If you can stand the repetitve gameplay, give it a shot.

User Rating: 5.9 | Manhunt PC
By the_hunger | Review Date:
The premise of Manhunt seems fresh enough: protagonist gets off death row, is dropped in a dangerous part of town, and is hunted by thugs while the cameras are rolling. On the good side, the game has convincing atmosphere, the gameplay mechanics work well, the cutscenes are good, and the voice acting is appropriate for the theme. Bad side: very repetitive gameplay, cheap tactics can get you out of most tight spots, and you never really feel connected to the character or his story. This is too bad, given that the developer (Rockstar) has made some truly amazing games (like Grand Theft Auto 3) using similar mechanics and themes.

Manhunt is pure and simple a stealth game. Cash, the protagonist, can fight hand-to-hand, but the game is intended to be placed in stealth mode. Some of the stealth killings are indeed intense and gruesome, but after about 5 missions they become less shocking. The game primarily consists of distracting an enemy, finding a hiding place, sneaking up behind him, and executing him. Wash, rinse, repeat. Some people are going to like this, and I must admit that the brutality of the kills is morbidly fascinating, at least at first. However, this kind of gameplay has been done much better in games such as Hitman. If you can stand the very repetitive nature of the gameplay, this might be worth checking out. Otherwise, try something like Hitman: Blood Money or one of the Splinter Cell games instead.

Pros
+Good idea for a game
+Some truly over-the-top executions
+Good voice acting
+Typical controls for this sort of game

Cons
-extremely repetitive after a while
-merely decent graphics
-not enough tension
-little character development
-the checkpoint save-game system

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