Condemning Manhunt

Still fresh for me was the controversy surrounding Manhunt, the only game to have been rated “R” in Ontario. Given I ran an EBgames during that period imagine my shock and horror when I discovered (while at the hospital no less) that I had been “stung” by the local tv crew selling it to a “minor” (girl was 18 in less than a month and made up to look like an adult, then put on camera in pigtails).
Lo these 5 years later I have finally played and beaten the game, and honestly I don’t get it. Hindsight tends to clarify most things and though I can understand the brouhaha, unfairly directed at Rockstar specifically due to the GTA series, the game just isn’t that bad. Other games made around the same time or soon after are far more graphic, an issue that plagued Manhunt 2. Clearly the subject matter and “execution” gameplay mechanic were the tipping points in this issue, but I found the game to be entertaining and reasonably fun. Perhaps more importantly I appreciated the unflinching depiction of human filth and the depravity people are capable of expressing. Not unlike the 24 hour exposure our world receives of horrible images often without context on the news, this game expresses a singular vision of exploitation.
The sneaking mechanics of the game are now well-worn and the limitations of the hardware available at the time are apparent in the graphics and A.I. That aside, 2/3rds of the game make for reasonably varied play, only to collapse into stop and pop shooting mechanics which fail the central conceit. The ending is singularly unsatisfying but again, very little in this game was truly unnerving or disturbing (except for Pigsy’s junk dangling, lovingly).
Comparatively, Condemned, released on the Xbox 360 not long after Manhunt, is a far more visceral, graphic and disturbing game. An FPS driven on what appears to be an early build of what would become the F.E.A.R. engine is brutally violent, and also contains execution style mechanics. However, the player character is a cop tracking a serial killer rather than a serial killer tracking and killing cops (amongst others). This distinction along with the “snuff-film” plot is what drove the controversy against Manhunt. Context, as with all media, appears to be everything

Much ado about nothing

Led by the rantings of the once-respected now soon to be disbarred Florida Lawyer Jack Thompson, "controversy" has erupted over the release of Rockstar's Manhunt 2. Much maligned as a game that originally received an "AO" rating (ensuring it would not be sold in Walmart or Bestbuy" the developer revisited the code, toning down some of the more extreme moments to receive an "M" rating.

What befuddles me about this "issue" is that not 5 days ago the fourth installment in one of the most gruesome, violent (but entertaining) spectacles in mainstream torture porn was released (Saw IV) earning a $32 million dollar opening weekend. As an adult with kids, I have seen the Saw movies and I have played Manhunt, and brother, Manhunt ain't no Saw. My kids have neither seen nor played either and will not be for years to come because as a responsible, discerning parent I refuse to expose them to this material.

Having worked for years in a video game store I can tell you this attitude towards parental responsibility is rare, as most parents have NO CLUE what their kids are playing or watching. They just nod and smile and give Jimmy what he wants to shut him up.

I wonder if the issue with Manhunt 2 is more about tone and "realism" than about content. The original game placed the gamer in the shoes of a serial killer who is released by a "snuff" film producer in order to make his film. It shares more in game mechanics with stealth games like Splinter Cell than the ultra-violent action of a God of War, however each "kill" triggers a cut scene showing a graphic execution of the victim.

Unlike games like God Of War or even the recently released Conan, Manhunt is not set in a fantasy world and contains few elements that set it outside "reality". Conan allows the player to interactively, not passively observing in a cut scene, decapitate human enemies allowing great gouts of blood to stream from the severed necks. You can also "disarm" an enemy by lopping off both arms at the shoulder with your dual swords. Even a game like "The Darkness" which contains Sopranos level violence, language and drama performed wonderfully by the voice actors occurs in a world of fantasy. Sure you can sneak up behind an enemy and with a button press, stick your pistol in his mouth in closeup and blow the back of his head off most graphically, but your character also has tentacles growing out of his back.

The staggering hypocrisy of the ERSB combined with Rockstar controversy courting ways do gaming a disservice as an art form. For every step forward with a BioShock or a Mass Effect, two steps back are taken as parents continue to tune out to what their kids (and their spouses) are playing.