Manhunt

Since I had been enjoying the new one so much, I figured I’d double back and replay the original game. This was doubly important, as I had never actually beaten the game originally, instead getting about three quarters of the way through before being distracted by something or other, and then never came back to it. I’m a little ADD, I admit.

It’s interesting to go back to this after having played through the sequel to see how things have changed. The controls, for one, are absolutely better in the sequel, the most important difference being that in this one, you can’t climb over anything. This leads to such situations as you being trapped in corners by hunters when there’s visible escape paths all around you that you can’t get to because you can’t clamber up onto platforms that don’t even come up to your waist. It’s not usually an issue, but it can be maddening when you’re frenziedly running from a gang of hunters that have spotted you.

In almost every other way, though, it’s superior to its successor. It’s both longer and harder, giving it a longer shelf life than the sequel. Additionally, the enemies are more varied and interesting, with the various gangs of hunters trying to kill you each having a nice, distinctive look to them, and seem a good deal smarter than those in the sequel, which largely appear fairly oblivious to your presence (in fairness to the sequel, it at least can boast of somewhat better level design). The graphics are simultaneously worse and better than in the sequel; worse in general, as could be expected by virtue of it being a couple years older, but better in the sense that its executions are totally unfiltered, so you can watch the violence totally uncensored.

This game is certainly not going to be to everyone’s tastes. Being a game that’s basically based around sneaking up behind people and murdering them, it’s going to appeal more to horror fans than anyone else. Still, for those who can get into such a game, and if you’re reading this site you more than likely are such a person, there is quite a lot to like about this. If you have a PS2, you should certainly try to hunt down a copy.

Rating: *** ½