be modified versions of the
tramp from Manhunt, down to the beard, hat, coat and
alcohol problem. Some of the other character models
also seem to be taken from Manhunt and modified, the
lead characters in Bully all have individual fingers,
Manhunt is the only other Rockstar game to include
this, the rest have mitten like hands. A pretty amusing
possible nod to Manhunt is the fact that you loos
your shoes if you pass out when outside the school
gates, in Manhunt the Smilies where constantly worried
about their shoes.
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Bully montage of
various little nods. |
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| Aside from sharing the same name as
the last scene in Manhunt there isn't actually that much similar
to the 1972 movie. There are certain storyline threads that
can possibly be derived from Deliverance. Such as the fact
that those guilty of committing the murders in the movie get
away with it. There is also a line in the movie that could
hold some influence in Manhunt, in the scene in question;
one of the main characters, Drew (played by Ronny Cox) is
sexually assaulted, during this scene he is being taunted
with yells of ‘scream piggy’, this could have
possibly lead to the name of Piggsy. |
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| In the 1990 movie ‘Die Hard 2:
Die Harder’ there is a character by the name of Maj.
Grant (played by John Amos) that looks almost identical to
Ramirez. Maj. Grant wears similar camouflage, a beret, is
a large African American and bares similar physical features
as Ramirez, albeit minus the scar to his left eye. |
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The
Friday the 13th movies carry two main influences
within Manhunt, one of which is Jason’s
hockey mask that he wore in the later films
and the other is his machete. Over the years
the hockey mask has become a symbol of horror
in modern cinema. The hockey masks that the
Skins where are similar to the one worn by Jason.
One of the removed gangs from the game ‘The
Jury’ also wore them before being removed
from the game. |
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Just as the hockey mask Jason’s machete has
become a symbol of death in horror cinema. In the
game the machete is used primarily by the Wardogs.
The executions with the machete are similar to the
way Jason uses his machete preferring to decapitate
his victim’s heads rather than just cutting
into people.
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Kane Hodder as Jason Voorhees
in Jason X.
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The Grand Theft Auto
franchise shares a lot of things in common with Manhunt,
primarily because they both where originally developed
by Rockstar North (formerly known as DMA Design).
Rather than list the same similarity multiple times,
we have instead took the opportunity to list them
first by common running themes and then list the ones
that are specific to a certain entry into the franchise.
Game |
Released |
Takes
Place |
Grand Theft Auto
Grand Theft Auto: London 1969
Grand Theft Auto 2
Grand Theft Auto III
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Manhunt
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories |
1997
1999
1999
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006 |
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1969
2013
2001
1986
2003
1992
1998
1984
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The above is a table of Rockstar
North (DMA) releases along side the year of release
and the year the game takes place, in order to help
give a better understanding of the references.
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In two scenes (Drunk Driving and Fuelled by
Hate) you can see a destroyed Stallion. The
'Stallion' is the name of a car that has featured
in the Grand Theft Auto franchise. The image
to the left is of the Stallion in all its glory
in Liberty City. The Blista Compact from the
Grand Theft Auto series is also the car that
the Journalist drives in Manhunt. |
There
are soda machines that have the title 'Sprunk'
on them have appeared in two different Grand
That Auto titles. These vending machines first
made an appearance in Grand That Auto: Vice
City, albeit hidden, they where only visible
during the mission ‘Psycho Killer’
at the Love Fist concert. They next appeared
in Manhunt and a year later In San Andreas,
in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas the ‘Sprunk’
machines can also be used for a source of health,
much in line with the games health mechanics. |
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Grand
Theft Auto 2 |
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Released in 1999 and also developed by
Rockstar North (known at the time as DMA
Design) GTA 2, features a series of gangs,
one of the gangs goes by the name ‘The
Loonies’, they are described as
‘Mental Patients’ they have
a very similar look to the Smileys from
Manhunt. Another similarity comes from
the cars they drive, since they have a
small smiley face on the top, similar
to the simplistic design the Smileys use
for their |
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masks, or draw on walls. In Manhunt the Smilieys
are referred to as ‘Loonies’ by
Starkweather, during the scene ‘Mouth
of Madness’, the fact that they are
also mental patients bears too much of a similarity
to the ‘Loonies’ from GTA2 too
simply be a coincidence.
