How to Play MANHUNT 1 & 2, and the Best Ways to do It Guide.

Howdy, folks! I've decided to write up a guide on which releases of MANHUNT and MANHUNT 2 are the best to play and how you can play them!

I'm gonna assume that everyone here is familiar enough with the games that I won't go into detail about the games in general, so I'll keep this guide to solely explaining which releases of MANHUNT and MANHUNT 2 are the best to play, and how to play them. This guide will not explain how to play either game on every platform they were released, but the platforms that I personally believe they are best played on.

Let's begin!

MANHUNT

Playstation 2: The original platform MANHUNT was released on is the PS2, and of course, it's still the best way to play the game, if you haven't already. MANHUNT PS2 copies are readily available via online stores like EBay, Facebook Marketplace and other retro gaming websites for an affordable price. If the online options don't work out, then check your local used video/game store. Or...mod it onto your PS2? Idk how to do that, so moving on!

Xbox One/One S-X/Series S-X: Coming in at second place for the best way to play MANHUNT today is the re-released version of MANHUNT on modern Xbox consoles. I have not played the game to completion on these consoles, but the game looks good and functions as it should, which is saying more than you can for the PS5 re-release... On my Xbox One X, the game runs fine, plays as it should and has the best graphics/image quality out of every console release. Really, it looks good! A solid platform to play MANHUNT on if you don't have a PS2.

PC: And in last place, we have the PC release of MANHUNT... Which, as I understand it, has been broken since the day it came out. With that being said, this is obviously my least recommended platform to play MANHUNT on. If you have no other option, then I recommend buying the game on Steam and fixing it with mods, including the couple that I will link to in the comments. Doing so will get ye a decent release of MANHUNT to play around with, but still, I recommend the PS2 and Xbox releases, if you're not too keen on the mods.

Alrighty, with MANHUNT out of the way, we can move onto MANHUNT 2.

MANHUNT 2

PC: Unlike the first game, PC is actually the best platform to play the second game on, hands down. The only thing is, though, is that MANHUNT 2 is banned in a lot of places, so you can't just buy it on Steam or GoG and call it a day, unfortunately. Luckily, it's not that difficult to get the game and play it. You can easily find the game and a ton of mods to go with it, including mods that uncensor the execution cut scenes, as well as add in previously cut content and much more. Now, despite the hassle it maybe to play this game on PC, I wouldn't just tell you this is a guide on how to play things, then leave out telling you how to play them, so let's get into that next.

HOW TO PLAY MH2 ON PC

Alrighty. This isn't going to be a super ball buster of a process, but it is going to be a process. Below, I will detail a step-by-step guide on how to play the Uncensored/Modded PC release of MANHUNT 2.

First of all, you'll need the game files and all that jazz, so check the links I've commented below this post, and follow along with the steps, downloading the files as you move onto the next step. Also, backup your game files, if you can. Save yourself the despair of uninstalling and reinstalling the game if you mess this up (like I have three times today).

1. Download the game files from a particular abandonware website (Sorry, I can't link it :/), and make absolutely, positively sure that you download the file just below it labeled, "NOCD", because we'll need it for the next step. Extract the NOCD folder to your Desktop for now.

2. Extract the game files and run the iso file in the folder, then run the setup.exe file to install the game.

3. Right click on the MH2 desktop icon, then click, "Open File Location", so that it displays all the folders therein, then open up the NOCD files folder to the side of it. All ye gotta do is drag and drop the .exe file from the NOCD files folder into the MH2 directory, overwrite as needed, then you're done. This will replace the original .exe file with the NOCD .exe file; this is necessary, because launching the original .exe file will prompt you with a screen that requires you to enter an access key to play the game at all, and that's really lame.

Okay, you could go ahead and call it here. But...don't you want the uncensored executions? The cut executions and all the goodies that you'd be missing out on if you stopped reading this part of the guide now? Yeah, let's get into how you can return MANHUNT 2 to it's former glory.

