With too much focus on the controversy surrounding the game, people forgot to appreciate how original Manhunt was.
As aforementioned, this was new. It was bold and still is. The stealth concept had never been so strong and although it proved to be awkward trying to hide from the hunters due to the controls and camera angles, if gave you all the more reason to sit stone still until you had weighed up your options, and moved in to make that satisfying execution. Yes, the executions were a tad over the top, but they were still very satisfying to pull off and get away with. Another nice feature was that although it seemed even more unnecessary to give players the option to engage in 3 levels of violence when performing executions, (the third being the most violent act imaginable) you could, provided you had done well, earn a good rating at the end of your ''film''. This in turn could even earn you half of a cheat code in the bonus options. So there is a good reason to be hardcore, and it encourages replayability. The gameplay adds a realistic element because James Earl Cash (the protagonist anti-hero) is a tough nut, but given he was discovered and had to fight hand-to-hand with more than one hunter, it just wasn't possible. You often had to disappear and disappear fast, otherwise, back to the start of the level for you. That was an issue though, i felt: the game was just so damn hard, very unforgiving. But then wouldn't you be if you were a muttering psychopath wearing a smiley face mask and wielding a meat cleaver? The game has style. Lots of gory stuff to keep you on the edge of your seat and some genuinely menacing enemies for you to deal with made this game pretty scary. If you can ignore the hype and just appreciate the game, it's worth a buy. My only problems with it were the controls and the difficulty -as I still haven't unlocked half of those cheat codes- otherwise I really enjoyed it.