However, if you do decide to stick with the stealthy approach, the game does do a decent job of keeping what worked in the first title and even attempts to add a few new elements. As with the first Manhunt, hunters will become alerted to your presence and actively seek you out. Instead of just awkwardly heckling you, this time around they will actually peer deeper into the darkness while searching for you.

You will then need to press a contextual button to remain undetected. Although I initially thought this was an addition that made the game seem more atmospheric, it actually only succeeded in slowing down the gameplay. Now instead of just waiting for the hunters to quickly lose interest and return to their routines for an easy execution, you have to wait even longer and complete this mini-game before you get your chance. This time around you will also be given the chance to perform some environmental executions. If you can successfully sneak up behind your enemy when they are close to a skull that appears on your radar, you will be able to kill them using anything from toilets to fire extinguishers. Since you can't actually tell what is going on though, this remains a somewhat hollow addition.

Manhunt 2's storyline will succeed in leaving many gamers disappointed as well. It revolves around a man named Danny who has been experimented on. He escapes the asylum where he is imprisoned with the help of his friend Leo. They now must work together to survive a seemingly never-ending supply of hunters while trying to figure out what the "Project" has done to them, and to ultimately bring them down. There is a major plot twist that is revealed at virtually the end of the game that almost everyone will see coming very early on. Actually, upon firing up this game for the first time and watching its opening cinema, I even verbally predicted this painfully obvious and inevitable revelation.

In the end, it all comes down to the basic fact that a work of art, created specifically for a mature audience, should not have been forced to compromise the way that this game has been. Gamers who have been waiting a long time for this game to come out, or even just gamers in general, should definitely stay far away from Manhunt 2. While it is definitely not the worst game I have ever played, it is definitely one of the biggest letdowns. With as good as the original Manhunt was, and with as much hype as was behind this title, it ultimately succeeds only in being a major disappointment. Even though it has many faults, I can't help but think the game would have at least been entertaining if it had rightfully been released in its original, unedited form. Unfortunately, we will most likely never know. As it stands, perhaps it would be best to not play Manhunt 2 until the unedited version gets released. If the unedited version never gets released, you are better off just playing the original Manhunt again and thinking about what could have been.

By Adam Brown
CCC Freelance Writer

Features: