Manhunt 2 denied UK release!

[DifferentClass]

To everyone that doesn't care that this game could have been banned. You're morons. The fact that it may or may not be a crap game isn't the point. The point is that no game should be banned. An 18 sticker is all you need and a blurb on the back explaining what the game is about. If you can't make a decision about whether or not the game is suitable for you or the person you're buying it for then you're a simpleton.

With you 100% on that.

Yeah! Me too.. didn't buy it though, mostly because it's crap, but now atleast I have the choice to sneer at it on the shelf where I wouldn't before.

[blagmasterg]

To everyone that doesn't care that this game could have been banned. You're morons. The fact that it may or may not be a crap game isn't the point. The point is that no game should be banned. An 18 sticker is all you need and a blurb on the back explaining what the game is about. If you can't make a decision about whether or not the game is suitable for you or the person you're buying it for then you're a simpleton.

Didn't say that I don't care that the game could've been banned - just said that I don't care about the game. The first one was not appealing to me at all and this one doesn't seem to be anything like my bag either.

Not sure that I agree that anyone who doesn't care if its banned is a moron either tho. If like me you really can't raise any enthusiasm for the game at all, then why the hell should you care whether its going to be released or not?

[rumblecat]

Well, probably because whether or not you have enthusiasm for it, as an adult you might have an issue with being told what entertainment is suitable for you and what isn't, that apparently adults need protecting from being able to make their own choices. But I don't think Scots post was specifically aimed at you.

[blagmasterg]

Well, probably because whether or not you have enthusiasm for it, as an adult you might have an issue with being told what entertainment is suitable for you and what isn't, that apparently adults need protecting from being able to make their own choices. But I don't think Scots post was specifically aimed at you.

I know, its just sometimes I can't resist a good lively debate with Scots

I'm not sure that I even HAVE an opinion on the whole argument as to whether I should be told as an adult what entertainment is suitable for me etc. I mean, I happen to think that part of the reason for the problems in modern society is that we have TOO much freedom. Sexual promiscuity, more and more horror, blood guts and violence in modern entertainment etc etc - I hate to sound all Mary Whitehouse but all these things can hardly be helping us all to be better more positive human beings as a society can they? I guess my point is that I will happily defend anything that arguably has some 'value' from being censored, but I fail to see where the intrinsic value lies in Manhunt 2?

[Richman]

but I fail to see where the intrinsic value lies in Manhunt 2?

I want to play it?

Isn't that value enough?

Since when does everything have to have some abstract quality of "value" attributed to it before it's allowed?

[DifferentClass]

Manhunt 2 doesn't have any value in that sense, it won't challange views on anything. It's just having these things banned is insulting. If this idle entertainment gets censored then there is an increasing chance that stuff more relevant might never get out there.

From what people have said in the grander scale of things it's not even that bad so why ban it rather than why not.

[rumblecat]

Well, without wanting to dredge up the debate again, I've played the game, it's pretty good fun, there's nothing that horrific in it, I enjoyed it and as an adult I'm quite happy not to have someone dictate what art or entertainment I can or can't experience. It'd be a different debate if the BBFC had said they were banning it out fear of minors playing it, but they specifically mentioned it was "involve a range of unjustifiable harm risks" to adults.

Seriously, it's more of an 80s straight-to-video dumb action movie than anything else. It's nowhere as near as disturbing as say the constant psychological pressure of a film like Eraserhead, or the graphic violence in a book like American Psycho. And as a game it's has far less explicit gore when compared to something like Soldier of Fortune.

Sure, it's not to everbody's taste, but I don't really want a society where something gets banned because it's not to someone's taste, because they can't see the value in it. There's a lot of crappy stuff out there that I don't see the value in, but at the same time I respect the right of an adult to make an adult decision about it.

The violence in the game works perfectly in the context of the set-up: kill or be killed. If Manhunt 2 is worth banning, then so are a huge number of games out there. Whether the BBFC were trying to make a statement of sorts, or whether it was part of some grudge against Rockstar games, I don't know, but the fact that they're rating was twice over-ruled by the VAC shows that they were definitely fallible. I'm willing to bet big bucks that if the game had come from any other company this issue would never have arisen.

At the end of the day, it's not devoid of artistic merit and entertainment. Sure, it's not to everyone's tastes, but that's not a reason to ban adults from making up their own minds. What's truly ridiculous is Manhunt 2 isn't even that bad- it was the censored version that the BBFC rejected, and you'd be hard push to find anything in there that's genuinely disturbing, beyond the shitty level design in the second half of the game.

