Manhunt (2003)

All the resources and vitriol of the world are bearing down upon you. You would think with such grandiose scale behind this spectacle that there is some ambitious agenda at play. Survival maybe, so entrenched we are in mutual malice that we must so comprehensively ensure the eradication of our enemies? Ideological perhaps, that this zealous fervor is motivated in the realization in some celestial vision? You would be mistaken to confer such glamour on this performative depravity. No, this inclination for violent domination is solely toward the spectacle itself. Gratification to satiate a primordial urge, that countless millennia of supposed evolution has yet to have humanity collectively outgrow.

You fall prey to it as well. For you indulge them. You play into your role. And you are much, much more adapt than they. For while those that hunt you must delude some pretense in which to despise you, you instead have no need for acting. These manifested charades in which they other you with, through your identity, your ethnicity, your diverging beliefs. They pale in comparison to the simplicity that is retribution. To return with interest the intended harm directed towards you. Allowing you to forfeit any semblance of love or compassion and find fervid revelry in the unmaking of those that would wish to be your reflection. And in turn retroactively vindicate their self-fulfilling framing towards you.

As the catharsis of the moment subsides, you find that you are still left empty. To come out as the victor in a meaningless and vapid conflict brings no lasting joy. The lens of the camera flares as it captures your dispassionate face. You have fed it what it needs. Your vehement rage caught on tape. To be stripped of context, edited and reassembled to spin some twisted narrative. And then sold as pornography to incite and substantiate the prejudice of those with no skin in which to participate themselves. As you smash the camera in, it bothers you how the violent perversion of the intangible spectator far exceeds your own.

(Manhunt is incredible candid. It prepositions that the spectacle of violence is incredibly gratifying and then facilitates your ability to conduct these acts wantonly. There is little further additional commentary. Perhaps this alone is interesting, the game so presuming of its players to be caricatures that revel in its barbarity that it needs no further elaboration or nuance. Its gameplay systems controversially contrast against brute force however, instead encouraging timing and positioning over precision, leading to an experience that is surprisingly frictional, but trivial to exploit through its generous ‘stealth’ mechanics. I am not sure who I would recommend it for as a result. A power fantasy which debases you as you continue to play.)

I wonder if this could even be made today. It was highly controversial at the time (even within Rockstar) and to this day a friend in Australia can't play it because it's still banned

Manhunt is repellent and yet totally compelling. It's a stealth game, but you definitely get your hands dirty

You play a death row inmate who is forced to participate in what are basically snuff films. His reward will be his freedom. It's a bit reminiscent of the film The Running Man except the violence is off the charts.

There is a lot of tension in the game as you are often faced up against enemies who are stronger and better armed than you are. Stealth kills are your friend

It's an uncomfortable experience, but it's meant to be. It's extremely gritty and violent. Some of the ways you can perform your executions are admittedly pretty messed up

The level design and combat were a bit janky back in the day, so, although I never really take that into consideration in my reviews, I can only guess what a "modern" gamer might make of it

You can actually choose how gruesome you want your executions to be. They can be hardly bloody, or over the top gory. The game definitely pushed that envelope in video game violence and whether that is a good thing is really up to the individual, I played the game and remained unscathed

I loved it and found it quite challenging. There was one part at a train station that I just could not make it through and only did so by taking a step back from the game for a while

There is a nihilistic tone to the game which was unique for the time and even today

The snuff film aspect never feels like a gimmick

I regard it my top 10 Rockstar games and just a great game of the 2000's...if you can stomach the violence and hey, you've got Brian Cox!

Ну очень так себе. По современным меркам совсем плохо.

Больше всего это напоминает масштабный мод на ГТА. Эпохи 3D естественно. Поэтому стелс тут кривой, а стрельба ещё кривее. А кроме этого есть только хороший концепт, но с таким геймплеем на концепт быстро становится наплевать.

Первую четверть игры нас заставляют играть в примитивный стелс, где враги тупые до ужаса, а игрока либо видно, либо нет. В целом стелс выглядит следующим образом: ударил по стене, чтобы привлечь врага, подождал пока он отвернется и убил. Наскучивает миссии к 3-й. Если врагов много, то ещё скучнее: нужно подманивать тупых болванчиков так, чтобы в итоге они подходили по одному. На трупы они не реагируют никак, в тенях главного героя не видят, а если всё-таки заметили, то надо просто убежать из их поля зрения и дождаться пока все успокоятся, а это совсем недолго. Зачем при таких условиях есть возможность таскать трупы — загадка.

Никаких интересных ситуаций не создают. Вершина местного геймдизайна — две миссии, где нужно провести NPC живыми до конца уровня. При этом можно приказывать им сидеть на месте и следовать за героем. Ну ясно же, что сначала вырезаешь всех врагов, а потом в безопасности проводишь NPC.

После первой четверти в игре появляются миссии ориентированные на перестрелки, и чем дальше, тем больше. После середины баланс со стелса смещается на стрельбу, и тогда уже тихое прохождение становится редкостью. А стрельба тут чисто как в ГТА, разве что можно ходить прицелившись и хедшоты ставить, а ещё есть плохо реализованная стрельба из уркрытия. Но главный герой хрупкий (у нас же ведь стелс! хоть и экшоновый), поэтому экшон тоже выглядит как цирк с конями. Как стелс, но подходить вплотную уже необязательно.

Ну и последнее — концепт. Он тут тоже раскрыт так себе. Завязка интригует, но она просто служит оправданием для зернистого фильтра, жестоких убийств и прочих вещей. На деле о сюжете заявляют в начале и в конце. Даже скандальной жестокости в игре мало: 7-8 видов оружия для казни, у кажого оружия по 3 вида расправы. Но врагов столько, что смотреть на них устаёшь уже через пару часов игры.

В общем Manhunt и в год выхода был весьма средней игрой, а сейчас в него играть нет никакого смысла: графика, разумеется, не впечатляет, жестокость утомляет также быстро, как и однообразный геймплей, а вся сложность создаётся хрупким героем и толпами тупых врагов.

Не рекомендую.

Platform: PS4 (PS2)

The indexing of Manhunt was the main reason i wanted to try this game. First i thought this game would become boring after a few hours because it would be only about stupid violence. But I was wrong: It´s a great stealth game and it´s really difficult. I´m stuck in a scene and it seems like impossible to me to accomplish it no matter if i do it the tactical way or not.

Maybe Manhunt isn´t a masterpiece but still it´s a great game that deserves 4 stars so far.