Manhunt

Review - Did nothing to ease Brad's fear of Big Brother-style surveillance, certainly...

Rockstar North seem to enjoy courting controversy with their multi-million selling Grand Theft Auto series of games, the most recent of which is barely a year old. To keep the fire in the bellies of gaming nay-sayers fully lit Rockstar have unleashed what is sure to make Grand Theft Auto look like Super Mario Brothers in terms of close to the knuckle content.

James Earl Cash, a convicted and recently executed murderer, awakes to find himself not only alive, but at the mercy of snuff movie director Starkweather. It seems that Cash has been selected to star in Starkweather's most ambitious movie to date: one man against many in a desolate wasteland, the titular Manhunt. Taking direction through a wireless earpiece Cash must make his way through the challenges set by Starkweather executing the gang members (hunters) using whatever weapons he can find. To begin with Cash is going to have to use a little imagination as this isn't the kind of scenario where absent minded thugs are going to be leaving fully loaded semi-automatic weaponry for you to find. The first weapon to be placed in Cash's sweaty, murderous palms is a plastic bag. I think the stark picture being painted should give you some idea of what to expect when Cash encounters his first victim.

But wait. Cash can't just go running in "bags blazing" as it were. This is one man against a horde of homicidal maniacs, even the nuttiest of fruitcakes wouldn't just charge in and lay to waste an entire gang. Stealth must be used. Sneaking up behind his victim Cash can then dispatch with them by holding down the X button, the longer it is held down, the more gruesome the murder, and the happier the director. This, then, is the premise for the entire game. Sneaking up on people and killing them in the most hideous and violent way possible.

Let's get one thing straight from the offset, this is no Grand Theft Auto. Despite its setting, there is a lot of tongue in cheek humour residing in the GTA games which take the edge off of the otherwise abhorrent acts you are committing. Manhunt has no such elements. Enemies are decapitated, bludgeoned, shot, garrotted and beaten in as graphically brutal a fashion as the Playstation 2 can muster. These events are displayed as if being recorded on a particularly low budget CCTV system in a variety of quick cuts to show the horror of the kill. Starkweather then comments on how good or bad a kill you have managed and encourages you to do better or continue onward.

The game carries all the hallmarks of John Carpenter's early film work, dark, poorly lit environments, twisted gangs with murderous and sinister intent, an overwhelming sense of paranoia and even a Carpenter inspired synth soundtrack. There is also a good smattering of David Cronenberg thrown in for good measure in the voyeuristic elements; you can't help but feel uneasy while playing. Be it the soulless and voiceless Cash, the gleeful taunts and praise of Starkweather, or the mercilessly bigoted and violent gang-members, there is very little here to take comfort in. This is violence for violence sake, no underlying message of hope, good, or even humour. The introduction of a female journalist trying to uncover Starkweather's sinister plots through Cash does little to fill the otherwise empty morality vessel.

Please don't get me wrong, this is a game produced with style and finesse on every level, and I believe that it was Rockstar North's intention to create an uneasy setting for their game. Indeed it will certainly sell on the negative publicity that it will no doubt attract over the coming weeks. But it really deserves to sell because it's an incredibly well crafted game experience. The controls are simple, responsive, context sensitive and easy to pick-up. The user interface is neat, functional and easy to read, especially the radar: enemies only appear on it if they are audible or visible and it works very well to increase the tense atmosphere especially when the enemy you are stalking shuts his mouth and vanishes leaving you wondering where he has gone. Do you move out and try to find him visually and risk being seen? Or do you wait for him to start whistling or tread on something noisy? Interestingly the game steers clear from the usual game language associated with the stealth genre. Other than highlighted pick-ups, enemy states and behaviour have to be perceived from their actions rather than a floating icon above their heads. And it works, something that MGS evidently chose not to do.

Graphically this is Rockstar North's finest hour, the graphic style really suits the game and the environments look grim and intimidating. The characters inhabiting the environments are also excellent and James Earl Cash sports some very nice animation, which is not only functional but communicates to the player when various actions are available such as when to charge-up your murder button. The sound is very well produced and the voice talent is top notch. While not as notable as Rockstar North's coup de grace GTA, all the actors do a great job. The soundtrack, as mentioned earlier, is a great homage to John Carpenter's movie scores and are used sparingly which adds to the already thick atmosphere the game has. The only real downside to the game is its great difficulty. Player progress is rated at the end of each stage out of 5 stars, to even get 2 is tough, getting five right now seems impossible, but I am sure learning the level layouts will reap the rewards desired.

Manhunt is a great game, and though the subject matter is questionable, it comes highly recommended if you can stomach what are unarguably the grimmest moments in videogame history and are prepared to tolerate the game's high difficulty level.

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