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Manhunt 2 gets UK release date
Author: Joe MartinPublished: 6th October 2008
Manhunt 2 will now be available to buy in the UK as of October 31st, 2008.
Now though, after a successful appeal to the BBFC and many modifications to the game, Take-Two has formally announced (via IGN) that Manhunt 2 will be available in the UK from October 31st on the Wii, PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable.
The extremely violent and bloody game first ran in to trouble last year when it was refused an age rating in various countries. Although the game later saw a US release it was still blocked by the British Board of Film Classification, who prevented the game from going on sale by refusing to issue an age rating.
Interestingly, the complaints made by the BBFC did not object so much to the explicit gore in the game but to the casual way that sadistic behaviour was encouraged. Players were prompted to swing the Wiimote in order to behead enemies, for example, but there was little motive or context surrounding the actions - violence for the sake of it.
All this controversy doubtlessly helped sales of course, though critically many reviewers found Manhunt 2 to be disappointing and uninspired. Metacritic currently tracks the game with an average score of 64 percent from professional publications.
So, is it better late than never or is it the other way around for games like this? Let us know what you think in the forums.
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Comments (22)Stats: 0.043 seconds
I think I'm growing out of the violence-for-the-sake-of-violence addiction :(
hmpf!
no PC release!... That's outrageous!
Ive played a lot of the violent for the sake of it games (except Manhunt 1). and even i was shocked.
Its supprising to see how needlessly brutal it really was, the story just sets you up in different places with flimsy excuses to kill people quite needlessly and brutally.
I doubt the game could stand up without the 'i was banned for ultraviolence' tag, Again I bet all the 13 year olds will be rushing out for this.
Just get GTA4.
fun - no
I got this game for the PSP and I didn't like it at all.
I bet if it was not in the news it would not have sold half of what it has.
pretty much agree with you, I can't believe at first how shallow it was, a game made primarily just for gore, reminded me of the now boring zombie (or apocalyptic tragedy something) movies that come out one after another,lol
I mean who cares if someone might enjoy it, lets ban it for everyone to be safe!
*epic facepalm*
(for the record i don't like the game either, i just don't believe in media being banned because somebody has an issue with it)
Just because *you* don't like it, does that mean you should decide for everyone else that *they* can't play it? And please don't bring up any 'violent games leads to real violence' as there's no evidence of that unless one makes their own parallels.
Personally the game doesn't interest me -- not because I'm against violence - it just ain't my cup of tea. But just because I don't like it, I'd never say other's can't make up their own minds on whether they should be able to play it.
What if a group of people didn't like a film about the absurdity of religion? Should that be 'banned' and no one else allowed to watch it for fear it might suddenly convert loads of religious people into atheists?
People should be allowed the choice, to make the decision for themselves.
Oh, and before any parents go off on the whole, "what about the children" issue -- if you're real, capable parents, you'll do your job and parent your children and not leave it to the govt, society or media to do it for you :P
Great, that's your opinion -- but why should that affect me or anyone else's ability to freely choose to play it? Why is your sense or morality so important that it outweight's another individual's freedom to choose? :|
General public opinion dictates that there has to be a line drawn somewhere in terms of censorship. What if the game was the same except involved the brutalised murder of children? What if again it allowed the brutalised rape and murder of children? Is that ok? As you stated previously, "And please don't bring up any 'violent games leads to real violence' as there's no evidence of that" so likewise, there shouldn't be any correlation between the rape and murder of children in RL and this game. A game which can't directly harm children... is it still ok to sell it, or do you admit censorship should be used in this case? If you think that adults should still freely be able to choose to play it I have lost this argument, but I'm glad the majority society is on my side for now :)
Ah, i was waiting for that extreme type of example :) Personally, I couldn't care less with a game depicts that sort of brutality -- again, not really my sort of game and i suspect, not for many others either.
I agree, that perhaps *some* topics are too much for the general public to absorb and take in (i.e., as you made ref to, things that deal with kids -- personally the less of the street corner scum the better, but hey-ho) but that example was quite extreme.
I do recall years ago, letting a mate's girlfriend watch a level or two of "Quake" on the PC -- and she went white when she saw the zombie dogs being fragged by my shotgun. I tried to explain that a) it's not real and b) they're zombies -- they need to be eliminated. But she wasn't having any of it -- she was confusing fantasy with reality -- which I wasn't. I know the difference.
And that is the crux of the problem -- the people in the world who cannot distinguish between reality and fantasy.
Plus, my mate's gf didn't even have a zombie plan, as most girls don't. ;)
The market should censor crap like this if its not profitable it won't be made if it is profitable then a sizeable enough number in the games market has decided the game is worth owning and fits to within their range of acceptable taste. If an individual doesn't like it, tough you don't have the right not to be offended you do have the right not to decide to purchase the game.
Haha, zombie plans, why men are superior to women :P
And yes the example was quite extreme, but I was making the point nearly everyone has some sense of morality, and just because you can easily dismiss the correlation between media content and peoples action, it doesn't mean others more conservative morality is wrong. When I stated my opinion, it was just that, a single opinion. I wasn't actually trying to argue anything, or say that the game should be banned, just that I thought it was a good point at which to consider banning. But if the majority hold my opinion, then yes it should be banned, that to me is democracy. I see no need in media which society deems detrimental to itself.
I think you'll disagree with that as well, and I'm not so great at getting my thoughts across, so I hope we can just agree to disagree on this topic :)
Agreed :) But i do enjoy a nice civil debate - so very hard to come by on the net these days! ;)