There were few game-makers that are willing to touch on themes concerning the very much nastier and uglier aspects of the real-world, and then make these even more shocking. Yet, there is a niche to be had from such themes, and a lucrative one too if the game-maker succeeds in creating a game with solid gameplay from them.
Rockstar is one such game-maker. While it has courted a lot of controversies with its games, it continues to make them, of which the stubbornness to continue doing so is already a feat in itself.
However, not all of their games can be considered as excellent as the best of its crop. Manhunt is among these, for what would have been a shocking portrayal of illicit film-making and stylized bloodletting has its otherwise unique appeals diminished by linear gameplay and lack of variety in features; this is in stark contrast with Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto franchise.
The game is described by its maker and the media as a stealth-sneaker, similar in terms of gameplay with the likes of Ubisoft's Splinter Cell games and the Thief franchise, only much more outrageous and bloodier.
(It is also worth noting here that the game takes place in the same fictional universe as the Grand Theft Auto franchise.)
The player takes on the role of death row inmate James Earl Cash, who is a very dangerous man known for feats of bloody violence but who is otherwise sane. He had little to look forward to other than a pitiless execution in a correctional facility in the fictional Carcer City. Instead of receiving a lethal injection, he received tranquilizers and was illicitly sent over to territories within Carcer City under the dominion of a sadistic but very wealthy magnate known initially as the "Director" (and whom this review will continue to refer to as the Director, to prevent any spoilers).
The Director promises Cash his freedom, if he would participate in stints in his "snuff film" industry. With little choice and little else that he knows how to do other than to stalk and murder people that he despises, Cash agreed, but the story is of course not as simple as that. However, it is no more sophisticated than an excuse to have him murdering a lot of murderous madmen and/or very corrupt individuals.
The gangsters, cultists and lunatics that Cash has to face are simply called "Hunters" by the sadistic Director. Of course, this is just dramatic verbose on the part of the Director; they are little more than thugs with a lack of wit. They are initially armed with improvised weapons, later equipping themselves with converted tools like nail-guns and actual close combat weapons. Eventually, as the Director becomes increasingly disturbed by Cash's ability to methodically slay a lot of his paid-off goons, they are given firearms.
Despite this, the Hunters are mostly stupid characters: they often travel alone and follow set patrol paths, and are easily flanked when distracted by some curious occurrence, such as the noise of glass shattering if the player chooses to have Cash throw a beer battle across a distance, or even taps of a machete against a concrete wall. The player may even choose to pick up and dump bodies around, and not just in the shadows, in order to attract enemies away from their patrol paths (though they won't be spooked for too long; the enemies that Cash faces are surprisingly amoral and jaded towards death, such that a corpse that they had seen won't spook them a second time). More often than not, the labyrinthine designs of the levels in the game work in the favour of the player when he/she is outsmarting the enemy AI.
However, while such behaviour is understandable for violent men who have lost any sense of decency, it is not so acceptable when extended to characters such as police officers, SWAT personnel and mercenaries, whom Cash will have to face later. Despite supposedly being professionally trained, they behave little differently from the thugs seen in earlier levels. The only differences that the former have are different aesthetics, but then they are little if any less tart-mouthed and sadistic than the latter. They also die all the same if killed with executions. Therefore, it would be difficult for the player not to have a sense of déjà vu some time into the game, or even become bored from killing seemingly the same enemy over and over.
Perhaps the only sequence in the game that is different from the usual chores of killing unsuspecting enemies is a boss fight of sorts, very late into the game. It is the only sequence where the adversary acts differently from the usual goons and that Cash cannot outright kill him with an execution. The boss fight will build in suspense as Cash aggresses the boss more and more, eventually culminating in a nasty finale that is likely to put a sadistic smirk on the player's face as he/she watches the tables turn against said boss.
However, what happens after can be a bit jarring, as Cash no longer needs to charge for executions and can no longer do so and, most importantly, does not need to use the weapon looted from said boss in the manner that the game told the player to. The player is not informed of this, so there can be some confusing frustration as the player tries to figure where he/she is doing things wrong.
Another attempt by the game to mix up the gameplay is escort scenarios, each of which has an NPC following Cash around, regardless of whether the player wants that NPC to or not. The NPC can be told to stay put, but after some time, the NPC will come running to Cash's position anyway, which does not help the player when he/she is trying to resort to stealth to overcome enemies. The player has to protect this NPC from being slain or it is a straight game-over too, which can be frustrating, considering how helplessly stupid this NPC is. Most players would consider such scenarios troublesome at best. At least the game will inform the player when the NPC is about to come running up to Cash, but this can break the fourth wall.
