Manhunt 2 excuses in early

By Tom Bramwell Published 8 February, 2007

Rockstar leaps to own defence.

Rockstar has pre-empted the headline writers by pointing out that Manhunt 2 is clearly an adult game destined for an 18+ rating from classification bodies.

It's very much a case of "what's the all the fuss (going to be) about?" over in the publisher's world, where it's keen to choke the vigour out of any lingering controversy with a plastic bag of sense.

"Manhunt 2 is a chilling and compelling drama and is only appropriate for people who are old enough to play it," a spokesperson told UK trade mag MCV.

"We are aware that in direct contradication to all available evidence, certain individuals continue to link the original Manhunt title to the Warren Leblanc case in 2004.

"The transcript of the court case makes it quite clear what really happened. At sentencing the Judge, defence, prosecution and Leicester police all emphasised that Manhunt played no part in the case."

Adding that it respects people who disagree with it, the publisher concluded that it would submit the game to appropriate bodies, expects it to get an 18 rating, and hopes that'll be fine with everyone.

For more on Manhunt 2, check out the launch announcement and trailer - and join in the debate about how one might use the Wiimote and nunchuck to sneak up on people and go "boo".

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000. Follow him on Twitter.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (11) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • sanctusmortis #1 5 years ago

    Wow. They already hunt controversy... seems they remember that case more than anyone.

  • spongebob #2 5 years ago

    You gotta sell your product.

  • muters #3 5 years ago

    I don't blame them, it's front page news in the local rag

    http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/di...

  • smelly #4 5 years ago

    "A mother and father today condemned a new version of a violent computer game they believe drove a teenager to murder their son."

    Despite the judges saying it did nothing of the sort.

    (edit: Just realised it's the parent of the dead kid whos run the story.. but i'll keep my original post to show i dont mind admitting my mistakes... )


    .. And its just them passing on the blame for their bad parenting, and their sons evil illegal actions onto a 3rd party.

    If i were them, i wouldnt want to advertise on the front page of the LOCAL paper that their son is an evil little shit unable to take responsibility for his own actions..
    Edited by smelly at 08/02/07 @ 18:28

  • GamesConnoisseur #5 5 years ago

    Suprised Nintendo allowing their platform to host the game! Must have been really hurt by missing out on the GTA and all the attentions the other platforms got from 'front page wicked games' news. Also obviously of their platform being ignored as 'kiddies only' by the casual gamers.

    I got Wii as of last week, as it is more suitable for my whole family to participate, X360 is really more for my own entertainment. Certainly quite intrigued by the idea of Manhunt 2 on Wii AND not X360/PS3!

    I am more excited at the opportunity of doing wicked deeds on Wii as you can imagine, than trying the game on PSP or PS2 which ll be just bog standard standard fare in my opinion.

    Good for Nintendo if they can expand their porfolio like this!
    Edited by GamesConnoisseur at 08/02/07 @ 20:34

  • SeesThroughAll #6 5 years ago

    @GamesConnoisseur: Quick question: how well does the Wii handle parental control? Does it apply to the network features and Virtual Console as well as games?

  • smelly #7 5 years ago

    @SeesThroughAll :

    No idea about VC games as i refuse to pay the price for them (apart from zelda). So far (afaik) no "non-kid-friendly" games have been released on VC nehuws.

    It doesnt stop you visiting pron sites using opera though (but that's always gonna be hard to stop, as it's next to impossible for them to block EVERY mucky picture/movie).

  • SomaticSense #8 5 years ago

    As much as I'm fed up with and disagree all the "Ban This Sick Filth" and "Video Games Killed My Son" headlines, if the Wii version includes stabbing motions with the Wiimote then I concede that Rockstar have gone way too far.

    It's one thing playing on a control pad, and quite another actually acting it out, whether it's an 18 cert or not. There's something just uncomfortable about it.

  • muters #9 5 years ago

    I'm leaning towards agreeing with that. I've been replaying the original today and I'm not entirely sure I'd actually *want* to physically act out the execution sequences, nevermind the impracticalities of the Wii interpreting my sneaky ninja moves as 'slap the psycho 'round the head' and raise the alarms every other minute.

    No, I'm lying to myself, of course I want to have a go on a motion-sensitive, all-hacking, all-slashing goregy. Here's hoping it works and somehow doesn't leave me feeling like I've dipped my soul in shit.

  • kasabian72 #10 5 years ago

    This could be trouble for Nintendo. It may be funny seeing little 'Timmy' and little 'Tabitha' flailing their arms around playing Wii boxing, but when parents wake up in the morning and see them making stabbing and neck slicing gestures in front of the screen and then stopping and slowly turning their head backward to look at their parents with an uneasy icy glare....well, it can be a little awkward to say the least.

    That's why they should come out with a wholesome Jedi/lightsabre game. And yes, i watch too many horror films.

  • Ryze #11 5 years ago

    If Nintendo and Rockstar get serious with the parental controls, and the game turns out to be playable, which seems very likely based on the first games and Rockstar's reputation, then this could be a system seller.

    Then, once they've released ManHunt 2, I'd like to see San Andreas Stories appear on the Wii. I'll get the system for that.