Manhunt

I have come to peel your grapes

I can imagine that this game, if it is ever released in Japan, may well suffer at the hands of the translators. The Japanese games charts may well be chock full of obscure titles but I doubt if a game with a name that suggests it is all about recruiting people to take part in some sort of Gay Pride march will get much attention from shoppers. It is quite easy to make a joke out of "Manhunt" in English, so I hope that the Eastern publishers do not slip up with this one.

The less open-minded of you can relax - there is no recruiting of any kind in this game. Whether you will be happier to actually learn what the game really is all about is another question...

A Very Nice Man

Death, death, death and violence

This game is violent. Not comic-book violent, but 'proper' violent. Think of films like Goodfellas, Casino and Donnie Brasco. Or pretty much any film with Ray Winstone in it. And then add some rather nasty people who like to see others suffering (like a double glazing salesperson).

The game sees you take control of James Earl Cash. James was a bad man and was sentenced to death by way of a lethal injection. However, the whole execution was a ruse and James was merely heavily sedated. Waking up in a dark room he is told via an intercom to put on an earpiece and do as he is told if he wants to survive. James is now the main star of a snuff film and if he lives out the night he is a free man.

In reality this gives the developers an excuse to come up with a third-person stealth game with no real plot. At its core, the game is made up of some very standard stealth-based action with you starting off at one end of a map and having to make your way to the exit without drawing attention to yourself. About the only thing that makes this game different from the rest is that whenever you sneak up on someone and execute them you get a close up view of it from a video camera (this is supposed to be a snuff video, remember), and you have your narrator/guide bloke shouting things like "Yeah, yeah! I knew you were the best, you f**c*ing psycho!".

Actually, that's perhaps a little unfair. The game does actually create a very good atmosphere and at no point in the game do you ever see yourself as being the 'good guy'. You are just a thug beating up other thugs for a snuff film. It's just a shame that it all gets very mundane quite quickly, as you soon realise that combat is a bit of a pain in the arse and the controls are really quite poor.

Evil Residentials

Batter up!

For some reason the designers decided to go with a movement scheme similar to Resident Evil and you also have no control over the camera at all which makes the game rather frustrating. There will be times when you are going round a corner but cannot actually see past the wall and have no choice but to keep moving until the camera has swing round - not ideal when you are trying to sneak up on somebody and stab them in the neck with a shard of broken glass. The Resi Evil style controls also mean that you cannot suddenly turn around and run away when you get discovered or cornered because you have to turn around first.

Let’s take a look at the graphics. Well, they are fairly good for a PS2 game although I have seen better. Most of the game is dark and I was a bit surprised that the developers didn't try to come up with a funky looking lighting system like in Splinter Cell. Up close the character models lack detail and there is an odd grainy look to everything as well. However, the animation is well done and when you see the close up of you whacking someone with a baseball bat (complete with blood splattering the camera) you can actually believe it.

The Harrowing Sounds of Darkness

Hello. I have come to look after your children.

And so we move onto the sound. Which is actually very good. The music is perfectly composed for the game and is key to the rather intimidating atmosphere present throughout the game. I am not talking about some booming epic crashing in the background here, but the score is suitably harrowing and sinister at all times. Also worthy of praise is your instructor who communicates to you via your headpiece. The voice acting is very good, with his script also being very good for the most part. He not only guides you and gives you hints, but also praises you and mocks you according to how you go about killing the enemy. He is certainly one sick individual.

Sadly, the sound is really the only thing that is particularly memorable or of any outstanding quality. You soon realise that you cannot really confront any of the enemies head on, especially as you will often get attacked by more than one enemy at once. This basically renders the game a rather boring case of hiding in a shadow and making some noise to attract one of the thugs to the area. Once they turn their back you sneak up on them and execute them with a weapon. Some people may find the whole violent theme of this game off-putting but it didn't bother me in the slightest. In fact, it is the only thing that really stops this game getting a lower score as it is all rather well done and creates a very good atmosphere. The trouble is other games of a similar theme have not only a good atmosphere but a good underlying game as well. Splinter cell has its gadgets, night vision goggles and great looking lighting system. Metal Gear Solid has a good story and inventiveness. Tenchu has you leaping around the place like a mad ninja. All Manhunt has is its violence.