Perhaps the only saving grace to be had with the A.I. designs is that enemies are not so stupid enough to stray into dark areas when they are patrolling or checking out suspicious noises. Even the most demented of enemies would refuse to do so, making a remark that they won't go into dark places where they cannot see well unless they really have to.
However stupid as they are, Cash's enemies obviously outnumber him many times over, and more often than not, alerting one that is within earshot of another is more than likely to cause the first one to call his buddies over. This is where the game insists on stealthy decisions, and where the stealth mechanics of the game come into play.
Cash seemingly has the ability to turn invisible when he enters shadowy areas by simply bowing and hunching over a bit; an additional visual cue comes in the form of an icon, shaped as a shadowy silhouette of Cash. In this state, most enemies that had not already spotted him are not able to realize that he is there at all. Those that stray under the shadows or close to them can only spot Cash if he is several feet in front of them, and not at all if he is approaching them from behind.
Attacking enemies from behind them is the only way to utilize the most appealing - and contentious – mechanic of this game, called "executions". Executions are often grisly acts, courtesy of Cash's barely pent-up rage. The default kills are relatively tamer than the nastier ones, which can only be obtained by having Cash tail a target long enough while holding up a weapon to strike; visual indicators will inform the player when he is ready to perform these aesthetically more horrible slayings. To introduce more sophistication to executions, there are items that can only be used once per execution before disappearing, and those that can be used repeatedly; however, the latter tend to be noisier than the latter at executions, even default kills.
These slayings are somewhat impressive, in their own way: they are indeed grisly, believable yet shocking enough to be outrageous and most importantly, rarely seen in video games at the time. The way that the Director seemingly uses hidden, grainy cameras to get the most advantageous angles on the killings emphasizes this further. However, if the player can see past the visuals and audio, he/she will find that executions are a bit problematic, gameplay-wise.
For one, Cash has to be very close to his target for the execution to be "charged" to greater levels of violence; moving outside of this range resets the "charge", so this can be a problem if the player has to follow targets that vary their movement speeds between walking and running, especially those that have been spooked. Another cause for frustration is that the player needs to hold down the button for a melee kill for the "charging" to occur, while still using the other control inputs to have Cash follow the target; this can be cumbersome. Lastly, the camera zooms in from a more comfortable field of view to a closer and narrower one during the stalking, thus reducing the player's ability to spot anything that might jeopardize the execution; it also obscures Cash's feet, which is a big problem as there are terrains that are noisy to walk upon such as gravel and which are better navigated if the camera gave a good view of his legs.
There may be some macabre entertainment to be had from finding out what kind of animations can be expected from the various levels of executions associated with every close combat weapon in the game. Cash may be a hothead, but he does not lack a sense of imagination when it comes to slaying his enemies in the most excruciating manner possible. The default executions tend to be what a player would expect of executions: quick, quiet and efficient. However, the more graphic ones tend to take longer and are noisier; they happen to alert nearby enemies; coupled with the time needed to "charge" executions and the risks of tailing enemies while "charging", the nastier executions may leave the player at a disadvantage after having performed them.
To somewhat compensate for the long animations of the more gruesome executions, the game partially disables the A.I. of any nearby enemies, to prevent them from moving or attacking during the executions. The game also temporarily removes the models of all characters other than Cash and his victim, so that the cutscenes only have them present. This can lead to some awkward moments when the game re-renders the other characters' models when they are still within the view of the player.
Outside of executions and firearms, Cash can only defeat enemies with straight-up combat. Unlike the protagonists of the Grand Theft Auto games, he is not a walking armoury. He can only carry limited weaponry, though as compensation, they are shown on his person, being strapped onto his back or stuffed under his belt. These are handy visual cues, as the player can easily remind himself/herself what he/she has armed Cash with by just a glance at his model. However, there appears to be some mix-ups between weapon types and what weapons go into what slots on Cash's person. For example, the Baseball Bat is supposed to be a melee weapon, but it occupies the same slot as two-handed firearms. Another example is that reusable melee weapons occupy the same slot as sidearms. This reduces the player character's versatility.
At default difficulty, Cash is very tough to kill, even with firearms. In fact, he may seem familiar to the veterans of the Grand Theft Auto games; this impression would be amplified further when he/she realizes that Cash's running animations are very, very similar to those of the protagonists of the Grand Theft Auto games. There are also influences from other games, such as a likely homage to the Max Payne games in the form of bottles of painkillers, which are the main way for Cash to regain lost health. However, cash may be able to run faster than most other characters (who will often remark on how fast he can run), but he cannot jump nor vault over small obstacles, which is a stark contrast against the protagonists of these other games.
