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 a way of virally 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.

If you have the release date for the game in any country not mentioned, please get in contact with us and let us know.

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.

• 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.

James Gandolfini plays a character by the name of Eddie Poole who acts as the go between man in producing these movies. He is a cold hearted, ruthless, man that has his mind set on making money, at anyone and every things expense, much like Starkweather. Even Starkweather’s 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?

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.

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’, on 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 the kids, 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 lose your shoes if you pass out when outside the school gates, in Manhunt the Smilies where constantly worried about their shoes being taken.

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 physically imposing African American and bares similar physical features as Ramirez, albeit minus the scar to his left eye.

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 wear 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.

Just as the hockey mask, Jason’s machete has become a symbol of death within the horror genre. 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 them.

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, similarly to how Michael likes to display his victims.

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, with his hand raised, stalking his prey.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

Of mention 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. 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 you are then able to strafe around your target, similarly to how you could in Manhunt.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The game also makes use of similar weapons as Manhunt, using weapons like a revolver, shotgun and submachine guns. As a side note the developer behind The Punisher also released 'Saints Row', another (GTA rip-off) game inspired by a Rockstar title.

Potentially one of the most recognizable influences for the concept of Manhunt is the 1987 film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, The Running Man. The movie was based on a novel by Richard Bachman, who turned out to be none other than Stephen King. The film featured five different hunters (named stalkers), and their job is to kill the main character, all for the sake of entertainment. The hero of the movie was falsely accused of murder by the state and was forced to partake in the game show by a bunch of corrupt cops, not unlike in Manhunt.

The whole production is run by a man by the name of, Damon Killian, a game show host that has nothing on his mind but ratings. This all takes places as part of a live televised TV show called 'The Running Man'; all of the action takes place in an abandoned, run down part of a city loosely based on a futuristic Bakersfield, California.

All of the hunters featured in the film had their own quirks and abilities such as Subzero, who has a metal hockey stick which he uses much like a machete to slice open opponents or Buzzsaw who wields a chainsaw, in order to cut into his opponents flesh and bones. Around the city there are a bunch of grunts working for Killian, their jobs is to make sure that the contestants get to where they need to be, acting much like the Cerberus do in Manhunt.

Released in 1980 and starring Jack Nicholson, the Stanley Kubrick classic, The Shining is perhaps one of most referenced movies in history. I suppose one of the obvious things that may jump out at you as perhaps being referenced in Manhunt would be the mental stability of the character played by Jack Nicholson, perhaps a throw away to the Smilies. But the thing that really jumps out at you is near the end of the film, the characters run into a garden maze, the maze seems reminiscent of the one used during the scene ‘Border Patrol’, the one that surrounds Starkweather’s mansion.

Although in the movie it is covered in snow, there is just something that jumps out at you to suggest it may have been the basis for the maze used outside Starkweather’s mansion.

The Suffering takes cues from Manhunt in a few instances. For a start both games start in a State Penitentiary and both lead characters are on death row awaiting execution, the lead characters aren’t particularly likeable or good. Both games also deal in isolation, in The Suffering it is provided by being on an island, isolating it from the rest of the world and in Manhunt the game takes place in Carcer City, which is also isolated from the rest of the world as the city is run down and abandoned.

The weapon system works much like Manhunt, where you can only carry two primary weapons at any one given time. Torque also gets covered in cuts, bruises and blood much like Cash does. Another influence that is worth mentioning is the use of camera monitors, in the game things will happen on the screen, like people being killed by monsters and other strange things, in Manhunt each kill was viewed thorough a camera lens and at specific points in the game emphasis was put on Cash viewing things from a cameras perspective. You can also electric an inmate that is strapped into an electric chair awaiting execution, as seen in Manhunt.

Originally released in 1974, the Tobe Hooper classic ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ has influenced almost everything to have graced the genre since. The most obvious similarity is drawn from the movies cult icon ‘Leatherface’, who wears the skin of his victims on his face and wields a chainsaw, just like Piggsy does in Manhunt.

True Crime: New York City is the sequel to True Crime: Streets of L.A (released around the time as Manhunt) and is a series of games that are (GTA rip-offs) inspired by Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto series. In True Crime: Streets of L.A, the developer Luxiflux took a stab at Rockstar, in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Rockstar struck back with the billboard logo ‘True Grime: Street Cleaners’. In True Crime: New York City the developer once again took a shot at Rockstar with the lead character saying something along the lines of ‘Taxi driving? Next thing you know I will be flying toy planes’.

But the reference in question here is during one of the levels, the lead character (Marcus Reed) is sedated, put in to a straight jacket and locked in an insane asylum. There are many other inmates that lurk the asylum, some of which are also in straight jackets. It all makes for striking similarity to the Smiles and the Darkwood Penitentiary featured in Manhunt. The asylum in True Crime: New York City also features a lot of graffiti on the wall, a lot of which looks to be taken directly from Manhunt, with smilie faces and random insults plastered all over the place.

It is known that The Warriors runs on a modified version of the Manhunt engine, as such it is only natural that The Warriors game would have many similarities between itself and Manhunt.

Just as with Manhunt, the shadows in The Warriors are used as a way of hiding from others gang members and authority figures. The shadows in The Warriors only work for a moment or two before the enemies spot you in them, it is hard to tell if this is intentional or not as it is not every time you go in shadows that you are spotted. In Manhunt shadows were used exactly for this purpose but the major difference being they actually worked. The character takes on a similar pose as Cash does in the shadows with the character crouching to try and stay low, he also takes smaller steps and sneaks around as Cash did in Manhunt to reduce noise. You are also able to perform a limited amount of executions in The Warriors.

Other things taken from Manhunt is the shouting and taunting that can be heard throughout the game by gang members and other people as you stop and hide. Being able to kick over trash cans and break bottles was also first introduced in Manhunt. The art direction looks very similar to Manhunt; it has a low down and dirty look to it. The musical direction is also reminiscent of Manhunt; however it primarily follows the movie in this department with reproduction of early synthesized sounds and distortions.

Another similar influence is the cars, in The Warriors quite a few of them look like the broken down Stallion we seen in the junkyard of Manhunt, obviously taken from Grand Theft Auto III and Vice City but none the less the same car is used again in this game.

Some of the Hoods members wear jackets that read ‘Furies’; there is a gang by the name 'The Baseball Furies' in The Warriors. This is more in line with the 1979 film than the 2005 game release by Rockstar Games, but we are listing it all in the one category.