You play the role of James Earl Cash. A guy who's been sentenced to death for committing an unknown crime. But a person known only to Cash as 'the Director' has given him a 'second chance'. The story revolves around Cash having to do sick and twisted things for the director, who gets shall we say... excited by gruesome deaths. You're involved in one of his films and the only way to get out of this alive is to do what he says (he's in constant contact with you via an earpiece). And so you're chucked into the depths of Carcer city - a city that gangs rule, and it's these gangs that will be hunting you down.

The game gives you a nice tutorial level to start out with just so you can get used to what's in store later on. But if you were in any doubt about the 18 certificate you soon learn this game isn't for the younger gamer. The first weapons you get your hands on are a plastic bag and a glass shard; you can pull off 3 different 'execution' moves with each weapon (excluding firearms). The longer you hold down the X or Square button will make your crosshair change colour; with grey being the normal going to yellow, then to red which is the most gruesome. These attacks can range from a simple bash on the noggin to a decapitation. Other weapons you find later include hammers, sickles, machetes, guns, a chainsaw (naturally) and various others. The actual gameplay involves you sneaking around in shadows to avoid the dangerous hunters who have been put in the various grungy arenas by the Director so you can kill them in anyway you like for his sick pleasure. The game radar is a bit different to the normal "see everyone" type radar, this radar goes on what you can see and hear, so if there's a hunter standing right behind a wall who isn't moving or making a sound you wouldn't know until you walk around the corner and get beaten up.

   

The game's controls are good and with the 3rd person perspective you can lean against walls MGS-style or duck behind objects for cover. A lot of the incidental items in the world such as bins and shopping trolleys can be knocked over to make a noise and attract hunters over for an ambush kill. All great fun and very tense, but if one thing lets Manhunt down, it's that it can be repetitive.

Manhunt has a very original style when it comes to its looks and sounds; first of all the main camera has a grainy effect to make it look like the director is watching you though one of his many CCTV cameras. When you perform an execution you get a view from a camera that shows your kill from a nice close-up angle. The character models look good with all the hunter gangs having their own particular style, dress and favoured weapons. The world looks like it's supposed to; dark and dingy with different environments like streets, junkyards, railway yards and a prison. Manhunt's sounds are really great; the reactive music is excellent and creates a real atmosphere with light eerie music when creeping and walking but then turning to intense chase music once you're spotted. You can also use a PS2 headset, which becomes not only your earpiece and only contact with the Director, but also has a live microphone so that sounds made by you can be heard by hunters. Like GTA, idle characters say some funny things such as: "I recognise these footprints… they're mine". But if they're aware of your presence they'll taunt you with some very bad language - trying to get a reaction out of you.

   

Overall Manhunt is a very solid title with good graphics, great sound, good gameplay, and with 20 or more atmospheric and tension-filled levels - if violent games are your thing, you'll be playing this for a while. Also if you want an even bigger challenge you can crank it up to hardcore mode to play against better hunters with no radar. If the game was less samey I would give this the Gamecell "Must Buy" 9 or 10 rating, but even with the repetitiveness (and Rockstar North did try to introduce some variation here and there) you still can't ignore the fact that this is a brutally well made game. Now killer, go skulk in the shadows.