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Many of the homeless
people in the city look very similar to the tramp
from Manhunt; perhaps Manhunt took the design or idea
from Grand Theft Auto III and tweaked it.
Near the end of the game the news Journalist is shown
doing a news report on Starkweather. In this news
report she says that Carcer City’s Police Chief
Gary Shaver has had some involvement with Starkweather.
On the ‘Lips 106’ radio station in Grand
Theft Auto III the news reporter Andy states:
‘So I'm sitting here, reading the Liberty
Tree. And it says "In nearby Carcer City, a
good day for law and order as police chief Gary
Shaver was cleared of corruption charges in a controversial
decision by the court. Let's hope those missing
witnesses turn up safe and sound.”’
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Grand
Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
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It is quite amazing how many weapons
have made it into Grand Theft Auto:
Liberty City Stories from Manhunt.
The weapons include a meat cleaver,
hand axe, baseball bat (aluminium),
nightstick, a knife and a handgun
just to name some of the obvious ones.
Some of them even appear to be the
same weapon model as used in Manhunt,
if not then certainly based on the
same designs.
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The chainsaw is also back, but this
time it is used in conjunction with
a set of overalls, but there is something
special about them, that being you
wear a hockey mask the exact same
one used by the Skinz (albeit it is
cleaner) gang in Manhunt, that doesn’t
mean you have to stick with this weapon
though you can change to any of the
above this in turn makes you look
very much like one of the Skinz as
they had weapons like the baseball
bat.
The chainsaw design doesn’t
resemble Piggsys in any shape or form
however, further indication that the
chainsaw used by Piggsy is a custom.
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Slash TV is another hint at Manhunt,
set as a mini game where you have take
out as many different people as you
can using only the Chainsaw with the
overalls and hockey mask on.
In Manhunt one of the games main characters,
Piggsy specialises in the use of the
chainsaw.
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Other hints to Manhunt include a mission
titled 'Snuff', in this mission you are asked
to eliminate members of the Sindacco family
that are putting pressure on a fellow Sindacco
who would like to become a member of the Leone
Family. The turn coat in question is JD Otoole,
he runs a sex shop. During the mission he
is watching from a near by building and video
tapes it all for his very own snuff movie,
he calls Toni to express his gratitude for
the clip.
There is a past time in Portland that goes
by the title 'Wrong Side of the Tracks', which
is obviously the name of a scene in Manhunt.
However, in Liberty City Stories it is a bike
mission where you are required to race three
members of the Wong brothers along the El
Train track; it shares very little with Manhunt
beyond the title.
There are also a few other little hints to
Manhunt, such as callers calling in from Carcer
City and callers phoning in and talking about
Carcer, or events that would later take place
in Carcer. One of the callers calls in during
the ‘The Electron Zone’ on LCFR
with an enquiry about the Internet.
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Grand
Theft Auto: San Andreas |
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While at Zero's RC Shop have a look
around and you will see photos of Manhunt
figures on display. The figures include
Cash and Piggsy. These figure shots
can also be found in the bonus art gallery
once you gain a 3 star ranking on 'Trained
to Kill'. Interestingly enough the image
has now been altered to display the
final design for Cash, as apposed to
the beta shown in the bonus art panel.
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When in one of the bars, look at
the artwork on the walls. You can
see a Cerberus painted on the wall.
At the Police Department Headquarters
in Las Venturas you can find two pictures
of Cash and three pictures of Hoods
members posted on a bulletin board.
There is also a bunch of writing
to accompany it; unfortunately it
is too small too make out, but it
likely doesn’t say anything
in particular that is worth noting.
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When you enter the City Planning department
in Las Venturas for one of the Casino Heist
missions, have a look around. One of the blueprints
there is for Starkweather's mansion.
The game makes use of the stealth mechanic
on select missions; CJ can perform a level
1 execution with the knife and vibrator by
creeping up behind people as well as using
the same aiming system as used in Manhunt.
Some of the animations also appear in Manhunt,
in particular the death animations, as the
body falls to the ground, or how it lays there.
