Sunday, October 24, 2010

Level Up: Manhunt


When it comes to “scary” games, you don’t always need things like ghosts, monsters and demons lurking around. As a matter of fact, some of the scariest concepts can be that a human could be able to such unspeakable acts (look at your 6 o’clock news). Today, I’m going to talk to you about a game where one person lurks in the shadows, killing anyone that’s dumb enough to turn their back to them, and what’s worst, you’re that killer. This week’s game is the first Manhunt game, for the X-box, PlayStation 2 and PC as I’ll be playing it.

The game starts off with James Earl Cash waking up after his execution. Obviously it was faked, but why? A voice from a speaker in the room he wakes up in tells him to put in an ear piece. The voice on the other end calls himself the director, and he wants Cash to be the star of his latest series of films. But Cash isn’t an actor, that’s why he wants a convict… to KILL. He informs his latest “Star” that he’s planted cameras everywhere he’s going to go, to produce a series of underground snuff films. Now you play as the lesser of two evils to take out people who will take him out if they get the chance, all just to please the entertainment needs of the director and his clients. There are also some pretty good twists along the way, and honestly, for a game that was mostly made for gore, I bought into it.

This is stealth game, but I’m just going to explain my two favourite game play elements: the assassinations and the radar. Starting off with the assassination, these were the main reason to get this game. Like with most stealth games, Cash isn’t that great with fighting and getting out numbered is pretty easy. The assassinations, however, make taking out enemies a lot easier: once you sneak up on someone close enough, you can kill him in a brutal way. The brutality will depend on how long you held the attack button, with 3 types of death with each weapon. You’ll pretty much be using these all through the game, not only because it make the game easier, but because they’re such a guilty pleasure to watch.

The radar, however, might not be something everyone enjoys as much as I do, mostly because I am partially an audio geek. See, the radar is based on sound: if you can hear an enemy, he will appear on your radar. This of course works the other way around; you make some noise and all enemies within earshot will rush to you. You’ll also know when this happens, cause you see how far you the noise you made went. So basically, you have make sure they don’t see OR hear you, adding another level to the game play, not that many other games use.

I’m not sure if I mentioned this in my Bully review or not, but Rockstar are not known for their graphics for a reason. In Manhunt, they’re probably less than standard for their time and didn’t age well. However, Rockstar did find a way around: this game was apparently “filmed” with low quality cameras, so the whole the whole game has this gray static filter on top of it. That doesn’t make it better, but makes it fit. What I really liked though were the sounds; they were great, they had to be. Not only was their entire radar system based on sound, but for the good, full effect of the gore, you need realistic sounds to accompany the visuals (just think about the horror movies you’ve watched). There is also very little music most of the time, which heightens the tension. Oh, and the character dialogs deserves to be mentioned, just cause of the messed up things some of them actually say.

This is a very controversial game, but also a good stealth game. However, when guns are introduced, it just becomes a shootout for the rest of the level, which I didn’t like. None the less, the assassinations will provide sick entertainment for people who can handle it, the sound design was just amazing and the stealth will make you nervous at the thought that a killer could be in the next dark corner you see. If this sounds good to you, get it… if you CAN: this game is actually BANNED in some places (sorry for teasing you New Zealand). I give Manhunt for the PC 9 Levels out of 10.

I’m Leo Melanson, and now you know the score.

*Knocking is heard* Oh not this again. Look, if this is James Earl Cash, I have nothing to do with Starkweather. *Pig squeals, chain saw roar* OH CRAP! IT’S PIGGSY! *Shuffling of papers, footsteps chair moving* what’s this? A door? *Piggsy breaks through, big heavy door moves open then closes with a bang, pounding against concrete and muffled pig squeals are heard, then fades* Alright well… Wait, I remember this place. Oh this next review is going to be something… *Footsteps fade away*

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