Manhunt is a great and really violent game, which could've been a lot better without the shooter part.
Gameplay: 7.5/10
- Manhunt's greatest part is no doubt the first half of the game. Sneaking around, praying that that guy with a baseball bat won't see you before you get the change to chop his head off. The sneaking works surprisingly well considering that this is the same game engine that GTA III used. The second half of the game unfortunately turns out to be a third-person-shooter. And a pretty lousy one too. Sure, it's fun to blast someone's head off with a shotgun. For the first few times. Then it gets as repetitive as any other shooter. Been there, done that. BORING! It's also very, very punishing since the enemies usually come in large groups and can kill you in under 2 seconds. And you don't see save points that often.
Atmosphere & Immersion: 8.5/10
- As I said, the first half of the game is clearly the better one. I think they should've ditched the shooter part of the game completely. The first half still feels very atmospheric, due to the setting of the game, the graphics (noise filter, cinematic executions), and THE SOUND, but I will tell more details about those later. Anyway, it just feels very cool to sneak around, waiting for the enemy to walk away from you and then you get to OWN him. Hard. Especially if he had seen you and got a few hits on you. Ah, sweet revenge.
Graphics: 7/10
- The GTA III engine looks kind of dated by now. That doesn't bother me at all though. The shadows look dark enough and the noise filter effect is just wonderfully done. I think the models are not as blocky as they could be, and the textures are mostly ok. So good job here.
Sound: 9/10
- Ohh yeah. Manhunt has some really kick-ass ambient music. It just makes you feel uncomfortable. You NEED to play this with headphones. Alone. Voice acting is great too, most hunters really sound like they are completely insane. Makes you want to hide from them even more, and makes you not regret killing them.
Physics: 3/10
- There's not really almost any physics at all. Except when you open doors or kick trash cans. That's it. VERY basic stuff. Not that it makes the game any worse, since the game doesn't really NEED physics.
Replay value: 6/10
- Every stage you finish has a rating, ranging from 1 to 5 stars. Most players will probably get 2 or 3 in their first playthrough. It'll be hard to get 5 stars but if you score good, you get all kinds of bonus things like cheat codes, new levels and concept art. I play this game again from time to time, but the levels are linear and there is no real player choice except the way you execute the enemies.
Value for money: 8/10
- Change it to 2/10 if you only buy this because it has guns in it. It's pretty cheap now, if you can find it somewhere, since it's banned in some countries. Damn censorship.
Bugs, Stability & Performance: 10/10
- The game has never crashed on my PC, and has no noticeable bugs. Most medium to high end PCs can run it with everything (including 16xQ anti-alias) maxed out no problem. I can even run it on my 7 year old PC with a decent frame rate.
Will this game be remembered by old school gamers as a classic after 10 years?:
- It could've been, if it weren't for the shooter part of the game. It could have been a true classic if it was pure stealth-action.
Who would I recommend to buy the game?:
- Fans of gory, violent, sick stuff. And horror movies. And stealth fans. If you can't stand getting your ass kicked if you try to assault 3 guys armed with baseball bats, buy some unrealistic ownage-shooter instead. Like Max Payne or... Serious Sam.
Final score (not necessarily an average): 7.5