During one of the commercial breaks on K-Rose,
listen out for an advertisement for Carcer
City. During one of the radio talk shows,
'Area 53', a caller by the name of Vivian
calls in from Carcer City and talks about
crop circles. On another radio station WCTR,
a woman calls into the show ‘The Wild
Traveller’, from Carcer City asking
why anyone would want to vacation in Carcer,
in addition to the caller there is yet again
another advertisement for Carcer City that
is played .
There are pedestrians that can be heard saying
comments about Carcer City such as 'this is
why I am moving to Carcer City' other lines
of dialogue include ‘Hey! This isn't
Carcer City okay!’ when bumped in to.
There is a male pedestrian that sometime says
‘Where do you think this is, Carcer
City? Watch out!’
One of the gangs that roam the San Fierro
country side in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
has a tattoo of the word RIFA on his chest;
in Manhunt the Innocentz also have this same
tattoo in the exact same location.
There is a junkyard quite similar to that
of the one in Manhunt that the Skinz roam,
it can be found in the rural district of ‘Flint
County’ while on the way too San Fierro.
The blue canisters that are around the countryside
area appear to be from Manhunt, they are similar
in design, size and colour and have the following
written on them ‘Carcer Gas’.
Other in game models that look to be taken
from Manhunt include the boxes of nails that
can be found laying around in the various
Ammu-nation, the various wheelchairs within
San Andreas also appear to be the exact same
models from Manhunt, down to the textures
used. In the countryside you can spot a few
of the pedestrians wearing overalls with a
tartan shirt on, it looks to be a reused texture
from one of the Smilies.
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Grand
Theft Auto: Vice City
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There is a blue and white shopping
bag with the word 'Gash' written on
it at the Journalists Apartment (Press
Coverage). At the North Point Mall in
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City there is
a department store of the same name.
Gash is a slang term often used in
reference to the female genitalia.
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In the introduction video, there
is scene where it shows a drug store
called 'Ryton Aide'. Little Havana
in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City has
a drug store named 'Ryton Aide'.
There is also a mattress store that
has a poster that says ‘The
Best Mattresses in Carcer’,
this is likely a reference to Joes
Beds.
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There is a junkyard in the
scene 'Fuelled by Hate' that has the same car
crusher and surroundings as the one featured
in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
During one scene (View of Innocence) on the
second floor, one of the counters has the words
‘Tarbrush Café' and a picture of
a coffee cup. In Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
the characters Tommy and Lance had to destroy
the ‘Tarbrush Café’ in the
'Cop Land' mission.
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Grand
Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
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If you listen into
the various pedestrians you pass in the game you can
hear some claim to have had previous occupations in
Carcer City, such as 'I was a plumber in Carcer City!’
The junkyard in Vice City Stories has the same tower
that is features in the scene ‘Mouth of Madness’.
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| Into the Mouth of Madness is another
John Carpenter movie and was made in 1995, we can pin two
similarities on this one. The first one being the title, you
are probably aware of the scene in Manhunt that is titled
‘Mouth of Madness’. In the film an author called
Sutter Cane disappears without a trace and an insurance investigator
by the name of John Trent is sent to find him, only to end
up lost in a sleepy little East Coast town of Hobb's End but
of course it turns out the town is a figment of Cane's twisted
imagination, this could be the basis for Starkweathers thoughts
for the abandoned Carcer City. |
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As one of the first and perhaps the most
prominent influential ‘slasher movie’
it is only natural that it would lend some
form of influence to a game such as Manhunt.
While they may be subtle they are surely there.
They come in various forms, such as the corpses
that you can see around Carcer City, often
left in unique positions or in some cases
mounted to objects.
There is also the stance Cash takes when
he sneaks up on an enemy in preparation for
an execution; Michael Myers often takes the
same pose when stalking his victims.
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Over the years Michael has used many of the same
tools as a means to dispense his victims as Cash
does.
The music is another element that Manhunt may have
sought inspiration from, such as the suspense that
John Carpenter added to the score. All the music
in Halloween was done with synthesisers and wouldn’t
sound too out of place playing in the background
while you play Manhunt. They both also have a very
memorable main theme that runs through out them.