Adding to the game's theme of "snuff" films, the levels are called "scenes" in this game. Upon having slain all of the enemies that are hounding Cash, the exit of the scene will be unlocked, allowing the player character to move on to the next challenge. It has to be noted here that the time taken to travel to the exit is also counted in the time expended to complete the level; this can be an annoyance.
The game tries to strike a balance between gunplay and close combat kills. However, the game's use of features that had been in earlier Grand Theft Auto games may detract from the game's theme of close-quarters brutality, namely the use of certain auto-aim and auto-locking features. Of course, the game penalizes the player's lack of finesse if he/she wastes ammunition. However, due to the generally claustrophobic designs of the levels in the game, Cash and his enemies often have to shoot each other in close range, but the latter simply do not know how to go for head-shots and often stands still enough for the player to literally blow their heads off.
Cash is right-handed, so shooting around left-hand corners can be a problem. Fortunately, the game compensates for this by allowing the player to press up against a wall and popping in and out around a corner to shoot. It is not as good as simply leaning out, but the ability to zip right back behind the corner is welcome.
(It is worth noting here that using an Xbox controller makes it even easier to go for headshots, due to scripts that let the player switch Cash's aim onto the sensitive regions of already locked-onto targets. Another thing worth noting is that the camera position used for the aiming mode looks rather similar to that for Splinter Cell, which this game is purportedly influenced by, among other games.)
Whatever gear that Cash has stolen for himself is taken away from him in the next scene, usually through coercion by the Director's mercenaries or through less believable excuses like accidents. This hurts the already inconsequential story's cohesion and also requires the player to repeat what he/she has done in the past levels: look for weapons first, instead of getting straight into the business of killing.
There are some attempts to vary the gameplay between one level and the next, such as implementing locked doors that can only be pried open with certain weapons, like crowbars, at the cost of making a lot of noise. There are also environmental objects that can be interacted with, such as things that can be kicked around to cause a commotion to attract nearby enemies and walls that have scripts that allow Cash to press his back against them. However, if the player is looking to use the environment for subterfuge, the shadows are still the player's most reliable friends.
Some levels do not have story-centric exposition, but they do little other than give names to characters whom the player already knows to have no further shocking secrets to hide. Cash himself is neither a very likeable character nor a complex one, and how he approached certain levels that involve his family members (who have abandoned him to his fate) only shows this instead of the game's lousy attempt at redeeming him.
Perhaps the most offending aspect of the level designs in the game, or rather the game itself, is that there is no save-game feature, only checkpoint systems. While this is a norm in console games, that the PC version does not have it suggests that the game is a half-hearted port by Rockstar (which is an impression that won't be dispelled in the years after this game, it is worth noting). Moreover, the player must complete levels within set amounts of time, or simply receive a game-over.
The game has only two difficulty settings: the regular "Fetish" and the harder "Hardcore". Hardcore makes enemies tougher and Cash a bit weaker, but otherwise the enemies are still stupid and can be killed outright with executions. The only significant difference is that some useful elements of the heads-up display is removed, namely a radar that lets the player track enemies and noises.
The player's performance in a completed level will be gauged according to the number of kills that had been executions, as well as the brutality of these; kills through headshots also count toward the results, which reward players who have twitch skills but not the patience for executions. The difficulty is also a minor factor; the perfect five-star rating can only be obtained by playing on Hardcore.
Considering the need to score gruesome executions to earn high scores, the game would seem to discourage straight-up combat, which can be dull and certainly not as rewarding as the much more macabre executions. The game alleviates this somewhat by insisting on a set number of gruesome executions, instead of percentages of kills that are due to gruesome executions.
There are not many rewards to be had from achieving high ratings beyond meta-game records like achievements, but there are bonus levels and concept artwork that can be unlocked by achieving high ratings. The concept artwork won't be telling the player much of anything new that the player couldn't know by playing the game itself, but the bonus levels can be a bit fun if rather lacking in innovation.
However, most of these bonus levels are variations on what the player has done in the main game mode. There is "Hard as Nails", which pits the player against more and more enemies, challenging the player to rack as high a score as possible before inevitably dying from attrition, but otherwise ditching the mechanic of executions for more efficient running-and-gunning.
Then, there is "Brawl Game", which throws out stealth altogether by forcing Cash to participate in fist-fights in an arena with no cover or shadows; if there is anything remarkable about it, it is that enemies fight each other in this bonus level, which is not an occurrence in the story mode. Like "Hard as Nails", the goal is to survive as long as possible, but a wily player will soon notice that he/she can stay alive as long as possible by having Cash run around, which is silly and counter-productive to the game's themes. Participating in the fights are pointless, as Cash is not a hand-to-hand combat master.
