Controversy be damned, Manhunt is back, and it’s about as subtle as a pair of pliers wrapped around your ball bag. With an original cast of characters, new story and more colourful locations than those seen in Carcer City, Manhunt 2 aims to build on the core ethos established in the first game – that is: psychosis, heightened paranoia, mistrust and, of course, absolute balls-to-the-wall violence – to present players with the most harrowing experience this franchise has offered yet. Suffer no delusions here: Manhunt 2 means business.

It’s something wildly different from the static snuff movie and revenge-filled story of the first game, with a lead character nowhere near as quiet nor as confident as James Earl Cash. This time, you’ll play Dr Daniel Lamb, a scientist who once worked on something known as the Pickman Project. Due to the controversial nature of many of its experiments the company came under fire, and the forces that be closed one project in particular. However, Dr Pickman, the overseer of the whole thing, convinces Lamb that if they can prove the experiment’s success, all will be forgiven. Lamb, an ambitious soul, fronts himself as the guinea pig.

But, this being Manhunt, nothing is as it seems and defects emerge, along with terrible unforeseen side effects. To silence Lamb the Project puts him in Dixmor Hospital – an insane asylum on its payroll, hiding previous victims of its experiments away from society. Daniel spends six years in a cell, soon beginning to doubt his sanity. Then, one night, a freak electrical storm knocks out the facility’s electrical system, creating a rare opportunity for escape. As the inmates storm the asylum, Lamb and fellow patient Leo, ostensibly another victim of the Project’s past, escape. Once out, it’s up to them to discover just what the Project is up to, and why Lamb was admitted in the first place.

It’s been three years since Manhunt was released and, while its graphics don’t stand up too well, its gameplay does. Right from the off it’s clear that, as different as it appears, this is still very much a part of the franchise in terms of play. The emphasis still rests on avoiding people by sticking to the shadows and, while there, your character icon changes to blue to indicate your visibility. Enemy proximity is displayed on the radar at the bottom-left of the screen, which also displays the direction they’re facing and their overall or current level of alertness: yellow is oblivious, orange on alert and red means they’re entirely aware of you. Immediate objects show up as green arrows on the radar too. It’s also worth mentioning that, while obviously different, the sound design is still distinctly Manhunt. Craig Connor and Alan Walker, BAFTA nominated for their amazing work on the previous game, return for this sequel and their work is just as phenomenal as before. So, what’s new?

… continued