Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsA Mediocre Game, But As A Piece of History, It's Worth A Go
Reviewed in the United States on April 21, 2014
As a fan of the original Manhunt, I was pretty excited to try out Manhunt 2, especially after all the press it got and the controversy that it evoked. In fact, Amazon is currently the only place you can still legally buy Manhunt 2 in it's original, uncut, AO rated form.
Although it is a sequel to the first, Manhunt 2 has nothing to do with the plot of the previous game. Instead, it follows Daniel Lamb and Leo Kasper, two ex-members of a mysterious project called...well "The Project." A+ for creativity there. As you progress through the game, you uncover more back story about their involvement and generally what is going on. Without spoiling anything, it follows a relatively twisted story arc, but it's nothing you've never seen before in terms of ideas.
Then again, you didn't become interested in Manhunt 2 for the story. You want to see some gore, and in that regard you will get that. The executions are more varied than in the original Manhunt, now including environmental kills and gun executions not seen before in addition to the 3 levels of standard executions. There also is a bit more variety in weapons this time around, which helps keep things from becoming stale and boring. However, if you thought that the first Manhunt had too much gun-play too early, Manhunt 2 is even worse. Guns become very central to the game about 1/3 in, and it's still as awkward as ever.
One thing that they did for reasons beyond me is that you cannot change the individual keys of the control scheme at all. Instead, you basically choose between having all the keys in a relatively standard setup, or moving things over to the number pad. There also is no controller support, so basically you are fixed into the games way of doing things. Also, speaking of control, you cannot look up or down unless you're aiming a gun. This makes movement feel very restrictive because, well, it is! It makes spotting enemies or objects that or above or below you nearly impossible sometimes in addition to just feeling wrong.
The game is also substantially shorter than the original Manhunt. Not counting bonus levels, the first one had 20 stages, while Manhunt 2 has 15. They also are shorter in length, and while it took me about 18 hours to get through Manhunt, all re-tries included, Manhunt 2 took me less than 7.
The gameplay on the surface look very similar, but it's very different when you actually play. Manhunt was so hard (sometimes fairly, sometimes not) that I had to rage quit multiple times. Manhunt 2, on the other hand, is so much easier that I actually only died 4 times in the whole story. This is mostly thanks to the fact that damage has been greatly reduced to you, the player, while it's much more deadly on your enemies. This is most evident with gunplay, as with the first Manhunt, you could be mowed down in seconds by a submachine gun or assault rifle. Now, you can practically go Terminator on your enemies and soak up bullets like it was your business. There are even more painkillers than previously, and enemies drop them more often. On top of all this, checkpoints are much closer together, so you don't have to worry as much about dying. What this adds up to is that Manhunt 2 is much more forgiving than the original, but it feels too easy.
The last criticism I have for Manhunt 2 is the lack of variety in enemies. There are only two common gangs that wear their own unique costumes, and the rest of the enemies are cops, militia men, or a few other gangs which make VERY short appearances, usually less than one level. One thing that made Manhunt interesting was all the different enemies, and it's sad to see that gone to.
Although I have bashed this game pretty badly, I actually still recommend it to anyone interested in it. The executions are interesting enough to keep you playing, and it's worth checking out simply as a piece of history, much like movies such as Birth of a Nation. Since this is also the last legal place to get the AO game, you might want to hop on it before it's too late.