"Monkey See, Monkey Die!" has even less subtlety than the two previous bonus levels, being little more than an extended shoot-out with a gang that possibly never got into the story due to their silly name and appearance.
The last bonus level is likely another attempt to utilize content that never made it into the main game. "Time 2 Die" plays out like any other level, but has a far shorter time limit. More importantly, the enemies exhibit cowardice, refusing to confront Cash if they are on their own and not near any compatriot; instead, they run towards the nearest friend to get help. This can make them a bit troublesome to kill, but otherwise they are just as stupid as the rest of the enemies in this game.
If there is any consolation to be had from the lack of genuine variety in the gameplay, it is that the controls are more than good enough for the tasks at hand. On the PC version, skulking around in the shadows, stalking targets or simply running pell-mell is not much of a problem (perhaps with the exception of stalking, as mentioned earlier) with the default controls layout for the keyboard and mouse.
The game may have the player doing essentially the same thing over and over, but at least each and every level looks and sounds different from the previous and next ones. The only similarity that all of them have is that they are set during the night, as according to the story designs of the game that supposedly have the entire plot unravelling throughout the course of only one night. Of course, more sceptical players can consider this a convenient excuse to reduce artwork for skyboxes.
The game starts with the darker and dingier alleys of Carcer City, which have seemingly innocuous items like plastic bags and less-innocuous ones like glass shards lying around, waiting for an innovatively brutal person to make lethal use of them. This later gives way to other places like an abandoned construction site and the villa of the main antagonist of the game.
There are plenty of textures in the game, used to portray the themes of the levels. On the PC version, these have been updated to be sharper and more detailed, especially those in the construction site and the villa. The lighting in the PC version also has more flair, but overall, the graphics in the game won't be challenging those of the game franchises that were leading in the graphics race at the time.
However, it is worth noting here that Manhunt's graphics have deliberately grainy visuals, especially during the in-game cutscenes for executions. This is again a tribute to the game's theme of "snuff films", but it does reduce the contrast levels of the visuals, which is a detriment. The game compensates by giving the character models for enemies some gaudy features, like colourful tattoos, insignia and masks and highlighting interesting objects with icons when they are in view, but these detract from the gritty feel of the game.
Most of the voice-acting in the game will be provided by the Director and his goons. The Director is almost always watching, and with Cash having an earpiece device directly linked to the Director most of the time, he will be the one uttering the most things to the player. Most of these are his exhortations that Cash deals terrible deaths to goons who are not aware that he is right behind them, but in between levels, he also taunts and goads Cash. His voice-actor provided him a sufficiently believable personality of treacherous malice; it would be difficult for a player to consider any other character in Manhunt to be more appropriately voiced.
One step below the Director in aural entertainment is the goons themselves, many of which are tart-mouthed. Initially, they are often loudly relishing the opportunity to partake in the Director's snuff films and the chance to take another life, or else muttering about how poorly they are paid but otherwise glad for having something worthwhile to do than committing crime. They become even more tart-mouthed when they have been agitated (usually due to having been alerted to Cash's presence), frequently spitting out explosives and helping the game earn its age ratings more than it already has. Later in the game, they can be found conversing with each other about how deadly Cash is and how they either dismiss his threat or dread it.
The voice-overs of the goons gives the game's story its much needed sense of pace, which would otherwise had been overshadowed by the repetitive gameplay. However, they do not compensate as well as for Cash's voice-over, which is so sparse (though understandable, considering Cash's tendency to pen up rage).
The voice-overs would seem splendid next to the other sound designs of the game, though that is not saying that they are excellent. In fact, they are just decent, but to sceptical and observant players, they may notice that certain sound effects, such as the gunfire and the thuds, clanks and squelches of melee weapons hitting something sound all too familiar to those in the earlier Grand Theft Auto games. If they do happen to be recycled sounds, then Rockstar has at least remixed some of them to match the times.
There are some notable sound effects though. One of these is Cash's heartbeat, which changes according to the current situation. Yet, it can be a bit distracting, considering that there are visual indicators of Cash's current state.
Much of the music in the game consists of ominous electronic and bass, which fits the game's themes very well. However, many of them appear to sound a lot like remixes of each other, given their insistence on suspenseful and eerie tunes. As a result, they can be rather forgettable to those who do not have a penchant for macabre-sounding music.
In conclusion, Manhunt certainly delivers on the shock factor and pushes the limits of taboos some more, but gameplay-wise, it won't be revolutionizing anything. It does a lot of things that the game franchises that inspired its designs have already done, but even so it does not do much better. Nevertheless, if the player is looking for themes that had not been seen much in games, Manhunt, with its emphasis on nastier reflections of real-world nastiness, can offer an entertaining experience.