| This article is about the Manhunt series. For the first game in the series, see Manhunt. |
Manhunt is a duology of psychological thriller/slasher-themed survivor-horror stealth videogames developed by British video game developer Rockstar North and published by their American parent company Rockstar Games. The series debuted in 2003 on the PlayStation 2 console, before further re-releases on other consoles including Xbox, PC, PlayStation Portable, Wii, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4.
The series began with 2003's Manhunt and continued with a sequel, Manhunt 2, in 2007. The first game was primarily developed by Rockstar North, while the sequel was handled under the assistance of Rockstar Leeds and Rockstar London due to active development of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas in 2003. The title of the series comes from the police term "manhunt", referring to intensive pursue of a fugitive.
Gameplay in both games is presented from a third-person perspective and contains elements of stealth and survival-horror, as the protagonist has to avoid hostile NPCs and execute them in violent ways with a variety of different weapons. While narratives greatly differ between the titles, the general plot revolves around violence and psychological horror. The series is notable for its tie-ins with Rockstar North' flagship series, Grand Theft Auto, especially with games within the 3D Universe continuity.
The series is notorious for its brutal, nightmarish, bloody, gory and ultraviolent nature, and has gained controversy among moral guardians for its elaborate executions and cruelty. The series generally received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics, with particular praise directed towards its atmosphere and dark tone. As of 2008, both games sold over 1.7 million copies combined.
Gameplay[]
The Manhunt series consists of a major focus on stealth gameplay from a third-person perspective. Players survive the levels by killing hunters primarily through stealth executions with various weapons, and occasionally with firearms. To carry out executions, players must approach a hunter from behind, undetected. Upon aiming at the hunter and getting close enough to them, the player's stance will change and the aim will change its color to three levels of execution, each more brutal than the last: Hasty (White) being quick and not very bloody, Violent (Yellow) being considerably more gory, and Gruesome being brutal and over-the-top, leading to blood soaked and extremely painful executions. Manhunt 2 introduced "environmental executions", in which the player must approach a hunter near an interactive object to perform an execution, and "jump executions" that can be performed by jumping from a ledge at a hunter.
Each level is filled with dark spots for the player to hide from the hunters, and can be used to have an edge on them by making a noise to distract and ambush them or to escape from their sight when caught. Manhunt 2 has an exclusive mechanic in which a hunter will check the dark spot where the player is hiding, and they must keep a cursor inside a circle (PC and Wii) or press a button (PS2 and PSP) to hold Daniel/Leo's breath and remain hidden.
At the end of each level, players can earn up to four stars on normal difficulty ("Fetish" in Manhunt, "Sane" in Manhunt 2) and five stars on hard difficulties ("Hardcore" in Manhunt, "Insane" in Manhunt 2); one is awarded for finishing the level under a certain amount of time, and one to three stars are awarded based on the brutality of the executions carried out during the level and (on hard difficulty) one for completing the scene. To gain the maximum number of stars, a set number of brutal executions must be carried out over the course of each level.
Themes[]
Manhunt
Manhunt 2
Games[]
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