[ScotsWahey]

Well, probably because whether or not you have enthusiasm for it, as an adult you might have an issue with being told what entertainment is suitable for you and what isn't, that apparently adults need protecting from being able to make their own choices. But I don't think Scots post was specifically aimed at you.

I know, its just sometimes I can't resist a good lively debate with Scots

I'm not sure that I even HAVE an opinion on the whole argument as to whether I should be told as an adult what entertainment is suitable for me etc. I mean, I happen to think that part of the reason for the problems in modern society is that we have TOO much freedom. Sexual promiscuity, more and more horror, blood guts and violence in modern entertainment etc etc - I hate to sound all Mary Whitehouse but all these things can hardly be helping us all to be better more positive human beings as a society can they? I guess my point is that I will happily defend anything that arguably has some 'value' from being censored, but I fail to see where the intrinsic value lies in Manhunt 2?

If "They" had their way we would all carry chipped ID cards. We would swipe in and swipe out, have cameras on us all the time and they would know where we went, who we talked to and what we thought. Ok it's not as bad as that right now but each time the general public says "I don't mind CCTV" or "I don't mind carrying a card" or "I don't mind if they ban so and so because it doesn't interest me" it sets a precedent and erodes our freedoms. The value of Manhunt 2 as a piece of software is irrelevant, the precedent a banning of it would have created is my point of contention. Who are "THEY" to say what I can and cannot watch or play? Who are they to decide if I am mature or mentally stable enough to understand what I am being shown? It's about the level of control which our government has over us. Now if you're happy to do what you're told and watch what they tell you you can watch then fine but I have free will. I believe I can choose what is right or wrong for me and my family. I don't need some government organisation deny me that right.

As far as the actual game goes, I have little interest in it after reading the reviews. Manhunt was an amazing game, it had bags of atmosphere and I genuinely felt disturbed by parts of it. I would even go as far as saying the game taught me things about the violent side of my personality. The 2nd one seems to relish in the violence where as the violence in the original was forced upon you. You were the hunted for most of the game, not the hunter.

[rumblecat]

Well, in the second one you're still hunted, but the reasons behind it all are a lot more flimsy and it never comes close to capturing that feel of being forced into committing violent acts for survival like the first one did. But, yeah, it's not nearly as good, and never quite manages to get over the problem of not having the whole Brian Cox - Director set-up. Even to the extent where there are flashbacks that play out as regular tough guy missions- go to this warehouse, kill these blokes blah blah.

There's nothing as clever or twisted as the protect-the-drunk or chase the rabbit scenarios in the first game. The biggest disappointment though is that getting caught isn't nearly as bad for your health as in the first one- pretty soon you realise you can just charge about with a big gun and be all action hero like, which totally misses the point of hiding in the shadows knowing that one false move will quite possibly mean game over.

[Superbeasto]

Got my Wii copy friday and have been dying to pop it in the machine and have my mind warped irreversibly, tonight's going to be my first chance to give it a crack though. Loved the first one so looking forward to turning the lights down and seeing what this is like, even if it can't really live up to all the hype around it. It's the most interested I've been in a Wii game since I got the console so I'm sure I'll have some fun with it.

[unhip23]

Got my Wii copy friday and have been dying to pop it in the machine and have my mind warped irreversibly, tonight's going to be my first chance to give it a crack though. Loved the first one so looking forward to turning the lights down and seeing what this is like, even if it can't really live up to all the hype around it. It's the most interested I've been in a Wii game since I got the console so I'm sure I'll have some fun with it.

And your verdict??? Enquiring minds wanna know

[Richman]

Got my Wii copy friday and have been dying to pop it in the machine and have my mind warped irreversibly, tonight's going to be my first chance to give it a crack though. Loved the first one so looking forward to turning the lights down and seeing what this is like, even if it can't really live up to all the hype around it. It's the most interested I've been in a Wii game since I got the console so I'm sure I'll have some fun with it.

And your verdict??? Enquiring minds wanna know

Didn't you hear? SuperB went on a murderous rampage after being subjected to 5 minutes of the game and he was shot while attempting to strangle a Sainsbury's shop attendant with a combined wii remote and frying pan.

Poor, poor SB

[gnarlsbarking]

Is it coming out in ireland???

[Games!!!]

Is it coming out in ireland???

Wasn't it banned there?

[OnThinIce]

just drive over the border and buy it