Manhunt 2 Hands-on

We get a chance to try out Rockstar's next installment of stealthy (and of course, sanguine) survival horror.

Spiffy

Boasts the same gameplay mechanics that made the first a cult favorite; new weapons classes, and Wii controls give it a more vivid feel, as expected.

Iffy

If you didn't like the first game's blend of stealth and disturbing violence, this one's no Viva Piñata either; some Wii controls aren't so hot.

At the time that we initially saw Rockstar's Manhunt 2 in a quiet setting a few weeks ago in San Francisco, there was no peep of the controversy that has plagued the title over the past week. No talk of AO ratings, no discussion of risking a ban in Britain. Instead, the focus was on both the PSP, PS2 and Wii versions of the game. The big difference between the three games, we discovered, was the dev houses. Rockstar Toronto, the team behind The Warriors, is working on the Wii version. Rockstar Leeds, the studio that has discovered how to squeeze the best capabilities out of the PSP, is working on the handheld title. Meanwhile, the PS2 version of the franchise has come out of Rockstar North's hands and into those of the newly formed Rockstar London, a conglomerate of dev teams from other studios within the company.

This time, things are dramatically different in regard to plot and presentation. There's no Starkweather, and no Piggsy. There's no surveillance camera surrounding your every move. The core ideas, however, are still the same. You'll be playing as Dr. Daniel Lamb. Once upon a time, Daniel worked for the mysterious Project under Dr. Pickman. None of the employees who worked under The Project knew what was going on, but eventually, funding was pulled and The Project went underground. As far as we can tell, it seemed to be hinged upon creating killing machines out of men. Pickman asked Daniel to be a human guinea pig for some experiments, and it cost Daniel both sanity and family.

Six years have passed. Daniel has been committed within the Dicksmore Asylum for six years. Suddenly, after over a half decade within the confines of this mental institution, he begins to reawaken to his life before the fateful experiments after he kills a woman. He and his friend Leo Casper both escape from Dicksmore to put together pieces of the puzzle behind Daniel's insanity. Throughout the game, Daniel has flashbacks (which are levels in and of themselves) that start to color in the events prior to the game's start.

Now, onto the gritty parts that some of you might be wondering about. Manhunt 2 is chock full of gruesome executions, some of which seem to make hamburger from mens' heads, others that are grisly in the makeshift nature of the kill. You'll have the same targeting system from the first game; those who haven't played Manhunt might also recognize it from GTA: San Andreas. Executions are based on the length of time that you hold down the square button (or in the case of the Wii version, wait for the opportunity to attack), and as it changes colors, you'll know the degree of severity on your kill.

Not only will you have the assortment of DIY weaponry found in the first game, you'll also have environmental executions. In one case, we hid in an industrial area near a turbine. With a careful tiptoe behind a would-be assassin, we dispatched him into the grinding gears of the machine. Guns are back, and fortunately, you get them much earlier than in the first game, which makes things a little more manageable. Many complained that not only was the subject matter a bit difficult to stomach in Manhunt, but that the length of time until Cash got a gun made the game unnecessarily difficult, so it's good to see that addressed. Also new to the fracas are gun executions. Blood-spattered as they are, they're pretty reminiscent of the many firearm takedowns in Dead to Rights, but with grimmer settings and more gore.

We didn't get a chance to play the PSP version, but we know that it will be visually similar to the PS2 game and will largely feature the same levels, although there won't be any "drag and drop" interactivity between save data on the console and handheld games. Otherwise, we noticed that thanks to the Wii's extra memory capabilities, any blood spilled on Daniel or Leo will stay on them throughout the level. You'll notice more if you're a messier killer, for certain. Otherwise, the settings are roughly as grim and dark as the game's predecessor, minus the gritty video feel of the first title.

On the Wii, Manhunt 2's controls are spectacularly more visceral. That pays off in spades when you're doing an execution, with easy to follow hand gestures representing your actions. Whatever horrible means of murder you choose, you can rest assured that after the first try or two the Wii controls will feel totally natural. The unfortunate trade off is that your regular combat is controlled by swinging the Wii Remote and the Nunchuk to represent your punches, and that system just doesn't hold together well. After a few minutes, we found ourselves deliberately avoiding activity to avoid having to swing the controls around for no better reward than sore arms and a beat down.

The first level we saw was a flashback triggered as Daniel camps out in a safehouse and sees a photo of Michael, a former co-worker on The Project. The action turns to Leo, who must go through the stage and track down Michael, who's got some important information on him that he won't give up unless Leo can force him to give up the ghost. The action starts up in the basement of an industrial area. After a few unsuccessful tries, we managed to pull off the aforementioned environmental execution. Throughout the action, we noticed that the camera isn't adjustable. Our Rockstar rep mentioned that it's been done to heighten the sense of tension in the game, although we feel like after evolutions in stealth and survival horror --genres to which Manhunt certainly belongs-- it feels a bit regressive on the PS2. It does, though, lends itself to the single analog controls of both the Wii and PSP.

In another stage, which takes place in an S&M club rife with foul language, leather-clad people, and bad industrial music, we discovered a few other levels of rawness within the game. With some executions, such as the familiar garrott, you'll be able to decapitate guards; something you'll actually need in order to clear security access at one point. If the cutscene showing you getting past a guard actually makes the cut, should Rockstar release a re-edited M-rated version, we'll have to nod and smirk in surprise. "Gruesome" barely scratches the surface.

In the last level we saw, which takes place in a brothel dubbed "The Honey Pot," Daniel must make his way though a variety of redneck clientele out to put a stop to his ticker. During this stage, we saw the notorious gruesome-grade execution with pliers. To make a long story short, the gruesome execution will castrate a would-be tough guy, and the next grade down finds you removing some of his vertebrae. It's all very gory stuff, and ironically, our Rockstar rep mentioned that during a tour of a horror film convention, the game went over better with horror fans than in the usual gaming press junkets. It seems that horror geeks who don't regularly play video games were into Manhunt, having no idea what other games Rockstar produces. There's little dispute that the franchise is a niche one, but the representative's anecdote says a lot about the targeted audiences.

Aside from controversy that is undoubtedly stirring even more interest for the game, Manhunt 2 should appeal to fans of the first game. If you hated the first one, be it for the stark and brutal violence or for the game's mechanics and gameplay, we're not exactly sure that you'll be swayed by a second taste with some different settings. However, if you liked the grimness of Manhunt and its balance somewhere between Hitman's emphasis on stealth and survival horror that doesn't involve zombies or ghostly little girls, then this sequel should be right up your alley.

Just seriously, whatever you do, don't even think about letting a kid near this game. We're not joking when we say that aside from the game's violence, there's the dark subject matter, freakish environments (a guy in a suit with an animal mask at an S&M club should be a tip-off), and strong language that really indicates that Manhunt 2 is a game designed for, and to be played by mature, responsible, well, grown-ups. We're waiting to see what happens in regard to the game's release date, but we have few doubts that fans of the first game should be quite happy when this finally hits stores.

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