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Various screenshots taken from
Halloween H20.
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Manhunter was released in 1986 and directed
by Michael Mann. In this first incarnation
of Dr. Hannibal Lecktor, Lecktor is played
by Brian Cox. This is the first throw back
to Manhunter, a very similar title that
both feature Brian Cox. In both the movie
and the game Cox plays the part of a man
that has clearly lost touch with reality
and share similar character traits such
as manipulating their foes.
Lecktor ends up in a maximum security insane
asylum (Smilies?), similar to Manhunt, Will
Graham (William Peterson) is the investigator
responsible for putting him away. This part
could be compared to the role of the journalist
in
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Manhunt, both characters become
obsessed by their work and put their life on the line
in order to get to the end of the issue. |
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In the
movie ‘Motel Hell’ there is a killer on
the loose, the difference here however is that he
is wearing a pigs head and is wielding a chainsaw,
not unlike Piggsy. The film, which was released in
1980, revolves around a motel that is open for business
all year round. People suddenly go missing, it turns
out they are being slaughter by the pig man, the bodies
are then left hung upside down. In Manhunt bodies
can be found in much the same situation throughout
Carcer City. |
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Red Dead Revolver was also published by Rockstar
Games/Take-Two interactive and was developed
by Rockstar San Diego. The game was released
in 2004, a year after Manhunt. A few techniques
in the game look suspiciously like they were
taken directly from Manhunt. Most noticeable
is the ability to press against an object
for cover, while in this position it also
allows Red to peek around corners and to shoot
from behind cover.
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The shooting mechanics in Red Dead Revolver
are also similar to those found in Manhunt.
A red crosshair appears on the target with
an added option to lock on to the target similarly
to how you could in Manhunt. When locked on
to an enemy the strafing system is also identical
to Manhunt. |
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Saw
seems to share a great deal in common with Manhunt.
The premise of the film is that there have been
various murders happening, all the result of
this ‘Jigsaw’ killer. Jigsaw is
diagnosed with brain cancer, rather than just
dieing alone he sets up fiendish games for unsuspecting
people who have no respect for life. In these
games the victims fight to survive in order
to give them a new appreciation of what they
have. |
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Two of the victims get locked-up together and are
being watched via cameras that are not dissimilar
to those in Manhunt, these cameras carry a very
familiar grainy look to them and are taken from
angles that any respectful Manhunt fan would be
familiar with. The detail of this camera work goes
right down to the ‘rec’ warning that
can be found during the cut scenes in Manhunt. The
colouring of the movie is a lot like Manhunt in
certain respects, at times using high saturations
of green and blue, as used in various scenes during
the game.
The film also has another similarity to Manhunt
in the form of one of the killers wearing a pig
mask, as worn by Piggsy. There is also a puppet
used during the movie (which through watching the
bonus features goes by the name ‘Billy’),
the puppets use is to instruct the victim of the
game, the look of the puppet isn’t too distant
to that of the mask wearing Skinz member.
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Camera and Pig mask references.
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| The movie Stay Alive (released in 2006
and written and directed by William Brent Bell) is a horror
movie with a story that revolves around a group of friends
that play a video game, the catch is when they die in the
game, they die in real life. The movie references many horror
videogames, and Manhunt is no exception, in the opening scene,
Rex (played by Billy Slaughter) is wearing a pig mask that
is similar to Piggsy’s mask. |
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The
Punisher has a few influences that appear to
be taken from Manhunt with the primary being
in the form of the different method of kills
in the game. The Punisher features something
it calls a ‘quick kill’, quick kills
act similarly to the executions in Manhunt,
both of which involve taking the enemy from
behind by surprise. |
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The
one exception however in the case of The Punisher
is that it is heavily censored. The camera
will cut away, not allowing you to fully see
the execution take place and the screen turns
black and white to hide any blood that may
be visible. The camera edits used in The Punisher
seem like a throw away to Manhunt, when the
screen goes black and white there is also
a grain filter added. There is no explanation
for the grain since nothing in The Punisher
would suggest someone is watching.
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| The game also makes use of similar
weapons as Manhunt, using weapons like a revolver,
shotgun and submachine guns. As a side note the de | | |