Manhunt 2 (found uncensored PC version of Rockstar horror game; 2007)

This article has been tagged as NSFL due to its subject matter of extreme violence and discussion of a real-life murder case.

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The game's cover art.

Status: Found

Date found: 07 Mar 2022

Found by: Scheme Master

Manhunt 2 is a 2007 survival horror game by Rockstar Games, and a sequel to their 2003 hit Manhunt. The game focuses on the duo of Daniel Lamb and Leo Kaspar, who are trying to solve how Daniel (who has amnesia) ended up in the Dixmor Asylum after they escape, all the while their connection to a shadowy organisation called The Project, of who is hunting them.

In order to defend themselves they, like in the first game, have to use makeshift weaponry and use stealth strategies to beat the overall level - all the while new features for the second game (most notably the player having to hold their breath in the shadows via quick time event in order not to be spotted) are also included. The game itself is quite notorious for such gameplay, given the often very violent kills that the player can execute against their enemies, especially as the game rewards you for such creative efforts.

While both games were controversial over their violent content, it was only the second game that had to tone down such material in order to get it past several censorship bodies, most notably the British Board of Film Classification and the Entertainment Software Rating Board. It was because of this that the original playable uncensored version of the game remained lost media for some time.

Background

In 2003, hot off the major success of the recent entries into their Grand Theft Auto series of games, Rockstar Games released Manhunt, a survival horror game that followed protagonist James Earl Cash revolving around a snuff film environment in order to acquire his freedom. While well-received by most critics and selling over a million copies worldwide, it remained heavily controversial due its violent content - so much so that in the years since Rockstar employee Jeff Willaims admitted that it almost caused a 'mutiny at the company' over the game's 'icky' gore. Such matters were not helped once the game was linked to the murder of 14-year-old Stefan Pakeerah, despite it later transpiring that the game was not related to the killing. The game has since become a cult classic in the years since, all the while becoming one of Rockstar's most iconic titles.

Following the first game's success, a second installment was announced. After the British Official Playstation Magazine got early access to the game in March 2007, any planned future release seemed to go off without a hitch. The initial trailer was released in April 2007, all the while further promotion was conducted for the game ahead of a scheduled release in July 2007.

Censorship

Before the planned release, however, there was some major pushback. In June 2007, both the BBFC and the Irish Film Classification Office refused to give the game certification, banning Manhunt 2 in both Britain and Ireland (as of 2022, Manhunt 2 is the only video game to have such a distinction). The former body justified their reasoning on the grounds of the game's extreme content, with the board's then-director David Cooke stating that:

'Manhunt 2 is distinguishable from recent high-end video games by its unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone... There is sustained and cumulative casual sadism in the way in which these killings are committed... in the game. The game's unrelenting focus on stalking and brutal slaying and the sheer lack of alternative pleasures on offer to the gamer contribute towards differentiating this submission from the original Manhunt game. The Board's carefully considered view is that to issue a certificate to Manhunt 2 would involve a range of unjustifiable harm risks, to both adults and minors, and that its availability would be unacceptable to the public.

Other BBFC examiners would respond in a similar matter, most notably that of press office manager Sue Clark, of who noted in an IGN interview that the fact that the 'possibility of younger aged viewers getting it' (especially given how supposedly 'attractive' 18-rated games were to 'under-aged players) was instrumental in their decision, given that such a matter fit the 'potential harm' remit of the Video Recordings Act 1984, a piece of legislation that was put through during the 'video nasties' scare of the 1980s and their effect on children.

To make matters worse, the ESRB also rated the game AO (Adults Only), meaning it would be restricted to players 18 years old and older, as opposed to the more commercially viable M (Mature) rating for players 17 years old and over (especially since most major retailers refuse to stock the former games). Following this, Sony and Nintendo announced that they don't allow such games on their systems - as the game was meant to be released on the former's PlayStation 2 and PSP consoles alongside the Nintendo Wii, effectively banned the game from the United States as well.

In response, Rockstar released the following statement about the BBFC's decision:

'We are disappointed with the recent decision by the British Board of Film Classification to refuse classification of Manhunt 2. While we respect the authority of the classification, we emphatically disagree with this particular decision. Manhunt 2 is an entertainment experience for fans of psychological thrillers and horror. The subject matter of this game is in line with other mainstream entertainment choices for adult consumers.'

It was from this point onwards that Take-Two Interactive, Rockstar's parent company, announced that it would be pulling Manhunt 2 from release for the foreseeable future to get around such problems.

Cut Content and Eventual Release

In response to the matter, Rockstar Games set about reducing the game's violence to make it more acceptable for such boards. To do so, they made the following changes to the original game:

• Adding a blurring effect to all of the kills to reduce their intensity and violence.
• Removing certain types of executions, including those involving the weapons of wire cutters and pliers. In their cases, some plot and level-specific elements to their use remained, including those of some executions for the former, and using the pliers to cut through wire fences to progress further in the level.
• The obscuring of the use of pliers during a cutscene for the 'Red Light' level, whereby they are used on a civilian's face.
• Removing innocent characters that the player could kill in the original version (of which would determine the ending also) in their entirety.
• Removing the end-level scoreboards carried over from the first game - albeit Rockstar Games developer Jeronimo Barrera stated in a MTV News interview argued that such a change was more cosmetic than censorious, stating that it made the game flow better, and was simply a 'hold-over from the first game'.

In response, while the ESRB allowed the censored version to have an M rating (later being released in the States on Halloween 2007), the BBFC still refused to certify the game, with Cooke noting that the changes were 'insufficient' and didn't take into account their 'suggestions for further changes' to it. Following a series of legal actions involving the Video Appeals Committee (of who under the VRA, are able to overturn BBFC decisions when it comes to rejection/censorship matters), Rockstar were eventually allowed to release the game on Halloween 2008 once a legally binding decision to overturn the BBFC's rejection was granted by a 4-3 vote in March 2008. The BBFC would later certify the game with an '18' certificate, noting that it contained 'very strong bloody and sadistic violence,' and stressed that it was 'entirely unsuitable for anyone below this age.' In their 2007 annual report, it was detailed that it was their most complained about decision making of that year, with the over 700 responses mostly being negative - so much so that the board was compared to 'the Nazis and the Burmese government' as they were 'corroding human liberties'.

Availability

Once the dust settled, Rockstar announced in 2009 that they would release the uncensored version of the game through the online Direct2Drive game store, with it receiving an AO rating, and being released in November 2009. However, this version was later removed in 2011 once GameFly bought Direct2Drive, of who also refuse to stock AO-rated games.

The uncensored version of the game then became lost media for several years, beyond playthroughs of it online. In March 2022 however, the Archive.org user Scheme Master released the original uncut version, available to download at any time.

Gallery

The first trailer of the game, released in April 2007.

A playthrough of the uncensored version of the game, by the YouTube channel GTA Series Videos.

A video from GNC Films' Cutting Edge series, examining the censorship of the first two Manhunt games.