Fans of the first Manhunt were extremely excited to hear that Rockstar was working on Manhunt 2. They were ready for Rockstar’s patented sequel recipe of 80% first-game-framework, 10% increased violence, and, in Manhunt 2′s case, another 10% increased violence.
But then the ESRB decided that people were having entirely too much fun murdering people in video games instead of out on the streets and hit Manhunt 2 with an adult-rating. In the video game industry, an adult-rating is the kiss of death for a console game. Big retailers refuse to carry adult games and Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft, afraid that one of their consoles will be used to bludgeon a nanny to death, stay as far away from adult-rated games as possible.
So Manhunt 2 was edited and went from one of the most anticipated games of the year to a game that felt wrong to play because you knew you were missing out on that 20% more violence that Rockstar usually delivers.
Fast-forward to present day and Rockstar has decided to help everyone out by releasing the adult version of Manhunt 2 on PC on November 6th. The game is only available for pre-order on Direct 2 Drive because most stores don’t feel comfortable stocking an adult-rated game next to the sugar plum fairy dvds and framed pictures of Mother Theressa high-fiving an angel.
With an adult-rating, Rockstar can pretty much do whatever they want. I hope the last two years were spent working on Manhunt 2 in the free time between other projects. This is a chance for Rockstar to get back at the ratings board for fucking up game after game. They should send out an email:
“Dear ESRB. I bet you never thought you’d get the chance to see a video game where two babies fuck their way into a blast furnace. But guess what? We’re re-releasing Manhunt 2 with an adult-rating. Around the office, we call this version the “not fucked by the ESRB version.” I don’t know why we call it that. You know how goofy game designers can be with code-names. Anyway, check it out. Wait, do you guys even play games unless you’re rating them? Is it hard to play a game if you can’t strip out everything fun? Let us know. -Rockstar”