4. WIP I think this patched version of the mod kind of breaks the game a little bit, upon further testing. The 2012 download maybe good still, but beware. This step is for the PS2 Beta Mod/Extended Executions Mod, and I apologize for the length of this step :/ Find the link below, download the file and extract to Desktop, then come on back. Alrighty, this one is a LOT more dragging and dropping. Open your MH2 folder and the BETAMOD folder side by side, then open the MH2 Global directory and the BETAMOD Important Files directory. This is the most difficult bit of the whole dance, so let's do it. What you gotta do is cross reference the files in both directories, then replace the files in the MH2 Global directory with the files of the same name from the BETAMOD Important Files directory. To make it easy, here is a list of what files go where:

• Optional Beta Blood: this folders function is to add lost beta blood effects back to the game. Back out of this folder, then drag and drop the file titled, "#optional#mh_fx_pc.tex" into the SFX subfolder of the Global directory. After that, open the Optional Beta Blood folder again, open the A15 folder, then drag and drop the file into the A15 folder that is in the MH2 Levels directory, which you'll have to back out of the Global directory to see.

• dummyresource28.glg is optional, and it's function is to remove the interactive controls. This file replaces the file in the "initscripts" subfolder.

• Executions.fsb is an audio file, and I'm pretty sure it goes in the audio files lmao. So, back out of the Global directory, head into the Audio directory and click through until you see the matching Executions file, then drag and drop the file from the Important Files directory.

• Gmodelspc.mdl and Gmodelspc.tex can simply be dragged and dropped right into the Global directory, so no need to go searching.

• Resource13.glg goes in the "ini" subfolder and Resource28.glg goes in the "initscripts" subfolder.

Okay, holy shit that was a lot. Again, I apologize for the length of this, but I wanted to be thorough.

5. This step is for the Ermaccer Manhunt 2 plug in, which is a plug in mod that allows you to enhance Manhunt 2 in several ways: 60FPS, First Person and FOV sIider, to name a few. I highly recommend this as an essential plug in mod, and I also recommend looking around Ermaccers GitHub page to learn more about it and the many other mods they've made for Manhunt 1 & 2. This is the easiest one, so are ye ready? Just download the file and extract to the MH2 directory. Donezo. Buuuut you will have to edit a file to make changes you want. To do that, just open the PluginMH2.ini in a text editor, change the values as you wish, then save it. You might get c-blocked by an error that says you don't have permission to mess with the file, so if that happens, then do this: right click on the ini file, click Properties, Security, Edit, then click on your name (or your desktops name) and give yourself the necessary permissions to edit the file and save it (and this guy said it was the easiest step).

Sheweeeee, we're almost done! Now, you really can call it a day if you're satisfied, but before you settle too soon, I want to encourage you to search up the head juice load of mods that have been made for both of these games. There are a lot, and their purposes vary from just fixing the games, enhancing graphics and FPS, to being able to change your character skin, add an FOV slider and much more. Click the links in the comments to search around for some goodies!

That's it! You can double click that bad boyah and get 'er going.

Now, let's briefly talk about the other releases of Manhunt 2.

PS2/PSP/Wii/Android: I won't be explaining how to play these releases, because I don't care. MANHUNT 2 played on any platform that isn't PC is a disservice to yourself, in my opinion. The PS2 release, as well as the other two console releases are censored/cut, which makes them unplayable to me. I recently purchased a copy of MANHUNT 2 for PS2 just to have it and try it out, and it is just...awful. The censoring of the executions makes them almost unbearable to look at, which maybe the point? I don't know the point, but I do know that it hurts my eyes, and that I'd rather not play it. Of course, if you have no other option or just want to experience MANHUNT 2 on the PS2 like I did, then by all means, try out one of these releases, and I hope that you enjoy it!

Aaaand now we're done! I hope this helps some folks wanting to play MANHUNT, mostly the second one, because the first one didn't get banned into abandonware lmao. If you have any questions or would like to add your own recommendations, then please do so in the comments!

Take it easy!

EDITS: Fixed some mistakes and added details previously left out.