I couldn't do it.

I'd waited for the Manhunt sequel's announcement. I'd paid the entire game off the moment it hit the Gamestop computers. I'd stayed the course when the game was postponed with the AO rating. I kept the faith when there was mention of an M-rated version.

But I couldn't do it. I couldn't stomach the changes that were made. And so I cancelled my preorder.

When the original rating came down, nobody would say precisely why it was rated AO. We were given vague generalizations by the ESRB's Patricia Vance, and much hemming and hawing was performed as we waited to find out what the game's fate would be. Would it be a few textures removed? A few executions replaced? The entire project scrapped?

Now we see that executions will be replaced with a dark, blurry mess. Oh, the replaced executions are no big deal. I can live without the genital rip. But when most of the kills are replaced with the equivalent of Sub-Zero's Blackout fatality, what's the point?What's a horror game without the horror?

I used the credit I had on Manhunt 2 toward Beautiful Katamari, a game that runs on the opposite side of the thematic spectrum. My $40 won't be missed, I'm sure. But I don't buy games to make political statements.