Manhunt

[Afterbirth]

Its not that, but DMA have done their trick and gone directly for the one key selling point, which is the sheer brutality of it all.

Its very violent and first looking at the game (dark, stylised and with typical GTA VC graphics) you do think, its a bit ****. But its so compelling. I think i'm near the end now but its very hard as you've got 4 or so guys and you have to try and kill them without alerting the others.

Of course, once the guys are dead, their dead. Theres no respawn or anything like tha, and its rather hard, even on normal mode. I do like it. It does the stealth thing very well and features few guns.
It raw stealth.

Can i also add, i'd love to shag his wife or sister.

[Ady]

It is a tough game, and that is a good thing, though I couldn't envisage ploughing through eight levels of waiting in shadows, sneaking up on someone and pressing X.

Rockstar hit the nail on the head with their GTA games, but Manhunt appears to have the same problem as State Of Emergency; an initially sound concept that hasn't been fleshed out very well.

[Afterbirth]

Rockstar hit the nail on the head with their GTA games, but Manhunt appears to have the same problem as State Of Emergency; an initially sound concept that hasn't been fleshed out very well.

I dunno. SoE was technically good, but i became very bored.
Its as if it played its aces all at once.

I'm still quite drawn to Manhunt. I think its the violence thing, because threre bugger all else to write home about.
You should play it in the dark to, as it adds a little to the atmosphere, and you can see better. Its a very dark hued game.

[Duncan]

It is a tough game, and that is a good thing, though I couldn't envisage ploughing through eight levels of waiting in shadows, sneaking up on someone and pressing X.

Rockstar hit the nail on the head with their GTA games, but Manhunt appears to have the same problem as State Of Emergency; an initially sound concept that hasn't been fleshed out very well.

But I don't understand where all this, 'well, you just push one button and that's it' stuff came from. There are 'objectives' further along the line. It isn't purely a 'get from a to b and kill a bunch of people by pressing one button' type game. If there was no skill involved, I would have completed it by now, and people wouldn't be saying, (and they have) that it's rather difficult.

It's fun and that's that.

I'm now going to cover my ears and go, 'lalalala' now.

[martTM]

But I don't understand where all this, 'well, you just push one button and that's it' stuff came from.

Er, from the fact that you stand behind an enemy, push one button and that's it perhaps?

There are 'objectives' further along the line. It isn't purely a 'get from a to b and kill a bunch of people by pressing one button' type game.

Oh yes, the objectives. How could I forget about those?

"Find gas for the crane" = kill everyone with one button on the way to the canister, then kill everyone on the way back, only moving the canister when everyone's dead and the way forward is clear so you don't get caught.

"Bring the tramp to the graveyard" = hide the tramp and kill everyone between you and the gate, only moving him when there's no-one left to hurt him.

"Save your family" = kill everyone you meet with one button, or even better with guns that are even less satisfying. It doesn't actually matter if you get spotted, even though it says it does, because you can save everyone even if they see you... heck, I did.

The only one I've even found remotely interesting was the one with Ramierez (sic) because there are blokes everywhere... and even then, that was more of a chore than actual fun.

If there was no skill involved, I would have completed it by now, and people wouldn't be saying, (and they have) that it's rather difficult.

I never said it wasn't difficult - I said it wasn't fun. There's a big difference.

[Duncan]

But I don't understand where all this, 'well, you just push one button and that's it' stuff came from.

Er, from the fact that you stand behind an enemy, push one button and that's it perhaps?

really? so you just walk up to the next person and press a button? and then walk up to the next person? unhindered by the possibility that there might be someone around the next corner? That would be a boring game.

At the end of the day, we'll have to agree to disagree, because this is going in circles - I like it, you don't. I'm not going to change your mind about it, and vice versa.

and that's that!

[martTM]

At the end of the day, we'll have to agree to disagree, because this is going in circles - I like it, you don't. I'm not going to change your mind about it, and vice versa.

and that's that!

(fingers in ears) La-la la-la, la la laaaaaa!

[Kei]

I have completed the game on hardcore mode, which is cool cos' you don't have a radar! The last level (prison) is pretty cool.
I kinda like the game, all the sneaking up and stalking people is exciting!
I also find all the gore really funny , not shocking. Kinda feels a bit like the movie "Battle Royale" in places.

Fun game, the music is cool also, the only thing that sux is a the hand to hand combat system, which is pretty limited.


K

[gismalla]

I kinda like the game, all the sneaking up and stalking people is exciting!
I also find all the gore really funny , not shocking. Kinda feels a bit like the movie "Battle Royale" in places.

Fun game, the music is cool also, the only thing that sux is a the hand to hand combat system, which is pretty limited.
K

That's the most spot-on summation I've read in this thread. In that I agree, obviously.

