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The Differences Between the AO and M Versions of Manhunt 2

Posted by Zonk on Wed Sep 12, 2007 09:12 AM
from the ooo-i-don't-feel-so-good dept.
Entertainment Games
Via Kotaku, IGN had the chance to play both the AO- and M-rated versions of Manhunt 2, and they now have a piece up pointing out the differences in the re-rated game. If you've been curious about what is in that warez copy floating around online, they'll piece it together for you. Be forewarned: the stuff that got cut out is pretty gross. "The content may be too much for some to stomach, but the presentation is well done regardless. Manhunt 2's storyline is made more believable with realistic voice acting, atmospheric camera angles and pans, and moody transitional effects. There's even some comedy thrown in for good measure. Take, for example, a scene in which Danny decapitates a hunter and then uses his severed head to gain entry through a security door. A guard on the other side opens a peephole and sees the decapitated head staring back at him. 'Georgie Boy!' he exclaims. 'Come on in.'"
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[+] AO-Rated Manhunt 2 Leaked To Warez Sites 84 comments
Ars Technica's Opposable Thumbs blog is reporting that an apparently 'AO' rated version of Rockstar's Manhunt 2 has made its way to warez sites across the internet. "There have been a few videos posted on YouTube that seem to come from this version of the game, which the release notes warn may be a beta version, 'so no crying if it ***** up on you.' That inspires confidence. While this scene-release is being talked about in multiple places, fansite Project Manhunt has a warning: '...remember downloading this game is only going to slimming [sic] the already slim chance of Manhunt 3 ever happening,' they tell fans."
[+] News: US Senators Take On The ESRB Over Manhunt 2 386 comments
eldavojohn writes "Some US Senate members sent a letter to the ESRB asking for 'your consideration of whether it is time to review the robustness, reliability and repeatability of your ratings process, particularly for this genre of 'ultraviolent' video games and the advances in game controllers,' the senators wrote. 'We have consistently urged parents to pay attention to the ESRB rating system. We must ensure that parents can rely on the consistency and accuracy of those ratings.' The group of lawmakers were concerned that Manhunt 2 was only given an 'M' rating and instead feel that it should have the 'AO' rating — a rating that only 23 other games have been given and a rating that would cause Sony & Nintendo to restrict it from being released on their consoles."
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The Differences Between the AO and M Versions of Manhunt 2 42 Comments More /

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    • Yeah, I betting that is why Reggie was actively courting manhunt 2 to improve the library of mature titles on the system.
    • Come on, "hardcore gamers" want Nintendo not to be "kiddy" and you can either saw someone's head off, choke them, or snap their neck on the Wii, or you can press A. Which would that crowd pick?

      It was "Nintendo's too kiddy," now people bitch about the games being TOO graphic? They can't get a break from either side of the fence.
  • A guard on the other side opens a peephole and sees the decapitated head staring back at him. 'Georgie Boy!' he exclaims. 'Come on in.'"

    If this is the funny part I'd hate to see the horrible bits.
    • It might have something to do with fear of lawsuits, but I am willing to bet it is fear of something else. Like boycotts, and a public image that they don't want associated with their product. This is the same reason why most major retailers will not sell AO rated games.

      They likely don't fear lawsuits, but they do fear all the parents in the area deciding that that store sells things they think completely inappropriate, and thus don't shop there.

      Kinda like why Block buster and NetFlix don't have Pron.

      • Kinda like why Block buster and NetFlix don't have Pron.

        Sure, but there's a ton of porn (sexual, violent and otherwise) available on DVD, yet people don't boycott Toshiba, Panasonic, etc. over it. I wouldn't be surprised if sometime down the line a lawsuit didn't come from the OTHER direction: A company wanting to release an AO or unrated game, and suing the console manufacturers for keeping them out of the market. That's a case that would have to be fun for some already-rich attorney looking for a chal

  • Take, for example, a scene in which Danny decapitates a hunter and then uses his severed head to gain entry through a security door.
    You only do that about 3 times in God of War, and that game was quite the gorefest. ;)
  • now does it have a good game in it? Reminds me of Hostel. Played up to be this gore fest. Excluding some excellent female nudity in the beginning the movie itself was horrible.

  • movies analogy (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 12 2007, @09:44AM (#20572603)
    In the movie business, to get a rating of R for a previously rated NC17 you replace sex scenes with murder scenes.

    You know, because killing people is less obscene than sex.
    • I think the reason for this is that very few people will ever kill anyone. And just about everyone will have sex.

      There was a Nova Science Now program a while back. It talked about why guys in a bar cheer for a sports team. Basically, if you've ever done something, then you watch someone else doing it, your brain actually thinks it is doing that thing.

      So, when you see a murder, your brain thinks "someone is being murdered".

      When you see sex, your brain reacts as if it is having sex.

      And that reaction is wh
  • As far as I'm concerned, these edits have almost completely destroyed the gameplay design and artistic vision of what Manhunt 2 was originally intended to be. I agree with the IGN article in that the "pay-off" for players is gone. To say they're the same game is like saying the original Blade Runner and the Director's Cut are the same movie. Worst of all, for those of us who support Rockstar, either decision we make hurts them or the industry as a whole. If we buy the game, the ESRB will say, "See! The edit
  • Hey editors, can we scale back on the ManHunt Slashvertising a bit?

    I really don't care about this game one way or another, and I think ManHunt's target audience is fully aware that it's now available for sale, coming soon, or whatever the goal of ManHunt's marketeers is at the moment.

    ("Oooh...it's so radical that it's an ADULT game. No, teen boys, it's not for you - WINK WINK.)

