Manhunt 2
Preview
Feel like murdering someone? Feel free to do so in a game
by Keaton Arksey
previewed on WII
Where the blood comes in (cont.)
Usually, the executions involve weapons, such as baseball bats, sledgehammers, machetes, and, new to the sequel, firearms. Exclusive to the Wii version are the broken bottle, mace and razor. Along with armed executions, the player can take advantage of the environment and, for example, drown an enemy into a toilet, strangle them with a telephone chord or shove them face first into a fuse box.
Maybe the gruesome route isn’t your style, though. Maybe you just want to get by with the bare minimum of kills. Well, this is Manhunt, so you will still have to get your hands dirty. In order to distract the guards and sneak past them, you need to cut off the heads of few of the enemies that you did kill and throw them in order to distract the guards that you, for some reason, want to avoid killing.
The Wii version is the definitive version of the game. Outside of the graphics (more on these later) the executions are actually interactive. While the PS2 and PSP versions are just animations, the Wii version actually uses button presses and motions to carve up your enemies. Case in point, remember the skull meets the saw example from above? Well, in order to make this happen in the Wii version, you move the remote back and forth, press B when the visual cues pop up, and move both controllers up to finish it off. Shooting also takes use of the pin-point accuracy of the Wii remote. By holding the C button, you bring up the aiming reticule, and press B to shoot.
More than the asylum to paint... with blood?
For those who fear the monotony of roaming around an asylum, there are more areas in the game, including The Honey Pot, an S&M club. The graphics are sure not to be another case of PS2-itus, as Rockstar is using the graphical muscle of the Wii to display more realistic character models with bruising, blood splatter, gunshot wounds, and head wounds, as well as blood splatter on the screen. The Wii version also runs at 30 frames per second, 16:9 resolution, and runs at 480P. The music is moody and the voice acting is well done, wrapping up a solid package.
Only for the ones with a strong stomach
Call me sick if you wish, but this game is one of my most anticipated 2007 titles. Looking to further the bar for graphic nature of a game, and prove that the Wii is not only for children and grandmothers, this could very well be a sleeper hit of -07. All 3 versions will be released around Halloween, and should ONLY be played by those mature enough to deal with the mature subject matter and violence in the game.
Please note: At the time of writing, the game was not going to be released in the UK and Ireland. Rockstar is has filed an appeal on their decision.
