As scary as Silent Hill! There, I said it!

User Rating: 9 | Manhunt PS2
By cardinalphoenix | Review Date:
Survival Horror games, like Resident Evil and Silent Hill, have made names for themselves by providing the freakiest of creatures and telling you, "here's some guns (or in SH's case, a lead pipe and a board with a nail in it), now kill them SOBs!" And that's good, certainly I give RE its due surviving to this day with so many iterations and manifestations, and SH still goes as strong as it did with new innovations on gameplay, rethought elements, etc. Manhunt, unfortunately, doesn't tend to get quite the due it deserves, mainly because at its prime, it was held back by parents, activists and other such party poopers who believe adults don't deserve the right to play videogames. Silent Hill's monsters tend to be rooted in the emotional trauma that the main character is enduring, and that makes them a great aspect to each game, but...I think what makes Manhunt special is the lack of the supernatural...

You play the role of James Earl Cash, a prisoner on death row who's about to pay the piper at the end of a lethal needle. After getting injected, he doesn't die and instead is manipulated into murdering dozens of gang members for the twisted desires of a fallen-from-grace Hollywood director (hopefully I'm not spoiling anything). That's what makes this game interesting, the human element. I can see this actually happening in real life, a Hollywood director fails to repeat his past success and in an attempt to gain even an iota of respect from anyone he can, directs snuff films in his basement, regardless of who gets hurt in the process. No freaky otherworlds, no mist or fog, no secret corporation creating viruses to turn people into zombies (uh oh, ruined the first RE, sorry guys), no monsters (well...except maybe Piggsy...he's a bit...weird...)...just plain, old, ordinary human sickness...human ego blown out of proportion to the point of committing terrible acts on others...

And now, you get to allow yourself to be pulled into that world...and fight your way out, ;-)

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