Manhunt (series)

Manhunt is a stealth style, video game series primarily developed by Scottish company Rockstar North, as well as several other Rockstar studios, and published by Rockstar Games.

The gameplay consists of a mixture of action, stealth and psychological horror elements and has gained controversy for its adult nature and extreme violence. The series focuses around two different protagonists who attempt to escape from some particularly dangerous and perverse situation they are left in from the beginning, although their motives for doing so vary in each game. The antagonist in each game is commonly a character who has betrayed them and has a great degree of control over impeding their progress.

The series began in 2003 and is currently composed of two installments. The name of the series and its games are derived from "manhunt," a term referring to a search for a dangerous fugitive conducted by members of law enforcement, though in the games the protagonist's pursuers are not necessarily limited to law enforcers alone. As of March 26, 2008, the Manhunt franchise has sold 1.7 million copies according to Take-Two Interactive.

Overview
The stages of each Manhunt installment are typically referred to in a way that relates to the game's plot. In the first game, stages are called "scenes," in relation to the game's plotline being that of a snuff film. In the second game, stages are called "episodes," in relation to the mental state and experiences of the protagonist, and in the vein that it refers to gameplay as "treatment." Players survive the stages by dispatching enemy gangs and "hunters," occasionally with firearms but primarily by stealthily executing them in bloody over-the-top ways.

The first game provides a rating system at the end of each stage which is largely affected by the gruesomeness of the killings and the speed of completion. Executions are preferred in order to gain a higher score, thus encouraging players to play as viscerally as possible. This rating system was cut for its sequel, Manhunt 2, in order to avoid the appearance of rewarding murder in Rockstar's efforts to get the game an M rating from the Entertainment Software Rating Board. The games' locales are full of 'dark spots' and shadows where the player can hide while being chased by the Hunters; hiding in these dark areas make the player effectively invisible.

For each weapon in the game there are three different "executions" to be performed: hasty (characterized by the color white), violent (characterized by the color yellow) and gruesome (characterized by the color red). The execution used is determined by how long the player holds the action button while creeping stealthily upon an unsuspecting enemy. Manhunt 2 added several improvements to the execution system, including the ability to execute using firearms, perform "jump executions" from higher elevations, and environmental executions, such as pushing an enemy face-first into a live fuse box, using telephone cords to strangle an enemy or beating an enemy to death in a toilet.

Certain stages also encourage the player to dispose of the bodies of their unfortunate foes, so as not to allow other Hunters in the area to glimpse the bodies and become suspicious. Suspicious enemies are more likely to discover the player even when hiding in a dark spot.

Over the course of the games, players use a wide variety of weapons, ranging from plastic bags, baseball bats, crowbars and all sorts of bladed items to firearms later on in the game. If the player is running out of health, painkillers can be found which replenish health. The player can strike walls or throw items such as bottles, cans, bricks and severed heads to make noise to distract Hunters.

Setting
There are two settings for the Manhunt series. There is Carcer City which is based on Detroit and Cottonmouth which is based on New Orleans. Both cities are in the same fictional universe as the Grand Theft Auto series and Bully. They are also filled with dangerous gangs and corrupt police departments.

Manhunt
Manhunt, the first title in the Manhunt series, was inspired by the 1987 film The Running Man, based on the novel of the same name. Although it was generally well received by critics, the game created a media frenzy on release, was banned in several countries and was implicated by media in a UK murder, although the police denied it.

Manhunt 2
Manhunt 2, the second title in the Manhunt series, was released on October 29, 2007. It was originally scheduled for release in July, but it was suspended by Take-Two due to a rating rejection in the United Kingdom and Ireland and an AO rating in the United States for being too violent. On August 24, it was announced that Rockstar submitted a modified version of the game, which was re-rated with an M by the ESRB and allowed for an October 31, 2007 release date in North America. It was, however, released in stores on October 29, 2007. This modified version was again rejected by the BBFC resulting in a series of court appeals by Rockstar and the BBFC, eventually leading to the BBFC granting the game an 18+ certificate in March, 2008. The game had a UK release date of October 31, 2008, exactly one year after its US release On October 31, 2009, Rockstar started taking pre-orders for a PC version of the game. The PC version was released on November 6, 2009, with an AO rating by the ESRB.

Controversy
The Manhunt series has been a source of considerable controversy since even before the release of the first title.

Aside from the sensitive subject matter of Manhunt, the controversy surrounding the game stems from the extremely graphic manner in which the player executes enemies, who are known as Hunters in the game. The game has three 'levels' of executions, and the executions get bloodier as the levels of execution progress. Level 1 executions are quick and the least bloody of the three, while Level 2 executions are considerably more gory, and gruesome kills are over-the-top fatalities. An example of a Level 1 execution would be suffocating a Hunter to death with a plastic bag. A Level 2 execution might feature severing a Hunter's testicles by pulling a sickle between his legs. A Level 3 execution can involve stabbing a Hunter in the back with a crowbar, following it up by jamming it into the Hunter's head and wiggling it in the skull. The game encourages players to execute enemies as brutally as possible, and awards players who do so with higher health rewards.

The murder of Stefan Pakeerah
In the UK, Manhunt was linked to the murder of Stefan Pakeerah, 14, by his friend Warren Leblanc, 17, on the 27th of February, 2004. Giselle Pakeerah, the victim's mother, claimed that Leblanc had been 'obsessed' with the game after he pleaded guilty in court. During the subsequent media frenzy, the game was removed from sale by some vendors, such as the UK and international branches of GAME and Dixons, leading to "significantly increased" demand both from retailers and on Internet auction sites. The police denied any such link between the game and the murder, citing drug-related robbery as the motive. The presiding judge also placed sole responsibility with Leblanc in his summing up after sentencing him to life. It was later discovered that Leblanc didn't actually own the game, but Pakeerah did. It was later found out that the game was not at fault, since Leblanc had previously seen a Child's Play film at the cinema and it went unnoticed that the murder was identical to one seen in the film. When this became known, Manhunt was returned to retail shelves.

