Manhunt

If you enjoy slow, strategic, stealth gameplay, if you've hacked your way through the most violent games available and still want more blood and sick, twisted, violence then look no further. You won’t find a more stylish or disturbing game than this.

Manhunt is sick, but it deserves both the success, and the revulsion it receives.

The computer AI is also much improved over the console version. The hunters can be quite cunning at times. Just when you think you’ve gotten away from a group, they split up and outflank you.

Look past the gratuitous, fleshy outer casing and delve deep into the tight stealth/action gameplay provided. Manhunt delivers.

The controls handle very well on PC, so you don’t even need a gamepad to enjoy it. The only exclusion here is that the PC version doesn’t support voice support, and while a bit annoying may be worth it for the better visuals.

Now that the game is on Xbox and PC, Manhunt has lost a little bit of its shine, a little bit of its luster. Time certainly has something to do with that, the lackluster ending is a disappointment, and while there is much to admire about Manhunt's stealthy debut, the stealth itself isn't as deep as it could have been. It's still a high-quality game.

Manhunt is seriously intense, and anyone with a stomach for the game's concept ought to find it fiendishly entertaining...An audacious game that backs up its extremely violent subject matter with solid stealth action gameplay.

It’s really up to you – the person behind the controller – to decide whether the violent content makes or breaks Manhunt since the core gameplay mechanics of Manhunt aren’t all that compelling.

Manhunt is no kid’s game. Adult players should anticipate an incredible amount of gore and some uncomfortable scenes of violence. Looking beyond that, Manhunt does offer a unique story and some challenging, stealth-based gameplay.

An optimized visual performance clearly makes the PC version the preferred edition of the game; however, the game attempts to combine excessive violence with stealth-action gameplay, but fails to invoke a sense of value and worth in play.

No multiplayer is offered. Too bad—it might have seriously added to the replayability, even if it was deathmatch only. But nonetheless, it’s a challenging and fairly entertaining experience.

If you like stealth oriented games that require more thought and patience than machine-gun mouse clicking, Manhunt is a strong contender for your games collection. If good-natured heroes and strong morals are important to you however, you'd probably be better off renting "The Silence of the Lambs" from the video store.

Technically solid effort, concept is interesting, the voice interaction is outstanding. However, this would make a much better rental than a title to own.

That said it creates a tense and chilling experience like no other videogame we’ve played, which certainly provides the main allure for the game.

Even so, I can't neglect the repetitive nature of some of the scenery and characters and the fact that once the initial effect of overstated violence wears off, every so often, you'll feel bored with Manhunt.

Challenging gameplay is enough as far as I'm concerned but when you accompany this with a checkpoint save system which you can't directly dictate, forcing you to reload action up to 20 minutes ago and beyond, the annoyance level simply rises.

Even while telling myself that I should be revolted - especially since Cash is a thoroughly unsympathetic protagonist - I finished the 15-hour game in three sittings. [July 2004, p.72]

A dark, difficult, bloody stealth game that puts fell weapons in the player’s hands, and almost taunts them into action.

Manhunt isn't an essential game - it has a pernickety camera, repetitive gameplay and often-frustrating real-time combat. Yet, it also has a unique atmosphere, tense moments and stylish, visceral videotaped kill cut-scenes - if you can stomach the violence. Now, where's that cheese wire?

Its simplistic arcade gameplay simply doesn’t cut the mustard on the birthplace of stealth gaming, and its only lasting effect will be a strange desire for the involving, story-driven gameplay of the king: "Thief."

Like a creepy, surly teenager on his first day of high school, this game simply tries too hard to be cool and achieves very little of what it sets out to accomplish.

Manhunt’s good stealth gameplay and immersive atmosphere are weighed down heavily by its questionable premise, brutal violence, and generally slimy feel.

It’s for the most part far too easy, and that tends to dilute any tension that builds up.

Gory and pointless – just one more tedious stealth game.

There's never a sense that you could make your way through a level based purely on your own sense of ingenuity and improvisation. [July 2004, p.76]

After you see through its repetitive gameplay, gimmicky execution scenes, and tiresome, self-consciously obscene dialogue, there isn't much left. Manhunt's gameplay isn't deep or varied enough to match up to the alternatives on any platform.