This isn't what it should have been.
User Rating: 7 | Manhunt 2 WII
Every gamer knows the controversy surrounding Manhunt 2, the infamous game that was banned in so many places. Now, after all the censoring, blurring and filtering has been done, Manhunt 2 doesn't seem like it should cause any controversy at all, at least not on the Wii. The game starts out in the asylum and gives you a brief tutorial on how to move, perform execution moves and use weapons. From there, you are more or less on your own, set out to figure out why things are happening to you, and killing anyone who gets in the way. That sounds good, but the problem here isn't Manhunt 2's gameplay, its the execution animations, which have been distorted to the point where you can't tell what weapon you're holding, let alone what you're doing with that weapon. Considering the controversy surrounding this game, the lack of execution brutality is extremely disappointing. You will still hear the splattering, gushing noises, and the addition of the Wii controls certainly makes it feel violent...but you won't see any of it. This is quite possibly the biggest complaint with 2, because it feels like a half-assed attempt to push the game to shelves on a Nintendo system. The game is still good beyond this, however, and the stealth elements work quite well and have a satisfying feel whenever you manage to pull off an execution move. You creep through shadows with a number of creative and appropriately gruesome weapons, all of which can be used for melee attacks as well. There is a good variety to the weapons, and the moves for each weapons exe moves vary, and they all make terrific use of the motion controls to make you feel like you are really using a similar object. The audio in the game is well done, but nothing spectacular. The squishing and slicing of human flesh is realistic but the weapon sounds everywhere else just sound muted and synthetic. The dialog is average, some voice overs are good, some are just terrible, the writing is fairly well done for a game of this genre, but some of the characters don't sound at all like they look. The game is fairly challenging, not because of the games AI, which is simple and predictable, but because of nature of the levels which often force you to find ways around the game's incredibly powerful enemy attacks. Its fun and definitely feels tense and adds to the games atmosphere. The graphics are the weakest point of the game by far, even for Wii/PS2, the graphics just look ugly. Character models and environments all look like something from an average Dreamcast game, textures are blurry and boring, and the game seems to have trouble animating sometimes, as characters will skip around and have a lot of strange spaz-ish attacks from time to time. All in all, Manhunt 2 is still a good game, it's just not what you were expecting, and it's definitely a game you will forget quickly. It's a step in the right direction, hopefully any future sequels will go unedited, and improve upon 2's flaws to make a truly unique and classic game.
