The first Manuhunt was great - I loved it's dark ambiance, tense story, brutal killings with common objects, stealth gameplay, voice acting, almost everything. I liked it so much that I wrote about it once or twice. So when I first heard of the sequel, I was awaiting it eagerly.
Warning: Manhunt 2 does not really contain Pinatas.
Unfortunately, Manhunt 2 turned out rather meh - and it was not the fault of the whole censorship battle that ensued before it was published. I played the unofficial uncensored version on my PSP, so I could see all gory executions, but the gameplay and story were mostly not on par with the first installment. Despite the hardcore violance, the overall impression was rather bland, with a couple of climatic exceptions - visions from the past haunting the main protagonist (similar to Suffering), somewhat unsettling alter ego (as in Fight Club), last level happening in hero's mind with the motive of burying the dead wife and black crows circling around. Okay, I admit, it was not all bad, but nowhere near the quality of the original Manhunt.
The choice of PSP as a platform did not help: levels were broken down into small chunks with lots of loading in-between, graphics were so-so. The game that is all about creepy atmosphere, dark environments and hardcore violence thrown on a portable console - not really a smart decision. The funny part is, I was playing it on the plane, flying from United States to Europe - it freaked the hell out of my neighbours, who, of course, were peeking at the screen. They did give me funny looks later.
Warning: Manhunt 2 does not really contain puppies.
Anyhow, back on topic. Manhunt 2 did not woe me, in fact I was rather disappointed to the point where I didn't even write a review, because I didn't want to waste my time on it. Sorry Rockstar, that's how it was. And now, some two years later I've just learnt that there is a PC port coming.
What?
A port of a two-year old mediocre game that's based on an engine that's seven years old? Made by a company that makes legendarily bad PC ports? Colour me uniterested. I might waste some of my bandwith to download a pirated copy to give it a try if I am particularly bored, but the chances of me actually buying it are very slim. Very slim indeed.
Still, this piece of news was a perfect excuse to write a mini-review of Manhunt 2 I should have done two years ago.
[ Screenshots taken from GeekRising ]
Warning: Manhunt 2 does not really contain Pinatas.Unfortunately, Manhunt 2 turned out rather meh - and it was not the fault of the whole censorship battle that ensued before it was published. I played the unofficial uncensored version on my PSP, so I could see all gory executions, but the gameplay and story were mostly not on par with the first installment. Despite the hardcore violance, the overall impression was rather bland, with a couple of climatic exceptions - visions from the past haunting the main protagonist (similar to Suffering), somewhat unsettling alter ego (as in Fight Club), last level happening in hero's mind with the motive of burying the dead wife and black crows circling around. Okay, I admit, it was not all bad, but nowhere near the quality of the original Manhunt.
The choice of PSP as a platform did not help: levels were broken down into small chunks with lots of loading in-between, graphics were so-so. The game that is all about creepy atmosphere, dark environments and hardcore violence thrown on a portable console - not really a smart decision. The funny part is, I was playing it on the plane, flying from United States to Europe - it freaked the hell out of my neighbours, who, of course, were peeking at the screen. They did give me funny looks later.
Warning: Manhunt 2 does not really contain puppies.Anyhow, back on topic. Manhunt 2 did not woe me, in fact I was rather disappointed to the point where I didn't even write a review, because I didn't want to waste my time on it. Sorry Rockstar, that's how it was. And now, some two years later I've just learnt that there is a PC port coming.
What?
A port of a two-year old mediocre game that's based on an engine that's seven years old? Made by a company that makes legendarily bad PC ports? Colour me uniterested. I might waste some of my bandwith to download a pirated copy to give it a try if I am particularly bored, but the chances of me actually buying it are very slim. Very slim indeed.
Still, this piece of news was a perfect excuse to write a mini-review of Manhunt 2 I should have done two years ago.
[ Screenshots taken from GeekRising ]
