- Rockstar’s Manhunt series was criticized for its extreme violence, especially after being linked to a real-life murder.
- Manhunt features a violent protagonist controlled by a director, while Manhunt 2 follows an asylum inmate with a split personality.
- A sequel seems unlikely, but a nostalgic revival could happen despite the controversy.
Rockstar has always been under public scrutiny for their games, especially for how violent they are. Most of the blame falls on the mainstream GTA series, but one game series was infamous for its gore made by Rockstar: Manhunt.
The Manhunt Game Series
Manhunt 1 focuses on the main character, James Earl Cash, following a series of horribly violent instructions given by a director who has a fetish for gore. Even reading this grossly simplified summary might leave a bad taste in your mouth, so you can imagine what the game is like.
In the second entry, our protagonist is an escaped inmate from an insane asylum (Danial Lamb) accompanied by a strange man, Leo. Leo also mentors the protagonist, telling him exactly who to kill in glorious violence.
The second game became more of a psychological horror than the first game, while the first game was more of a display of gory violence.
The games had many complications, both in their reception and in their development. Let’s examine both of these aspects for Manhunt and Manhunt 2.
The First Game
The first Manhunt game was Rockstar North’s pet project, and the other wings of the company did not want anything to do with it. A former developer wrote that GTA was always a series where you never hurt anyone who didn’t deserve it, and the game was a parody.
However, Manhunt was a game that the developers felt uneasy while making. The emphasis was on manslaughter, and realistic, violent, nightmarish manslaughter at that. The developer wrote that there was no way to rationalize it, and they were crossing a line.
After the game was released to mature audiences worldwide, the press quickly scrutinized it for being too violent. This all culminated with the murder of Stefan Pakeerah at the hands of Warren Leblanc. A copy of the game was found in the perpetrator’s bedroom.
The parents of the victim blamed the game in large part for this act of heinous violence, but the judge ultimately ruled that it was not Rockstar’s fault for how people interpreted this media. Still, this horrible event culminated in a lot of bad press for Rockstar and Manhunt.
The Second Game
After the controversy of the first game, Rockstar should’ve hesitated to release it again, but on October 29th, 2007, we got the second entry in the series: Manhunt 2.
Rockstar chose to take this game in a slightly more tasteful direction with a different type of story. The first game had a purely reactionary protagonist, whereas the plot of the second game had a much more active lead.
[SPOILER WARNING] The second game follows a psychotic patient in an asylum accompanied by another inmate. It’s later revealed they are the same person, with the protagonist’s altered mental state caused by a government program.
This simplifies the story, but it is a more tasteful story for the vibe Rockstar was going for. The protagonist was humanized, and his violent acts were painted as no fault of his own.
The violence did not take a backseat, though, with there being extravagant executions coupled with mechanics to allow players to hurt innocent people in brutal ways.
This led to this game being released in a few regions with many problems with the ERSB ratings. The game was initially rated as AO(Adults Only), but Rockstar removed the innocent executions and put up a filter to make the murder scenes less gory to get the rating to M.
Will There Be Another
With all the controversy surrounding these games, it might be better to forget that Rockstar ever made them. The horrible amounts of violence are something that even the developers and people who defend violent games find unsavoury.
There are no signs of a sequel, which might be good. If you want to play these, you can still fill your cravings by downloading them online.
There is still a chance that Rockstar will return to this series just for the nostalgic hype most other studios rely on, a prospect that scares and excites us.
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Moiz Banoori, with a decade of experience in gaming and tech journalism and a degree in journalism, is a notable figure in the industry. He has contributed to various esteemed platforms, showcasing his expertise in both reporting and opinion writing.
