PSP World

Asylum Review: Manhunt 2

Have you ever experienced an insane moment where you wanted to hurt people just because you could? No? What about if you had to do it for survival? Yes I thought that would make your decision easy. Welcome to Manhunt 2 where you are an escape mental patient named Daniel Lamb with your partner Leo Kasper trying to run and find the truth. However the Pickman Project will stop at nothing to silence you since you are the only surviving subjects. Once your cell opens you only have one chance to take back the life they stole from you! Pop some pills and calm your nerves because you are on a surreal psycho trip, welcome to the review of Manhunt 2 for the PSP.

We shall begin with your transition from a weak scared man to a mad killer convinced that you are trying to survive. As I said before you escape the cell with another inmate, because things have gone wrong and prisoners have gone loose through out the Asylum. You objective are to get the heck out of dodge and hopefully find out what is going on in this sick world you are in. Controls are as followed you use X to run, Square Execute when you sneak up on people or Attack when sneaking doesn't work, Triangle is for blocking and clinging to walls, Circle is for climbing/picking up bodies. Think of it has a psycho version of metal gear solid.

The graphics involved in the game are actually pretty good as it gives you a VHS feel. Instead of being the character, you are more like the audience looking through a live feed of a snuff film as in the first manhunt game. It has a creepy feel too it making you always having to look over your shoulders in game and outside of game. The psycho episodes of your memory that you go through are an added plus. One thing I appreciate is that even though it seems that you are with a partner, it feels if you are a skit so. Meaning you might be talking to yourself just like fight club. Oh snap creepy!

The area we shall touch right now is combat and stealth kills. Now you will be introduced to certain weapons and melee moves. The weapons are crowbars, broken glass, syringe, bricks which can be thrown by holding the L and R trigger and my favorite fiber wire. If you are lucky you can stick to the shadows and wait for the right moment to strike. Once you are in range for an execution move hold down the square button to get the most gruesome effect of a finisher. I warn you before view the screenshots, it can get nasty. The hand to hand physics can use a little work but nothing to complicate needed to be added. When you do get over your opponent you have to make sure they don't get back up, so be sure to kick them while they are down.

After talking about kicking people while they are down lets roll into the A.I. enemies. You do have radar that tells you if the enemy is aware or alert also what direction they are facing so you can pull off an execution. Now there is a noise feature on the radar since it is a sneak around type game. The more noise you make, a huge red circle will ping like a sonar detection; I would advise you to be as quiet as possible. The A.I fighting skills are a bit similar to yours just that some might be stronger than others; however don't ever let yourself get cornered especially by Pickmen, who are basically the enforcers of the project.

At this point we are going to psycho analyze the flaws of the game. This game is well done, but I feel that there should be some added additions to it. For example there should be a multiplayer options where you a gauntlet of survival. I thought the combat could have been a bit better, even using the guard feature didn't help much. Movement of the character is a bit stiff but is manageable. Last but not least I would of a crouch feature even for none shadow areas.

This is the right time to sum it all up for you crazy gamers out there. I have to say that this game even though it was banded in certain countries just gave it more street credit. It has an interesting story mode with great graphics to boot. You have your psycho sessions and great execution moves. It has that creepy horror element that would be enjoyed by fans of the genre and puzzle elements to keep you thinking. No multiplayer added, so once you’re done that basically it. The controls can be a bit muggy, but with practice you can get by that. I have to say it was nicely done as a handheld and even though it couldn't get the A rating as intended, it still came out pretty good. So I give Manhunt two 4 muzzles out of 5. Keep it sane gamers!