Manhunt: The Game I've Never Defended

Long time readers know that I have often been an advocate of Rockstar Games and the Grand Theft Auto series in particular, going so far as to celebrate the Fourth of July as Grand Theft Auto Day, but there has always been a title I've had a hard time coming to grips with.

There has always been something about Manhunt that makes me uncomfortable. It is the title that to me is the hardest one to defend on artistic grounds, because to me, while the idea of playing an ultraviolent version of The Most Dangerous Game, the execution (and executions for that matter), is just so unrelentingly brutal and horrific that it totally puts me off the title.

And I know titles like Soldier of Fortune are more gruesome from a technical standpoint, but because the gore accompanies a narrative where you are trying to stop terrorists. And, in the words of Arnold Schwarzenegger in True Lies when asked if he had ever killed anyone: "Yeah, but they were all bad," the people you kill are basically the scum of the earth, and on some level, society is better off without them. Your enemies are Skinheads, militia-types and the criminally insane, and if you don't kill them, they will kill you.

Yes, there is some comment on society, the media and what we are willing to pay money to see in the game, but unlike GTA, it is buried a little deeper both in terms of plotting and presentation, so it is harder to pick up on those jabs as you proceed through the macabre disintegrating world that is Carcer City(some have speculated that it is based on Detroit or Newark).



And unlike GTA, it is hard to distance yourself from the brutality of your missions by noticing the subtle and not so subtle homages to classic and contemporary genre movies. There is also the matter of free will, which is severely lacking in Manhunt... by design you have rather limited options when it comes to existing in the dank world you find yourself in. And because the ultimate goal for the people who put you into that situation is to make a snuff film from the footage of your trip through their urban hell, you are directed by the voice of Brian Cox, best known for his portrayal of Hannibal Lecter in Manhunter.

The whole thing leaves me feeling more than a little bit dirty.

With a sequel coming out early next month, I know that Rockstar is going to come under attack again from certain segments in the media... and I will likely not be one of the most vocal voices defending it.

Edit: Manhunt 2 has received an AO rating and both Sony and Nintendo have stated that they will not license the game for their respective consoles.

Tags: manhunt, rockstar games, grand theft auto, sequel, carcer city, snuff film, manhunter, brian cox, detroit, death row, skinheads, censorship, jack thompson