Despite its flaws, Manhunt 2 winds up being the best (and scariest) stealth game on the Wii.
I'd have to say so. In fact, there are numerous areas where it surpasses it greatly. First off, you play as Danny Lamb... and you awake in an asylum and you can't seem to remember anything. That's where Leo Kasper (your cellmate) teaches you the ropes to escape from the asylum. And that's as far as I'm gonna go. The story, in my opinion, is WAY better than the original. The first game kind of felt like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, while Manhunt 2 feels like SAW. The story is much more of a psychological horror game than the first. This game doesn't just send a chill down your spine... it gets into your head. This is largely due to the solid voice acting and consistently creepy atmosphere.
The gameplay isn't wildly different from the original. It runs on a solid, stealth-based engine where your radar only tells you enemy locations and the amount of sound you make. You can sneak up behind someone with one of the many weapons, and depending on how long you hold the button down, you perform a gruesome kill. Despite the amount of censoring done to the kill animations, they are still pretty DAMN violent. A bit of blurring isn't going to make you ignore the splashes of crimson, or the disgusting sound FX. And yes, the wii controls make the experience more satisfying. Now there's "environmental kills" where you can lead your victim to an object in the area... and then USE IT. Whether it's a phone or a manhole, these new kill opportunities are great. You can also perform kills from above... so these new abilities make you feel more powerful than you were in the original. That's not to say that you can easily own anyone you come across (trust me... you can't), but you're definitely more able this time around. Whenever you're engaged in melee fights, the wiimote & chuck are used for some good ol' fashioned fisticuffs. Also, IR aiming is used whenever guns are availible. It's an intelligently-designed, thrilling game throughout.
Some critics complain about the supposedly archaic AI. I didn't really find a problem with it. Games like Splinter Cell and Metal Gear set such a high standard... who's to say that this game has bad AI? Sure, you might find predictable movement patterns... and sometimes it can be easy to escape from them. But I think it's decent enough AI, because the game never feels too easy.
The graphics are where the game suffers the most. Sure... the wii version looks a tad sharper with improved lighting, but muddy textures and blocky models are everywhere. The one thing that saves the graphics from looking too bad is (once again) the terrifically creepy atmosphere. The kill animations are great... even though they're distorted.
Overall, with the slightly budget price of $40... you can't really go wrong with Manhunt 2. The Wii doesn't have enough of these games! It's an exciting, compelling package all around. You can see the amount of care Rockstar took in crafting this game. Plus, alternate endings give you incentive to play through the game again. If you're tired of RE4 and want another rated "M" thriller, this one's for you. Rockstar's an extremely talented company and I anxiously look forward to their next project.
*the wii gets a couple extra weapons not found in other versions*