Oh boy, ever since Manhunt 2 was deemed unfit for a usable rating in America and pretty much banned everywhere else there's been much interest with what will become of the game. Well, if you're like me and quite enjoyed the original Manhunt you'll be please to hear that in America Manhunt 2 was given an "M" rating by the ESRB after a "modified version" was resubmitted. Apparently Rockstar cut out some aspects of the game that the ERSB considered to bleak.

However, even after the cut was made and Manhunt was given its new usuable rating Leland Yee (California State Senator) demanded how mere cuts from the game awarded it with a whole new rating. The ERSB were quick to respond with the following statement:


August 28, 2007 - �Upon reviewing the modified version of Manhunt 2, the ESRB assigned a rating of M (Mature 17+) with content descriptors for Intense Violence, Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content and Use of Drugs. This is a very clear and firm warning to parents that the game is in no way intended for children. As always, we urge parents to strongly consider the ESRB rating in their decision about whether a game is appropriate for their children.

�Publishers submit game content to the ESRB on a confidential basis. It is simply not our place to reveal specific details about the content we have reviewed, particularly when it involves a product yet to be released. What can be said is that the changes that were made to the game, including the depictions themselves and the context in which those depictions were presented, were sufficient to warrant the assignment of an M (Mature 17+) rating by our raters.

�The FTC, the national PTA, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and Peter Hart Research have all found that parents are overwhelmingly satisfied with the ESRB rating system. Rather than publicly second-guessing what is unmistakably a strong warning to parents about the suitability of a particular game for children, which presumably neither Senator Yee nor CCFC have personally reviewed, we feel a more productive tack would be to join us in encouraging parents to take the ratings seriously when buying games for their children.

�The FTC reports that 89% of parents say they are involved in the purchase or rental of the video games their children play and 85% say they restrict them. Additionally, parents can now easily activate password-protected settings on game consoles to block out content they deem inappropriate. Further, according to a recent audit by the Federal Trade Commission, the major game retailers, representing approximately 90% of all sales, currently stop the sale of M-rated games to buyers under 17 the vast majority of the time, having surpassed the level of enforcement achieved by theatre owners in connection with children�s access into R-rated movies.

�It is a parent�s rightful place to make choices for their own children. The ESRB and console manufacturers provide families with the tools and information to help them do so.�

Manhunt 2 is set for release this Halloween in North America.

But that isn't the end. What about everyone else?. It's still unclear but after the BBFC refused to give Manhunt 2 a rating Rockstar are still currently appealing. And who knows, maybe they will overturn the decision and Britain might just get an unedited version-the version which Rockstar intended. Here's hoping.

http://www.projectmanhunt.com/

When I talked to the Rockstar guys at PAX they were excited about just reciving their M rating and told me that thanksgiving was when they were dropping. Haloween seems more fitting to me.

While Halloween is very fitting it just reinforces the idea I have that this was all planned by Rockstar. What better way to stir up talk in the gaming community than to get their game intentionally banned all the while having the "real" edited version nearby at hand. Maybe I'm buying into a silly conspiracy here but it just seems to perfect to me. That added with the relatively short time it took to make the edits just gives off an unusual odor to me.

Anyway, at least it's being released. The art direction in the original Manhunt was superb. Let's hope the sequel lives up to its predecessor.

I don't see how it's planned. Editing out content wouldn't have taken long, and they just decided to release it on Halloween.

Of course, I wouldn't put it past them.

I want to know what was edited out...

Once you have a finished, organized, streamlined product, it's really not that hard to sifft through the programing and take stuff out.

anyways

I doubt that this is some kind of conspiracy. Ever since GTA 3, the Govt. and many lawyers have always kept their eye on Rockstar releases.
The Govt. exaggerated reaction on all things that can have a "bad influence" on children always give free publicity. Just look at the rise of Hair metal and Gangsta Rap of the '80s and '90s just because of the "Explicit Lyrics" sticker.

I Fuck Like a Beast

Strongly advise you to avoid the game. Sure, there's the gore but the main character is such a dunce, guys. "You have to kill or be killed!" "I don't want to kill anyone!" he says, before picking up a syringe and dispatching an opponent in an unnecessarily painful way. Not even if he turns out to be an amnesiac trained assassin does it excuse discrepancies like these. It's just stupid.

God, at least Cash was believable.

LOl, you totally tore up the game man, manhunt 1 was cool, hope there will be a definite improvement on 2

Strongly advise you to avoid the game. Sure, there's the gore but the main character is such a dunce, guys. "You have to kill or be killed!" "I don't want to kill anyone!" he says, before picking up a syringe and dispatching an opponent in an unnecessarily painful way. Not even if he turns out to be an amnesiac trained assassin does it excuse discrepancies like these. It's just stupid.

God, at least Cash was believable.

Surely he only kills them in an "unnecessarily painful way" if you choose to make him do it. The creators provide the plot in the cutscenes the gamer fills in the rest . . .

Every execution is brutal, no matter the level. Oh, and when he says he doesn't want to kill anyone, it's not in a cutscene, it's during gameplay.