Jack Thompson lawsuits
Following Manhunt 2 ' s announcement, attorney Jack Thompson promised to file suit to block the sale of Manhunt 2 and Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV. Take-Two petitioned U.S. District Court, SD FL to block Thompson's pending lawsuit. Thompson immediately filed a counter-suit, accusing Take-Two and various other prominent game media outlets of racketeering. The dispute was later settled: Thompson agreed to not sue or threaten to sue to block sale or distribution of any game published by Take-Two. In turn, Take-Two agreed to drop a prior suit accusing Thompson of contempt-of-court in a previous suit over Take-Two's Bully.

In a letter to Wendy's CEO Kerrii Anderson, Thompson demanded that the restaurant drop an upcoming promotion featuring children's toys designed after the Wii games Excite Truck, Wii Sports and Super Mario Galaxy because Manhunt 2 was scheduled for release on the console. An excerpt from Thompson's letter states: "Dave Thomas never would have tolerated the use of Wendy’s good name to promote Nintendo’s Wii, not with this game available on the Wii platform." Particular controversy was repeatedly heaped upon the Wii version of the game due to the console's highly immersive nature, with certain gaming sites that had a hands-on preview of the game reporting that Manhunt 2 used the Wii Remote in an interactive manner; for instance, in order to stab someone in the game the player would have to flick the Wii Remote forward, in much the same fashion one would do when actually stabbing with a knife.

Australia
Manhunt was refused classification (and effectively banned) on September 28, 2004 by the Classification Review Board after having earlier received a classification allowing it to be purchased by those aged 15 years or older.

In January 2008, major gaming website RockstarWatch.net, reported that Manhunt 2 was never submitted into the OFLC for classification, following its pre-release controversies.

Canada
Following a meeting in Toronto on December 22, 2003 between Bill Hastings, the Chief Censor of New Zealand, and officials from the Ontario Ministry of Consumer and Business Services, Manhunt became the first computer game in Ontario to be classified as a film and was restricted to adults on February 3, 2004.

Germany
On July 19, 2004, the Amtsgericht Munich confiscated all versions of Manhunt for violation of § 131 StGB (representation of violence). The game, the court said, portrays the killing of humans as fun, and the more fun, the more violent the killing is. They also sensed a glorification of vigilantism, which they considered harmful per se.

Ireland
The Irish Film Censor's Office announced that Manhunt 2 would not be available for sale in the Republic of Ireland. This is the first time a video game has been refused certification by the IFCO (although games do not normally require certification, if they do require it, they must receive a certificate to be released). A poll of 1000 people undertaken by the IFCO showed that 80% of respondents agreed with the ban.

Italy
Italian Communications Minister Paolo Gentiloni described Manhunt 2 as, "cruel and sadistic, with a squalid environment and a continuous, insistent encouragement to violence and murder."

Netherlands
It was announced that Manhunt 2 can be released in uncut form in the Netherlands, despite a request by the Dutch parliament for the Ministry of Justice to intervene, as no legal mechanism is in place to ban its sale. This does not mean that the game will in fact see an unedited release in the Netherlands or any other territory with similarly open legal policies, however.

New Zealand
Manhunt was declared objectionable on December 11, 2003. Possession is an offence.

Portugal
Manhunt 2 would have been released uncut in Portugal with an 18+ PEGI certificate if not for Take-Two's suspension.

Scandinavia
Manhunt 2 would have also been released uncut in Scandinavia with an 18+ PEGI certificate if not for Take-Two's suspension.

United Kingdom
Manhunt received a BBFC 18 certificate, legally prohibiting its sale to anyone under that age. On June 19, 2007, the BBFC refused to certify Manhunt 2, meaning that it would be illegal to sell the game in the United Kingdom in its current state. On 1 August 2007, Rockstar confirmed that they had filed an appeal with the Video Appeals Committee (VAC) in the UK to contest the BBFC decision.

On March 14, 2008 the Video Appeals Committee upheld an appeal by Rockstar games and advised the BBFC that they have no alternative but to issue an 18+ Certificate for the game, with Rockstar arguing successfully that there is no difference between the graphic violence in Manhunt 2 and that seen on other formats. The same day, the BBFC went ahead and issued the 18 certificate.

United States
Manhunt 2 initially received an Adults Only rating from the ESRB. AO is the most restrictive rating given by the ratings body; many American retailers will not carry AO rated titles and Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft have policies prohibiting third-party AO rated titles from appearing on their consoles.

In response to the BBFC and ESRB's decisions, Take-Two has said that they would stand by the game and release it.

On August 24, 2007, Rockstar announced that a reworked version of the game had received an M rating from the ESRB, and would be released on October 31 in the United States. On September 11, 2007, IGN released a comparison between the Adults Only-rated version of Manhunt 2 and the censored, Mature-rated version on the Wii. Although most content has remained unchanged, a nasty murder sequence in which the player castrates an enemy with pliers had been removed, and major executions have had blur effects, hue filters and darkening applied to obscure the animation. The post-stage scoring screen carried over from the original Manhunt was also removed. Players were graded on speed of stage completion and number of "Gruesome" level kills, but the scoring system was cut in the final version.

In late 2009, Rockstar released an AO version of Manhunt 2 on the PC. The release is available only via download and features most of the cut content, no censors and a stereoscopic mode for Nvidia graphic cards. The PC version was only released for people who live in the United States and has not been officially made available to other countries.