Manhunt is a 2003 stealth game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It was released for the PlayStation 2 in November 2003, followed by Microsoft Windows and Xbox releases in April 2004. Set within the fictional Carcer City, players control a death row inmate named James Earl Cash, who is forced to participate in a series of snuff films by killing criminal gang members sent to hunt him on camera.
The game received positive reviews from critics, with praise towards its dark tone and violent gameplay, although the combat and level design were criticized. Due to its graphic violence, Manhunt was the subject of significant controversy and banned in several countries. It was also implicated in a murder by the UK media, although this accusation was later rejected by the police and courts. While not a commercial hit, Manhunt developed a substantial cult following and was followed by a stand-alone sequel, Manhunt 2, in 2007. The PlayStation 2 version of the game was re-released through the PlayStation Network for the PlayStation 3 in 2013 and PlayStation 4 in 2016, and the Xbox version was re-released in 2021 through the Xbox Backwards Compatibility program.
Gameplay
Manhunt is a stealth game played from a third-person perspective. The game consists of twenty levels, called "scenes", as well as four unlockable bonus scenes. Players survive the scenes by dispatching enemy gang members, occasionally with firearms, but primarily by stealthily executing them. At the end of each scene, players are graded based on their performance, and awarded one to five stars. Unlockable content becomes available when the player achieves three or more stars on a certain number of levels. On normal difficulty (called "Fetish"), players can earn only four stars; one is awarded for completing the scene under a certain amount of time, and one to three stars are awarded based on the brutality of the executions carried out during the scene. On hard difficulty (called "Hardcore"), players are graded out of five stars; one for speed, one to three for brutality and one for completing the scene. To gain the maximum number of stars, a set number of brutal executions must be carried out over the course of each scene; face-to-face fighting does not award stars.
To carry out executions, players must approach a hunter from behind, undetected. To facilitate this, each scene is full of "dark spots", shadows where the player can hide. Enemies cannot see into the shadows, unless they see the player actually entering the area. A standard technique in the game is to hide in the shadows and tap a wall to attract the attention of a nearby hunter. When the hunter has examined the area and is moving away, players can easily ambush and execute them. The game has three levels of execution, with each level progressively more violent and graphic than the last: "hasty" executions are quick and not very bloody, "violent" are considerably more gory, and "gruesome" are over-the-top blood-soaked murders. Players are in control of which level they use; once players have locked onto an enemy, the lock-on reticule changes color over time to indicate the three levels: white, yellow and red.
Over the course of the game, players can use a wide variety of weapons, including plastic bags, baseball bats, crowbars and a variety of bladed items. Later in the game firearms are available for use when executions become impractical. Should players take damage, their health depletes; health can be restored through the use of painkillers, which are available throughout each scene. Players have a stamina meter which depletes as they sprint, but automatically replenishes when remaining stationary. Manhunt makes use of the PlayStation 2's optional USB Microphone and the Xbox Live microphone feature on the Xbox in their respective versions of the game. When such a device is connected, players can use the sound of their own voice to distract in-game enemies and hear director's command through the Headset directly. This adds an extra element to the stealth aspect and immersion of the game, as players must refrain from making noises such as coughing as these sounds too can attract the attention of any nearby hunters.
Synopsis Setting Manhunt is set in the fictional Carcer City, a dilapidated rust belt city rife with corruption and crime. On the prowl around the city are numerous violent gangs, who seek to find and kill the player. The game is set in a shared universe with the Grand Theft Auto series.
Plot In 2003 in Carcer City, a journalist (Kate Miller) reports about James Earl Cash (Stephen Wilfong), a death row inmate who has been recently executed by lethal injection. However, Cash was only sedated, and awakens to an unknown voice referring to himself as "The Director" (Brian Cox), who gives him instructions through an earpiece. The Director promises Cash his freedom, but only if he kills "Hunters" – gang members sent to hunt him – in special areas around Carcer City filmed by CCTV. Cash is first pitted against the Hoods, a gang of dangerous criminals and corrupt police officers patrolling an abandoned area of the city. After eliminating them, he is abducted by the Cerberus, the Director's personal security unit, who take him to another part of Carcer City.
While the Director monitors his actions, Cash is forced to kill more criminals across various abandoned locations, including a white power skinhead gang called the Skinz, a sadistic paramilitary group called the Wardogs, an outlaw gang called the Innocentz (consisting of the Skullyz, mostly made up of Hispanic occultists, and the Babyfaces, a group of pedophiles and mentally challenged murderers), and a gang of former asylum inmates called the Smileys. Eventually, the Director betrays Cash and, after ordering the deaths of his family members, whom he had abducted, tries to murder Cash as part of his film's climax. Cash survives the trap, and escapes after vowing revenge on the Director.