And the atmopshere is kind of brilliant. It reminds me so much of The Warriors that I have absolute faith in Rockstar doing the licence some kind of faithful, synth-heavy justice; cross Manhunt with GTAIII and you've got something pretty tempting. And, for my money. Rockstar have the least-teenage brand of 'maturity' around; for all it's advocation of brutality, there's nothing in Manhunt that has made me cringe so far.

[Duncan]

And the atmopshere is kind of brilliant. It reminds me so much of The Warriors that I have absolute faith in Rockstar doing the licence some kind of faithful, synth-heavy justice; cross Manhunt with GTAIII and you've got something pretty tempting.

well, I hope so, but from what I've read it's not Rockstar North doing the game. Rather, it's the poeple who did the PS2 conversions of Oni and max Payne. Still, Hopefully the different companies at least TALK to each other!

[Alf-Life]

So, is this Metal Gear Solid meets The Running Man?

[womblingfree]

BTW, has anyone here seen the movie Bad Boy Bubby?

Where be Pop?

[Concept]

Playing this now and I'm finding Manhunt to be an interesting game. Annoying in parts, but superb in others.

Gismalla is right too. It's got that paranoid late 70's/early 80's vibe that was so evident in The Warriors and Escape From New York. I think it's mostly because of the game's gritty aesthetic style and the tense synth-based soundtrack. There's a lovely retro theme to it all, pierced by a bleak modern urbanised undertone.

Sure, it's repetitive and trial and error in places, but the title never feels overly hard or impossible. And the atmosphere is utterly gripping... Depressingly dark, kind of how I would imagine a David Fincher game would be like, if he ever made one. Although the production values are high, Manhunt also feels decidely lo-fi... The videogame equivalent of a well-made violent B-Movie I suppose.

I honestly thought something initially based on the on-foot elements of an enhanced GTA engine would be awful. But like Prince Of Persia, this has been a bit of a surprise. I can understand where those who don't like this are coming from though.

If you want to rip apart Manhunt's gameplay dynamics then obviously it's not the most sophisticated videogame in the world.

But there's something about it... Like ICO, Rez, Silent Hill et al, the title manages to exceed the sum of its parts. This is probably in part to the aesthetic style and streamlined way you're directed through the levels. There's a very concerted pace to the proceedings.

All in all, much better than I was expecting. So far.

[macosx!]

Played this on the PS2 and was pretty nonplussed, got it again on the xbox and absolutely love it. The use of the LIVE headset adds so much to the game. You get Starkweather whispering in your ear (like Cash's earpiece), ramping up the tension, plus you can audibly shout or whistle to get the Hunters attention. Makes an already tense game more immersive. I also found if I played badly and unintentionally cursed, it had the effect of calling the hunters down on me.
Doh!. Plus the gfx are sweeter than the PS2.

[Eight Rooks]

Sorry for a long post on a game most people don't care about here, but I just felt like venting some of my own disappointment. And I have no PS2, so I couldn't join in when it first turned up, so nyah.

Playing it on PC and whilst I agree it's not as awful as one might expect - it's certainly no State Of Emergency - it baffles me how anyone could award this way high marks. A 7 at best. True, it's atmospheric, oddly compelling, has some nice texture work and creates a laudable grimy, seedy ambience which astoundingly manages to make what seems like a cheap'n'cheerful cash-cow of a concept into a title with some artistic worth.

But so far...
pathetic physics and "real world" details
-possessed trashcans
-hovering litter
-chocolate mice - oh, I'm sorry, rats, if hysterically badly done rats - everywhere
-vibrating trees
-the crane section. Oh, God, the crane section!
-what seems like a cut-down GTA3 engine more than anything else

hideously stacked AI
-you're faster than all of the hunters
-oh, look! They never go into any of the shadows! Oh, what fun! Sorry, Thief did this infinitely better without being so transparently bloody obvious
-oh, look! They don't follow you past a certain point!
-too many damn painkillers, at least on the early levels

rather underdone violence, if you ask me
-sure, it's pretty grim, but the GTA3 engine really isn't up to showing anything particularly horrific. The real scares come from the ambience and design for me, rather than the executions.
-why no gun execution moves? If you think you couldn't do it, you're just not thinking hard enough.

It's fun up to a point, in the same way Cowboys & Indians or Hide & Seek are fun. It's atmospheric, very well done in places, and better than the material gives one any right to expect. But it's just sooo damned tedious and utterly "heh, well, it's just a videogame, right?". I feel compelled to keep playing, partly for the gratification, partly because it's fun of a sort, and partly because I read people who keep insisting it's, like, Silent Hill crossed with The Running Man crossed with, I dunno, Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer or something. But I've not got my fingers crossed.