The remaining Wardogs, led by the Director's right-hand man Ramirez (Chris McKinney), are sent to re-capture Cash, and they manage to trap him in a game of cat and mouse. Cash prevails and kills Ramirez and his men, before being found by the journalist reporting on him, who reveals that the Director is Lionel Starkweather, a former film producer from Los Santos who now produces for a snuff film ring. The journalist has acquired enough evidence against Starkweather to get him convicted, but needs Cash to escort her to her apartment to retrieve it. Meanwhile, Starkweather blackmails corrupt police chief Gary Schaffer into sending his men to kill Cash and the journalist, but the two manage to avoid them. After retrieving the evidence, Cash tells the journalist to leave the city with it while he goes after Starkweather.
Pursued by the police and SWAT throughout the subway and streets, Cash is eventually cornered in a train yard and almost executed. He is saved by the Cerberus, who kill the SWAT team and take Cash to Starkweather's mansion so they can execute him themselves. Cash escapes after the Cerberus are distracted when Piggsy (Hunter Platin), a chainsaw-wielding maniac that Starkweather has kept chained up in the attic, suddenly breaks free. Heading to the mansion's upper levels, Cash uses stealth attacks to fight Piggsy and tricks him into standing on a grate, which collapses under his weight, allowing Cash to take Piggsy's chainsaw and kill him with it. After eliminating the remaining Cerberus, Cash confronts Starkweather in his office and murders him with the chainsaw. The media and police arrive at the mansion as the journalist exposes Starkweather's snuff ring and police complicity, leading to Schaffer being criminally prosecuted for corruption. Cash, however, is nowhere to be found.
Development Rockstar North began development of Manhunt in 2000, building the game with the RenderWare engine that had been used for the Grand Theft Auto titles. In September 2003, GamesMaster published a preview of Manhunt, commenting "[Rockstar North has] scraped its imagination to further twist the way games are made in the future and delivers a chiseled, no-apologies assault on gaming standards. [...] it possesses a warped subtlety that questions game reality... It creates a barren, harsh, violent experience and then punctures it with something trippy and darkly comic..." In a retrospective piece, a former Rockstar employee admitted that the game almost caused a mutiny in the company, saying that the team had "already weathered plenty of controversy over GTA III and Vice City—we were no strangers to it—but Manhunt felt different. With GTA, we always had the excuse that the gameplay was untethered—you never had to hurt anybody that wasn't a "bad guy" in one of the missions. You could play completely ethically if you wanted, and the game was parody anyway, so lighten up".
Manhunt was announced at E3 in May 2003. The game was originally slated for an October release date, and it was eventually released for the PlayStation 2 on November 19, 2003, in North America, followed by a European release on November 21. During its first month on sale, the game sold 75,000 copies in the United States, "a fraction" of the copies sold by Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, games also distributed by Rockstar. In spite of these comparatively poor sales, the game received a port for Windows and the Xbox, released in North America on April 20, 2004, and in Europe on April 23. Rockstar released exclusive merchandise, limited editions and pre-order bonuses such as official soundtracks, a Piggsy figure, and a handheld voice changer.
The game was added to Steam in January 2008. Manhunt was included for free for players who pre-ordered the PC version of Manhunt 2 in November 2009. On May 14, 2013, Manhunt was made available for purchase on the PlayStation 3 under the PlayStation Network's PS2 Classics category. It was released again for the PlayStation 4 on March 22, 2016, with 1080p and trophy support. The Xbox version was re-released on the Xbox storefront for Xbox One and Xbox Series systems in 2021.
Reception
The PlayStation 2 and PC versions of Manhunt received "generally favorable reviews", while the Xbox version received "mixed or average" reviews, according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. As of March 26, 2008, the Manhunt series has sold 1.7 million copies worldwide. At the 7th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, the game was nominated for "Console Action/Adventure Game of the Year". Manhunt received a "Gold" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), indicating sales of at least 200,000 copies in the United Kingdom.
The game's dark nihilistic tone and violent nature were singled out by many critics as representing something unique in the world of video gaming. GameSpot concluded that, "like it or not, the game pushes the envelope of video game violence and shows you countless scenes of wholly uncensored, heavily stylized carnage". Game Informer praised the PS2 version's audacity and competent technical capabilities, stating "it's a frightening premise that places gamers in a psychological impasse. The crimes that you commit are unspeakable, yet the gameplay that leads to these horrendous acts is so polished and fierce that it's thrilling." IGN complimented the same console version's overall challenge, calling it a "solid, deep experience for seasoned gamers pining for some hardcore, challenging games". Edge gave the same console version eight out of ten, saying, "Like GTA there's more to this than shock and awe. Within its linear structure there is a lot of freedom within which to act, much more so than both Splinter Cell and Metal Gear Solid 2, the titles which Manhunt most closely resembles."