    • Re:Enough with all the ManHunt Slashvertising (Score:5, Insightful)

      by plague3106 (71849) on Wednesday September 12 2007, @11:05AM (#20574097)
      hey Jon,

      Realize that YOU are not the only person that reads /. that matters. Also realize that some like me have been wondering what the differences were, but don't necessarly want to buy it or read IGN.

      How about this, if you see a story that doesn't interest you, scroll by and look at one that does.
      • realize theres some of us who dont care what youve been wondering about as well. a 9 yr old can pound through anything ign has written in about 4 minutes. try skimming then.
        • Yet you still felt the need to read and post to this story. Quite being a whiney bitch and move on; better yet, finish your geometry homework. There are plenty of stories I just skip over here, its not a big deal. Stupid noobs...
    • No one is forcing you to read or look at things you don't want to.

    • Re:Enough with all the ManHunt Slashvertising (Score:4, Insightful)

      by vimh42 (981236) on Wednesday September 12 2007, @11:37AM (#20574739)
      "Hey editors, can we scale back on the ManHunt Slashvertising a bit?" I think you have completely missed the point of this discussion. The developer has been forced to censor their game so they could get it released. I understand that you don't actually care about this game, but do you care about censorship? This is game industry self censorship. Of that I'm glad. At least it's not the government. But I can't help wonder about outside influence. I can't help wonder about the people who came to the decision that the original should be AO. Basically I'd like to see the artists presentation unaltered.
    • If you ignore political issues, then the governments can do whatever they want.

      If we ignored the DMCA... the Patriot Act... RIAA... MPAA...

      If we dont fight for what we believe in simply because it doesn't suit us, we'll loose freedom until such a time we're consumers without righrs. We'd have to repurchase the same song for each device we want to play it on "... and for the right to play on 5 devices you get this amazing ringtone, absolutely free!!!!"

      If George Washington didn't cross the frozen Delaware riv

  • Nintendo lost a sale (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I was going to buy a Wii just to play Manhunt 2 but since the think of the children battle cry and the leak of the AO version for PS2 I've ordered a mod chip for that system and already have the AO version warezed.

    You've both fucked yourselves out of a sale. Good move.
  • I had (half) hoped that IGN would man up and admit to trying that purported AO version of the game that's floating aroudn out there on the Internets somewheres.

  • And 3 months later, the gore patch will surface (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Leo Sasquatch (977162) on Wednesday September 12 2007, @10:24AM (#20573363)
    Because it looks like almost everything's intact, just blurred and darkened. So the patch to unblur and brighten those sequences shouldn't be a problem. So the game as sold at retail conforms to some antiquated notions of what a game should be, and the patch lets those of us who are fully functioning adults make our own choices about which version to play. Everybody happy. I'm a male in my forties, who's raised a child to adulthood, held down a number of really shitty jobs, served in my country's armed forces, been trusted with a number of weapons and fully trained in their use. I've dealt with real death of close friends and relations, and the aftermath of same. What, exactly, do these fuckers think they're protecting me from? There are a number of things in my life that perhaps I wouldn't have minded being shielded from, but a video game is never going to make that list.
  • How do you get access to an area with such an archaic authentication system? I mean, if the door cannot be blown away more easily, but I'd assume this would probably cause more disturbance than a quick kill and cutting off the head.

    And yes, cutting off the head does faciliate things a bit. Ever tried to haul a grown man around, into a very specific position, without being seen yourself? Just handling a head weighing 10 (insteat of about 150) pounds is way easier.

  • Screw this (Score:5, Funny)

    by Floritard (1058660) on Wednesday September 12 2007, @12:33PM (#20575749)

    In the M-rated version, Rockstar has added both an extreme blur effect and in most cases darkened the graphics so that it is nearly impossible to make any sense of what is going on. Players will be able to see character movement, blood splatters, and sometimes they may catch a glimpse of an identifiable action (for example, Danny jamming nails into the legs of a chair-bound opponent), but mostly it's guesswork - a garbled, motiony mess that's far less satisfying.
    Well fuck it then. I mean really. Personally I've always hated stealth games. They're boring. As Sam Fischer or Solid Snake you're just a wanker in tight pants girl-palming your way through each snore-inducing level. In Manhunt, at least you have actual climaxes. In Manhunt you are a maniac. It's the Quake 3 Arena of stealth games. It's gritty, it's ugly. It has great weapon progression (finally getting a gun actually feels empowering). It has superb sound design. It has atmosphere. It has Brian Cox! And yea it's brutal as hell. It was the only game I ever played that made people leave the room, creeped out by the sounds victims made as they died. That is something special.

    I've been psyched about the sequel, and was hopeful things would work out. Now I read that you once had the ability to rip a guy's nuts off with a pair of plyers. Well I wish I never knew that! What milk-toast ESRB namby-pamby shook his limp-wristed finger at that and demanded, with effeminate indignation, that it be excised? I hope they take that weapon completely out of the game, otherwise I'm going to be thinking the whole time of just how much I wish I could neuter my victims with it. That just ain't right.

    If the game doesn't interest you then good for you. Don't like these types of games? Vote with your wallet then. Don't think this sort of entertainment should be available at all? Where's your campaign to shutdown Fangoria magazine? Some people like gore. Didn't like the original Manhunt? Fine then. I did. I loved it and I've really been looking forward to the sequel. It was one of the reasons I bought a Wii. Look I'll play Mario Galaxy or Little Big Planet. I like cute too! But pardon me if I just want a little unabashed violence, a little balls in a game every once and a while. Mean, malicious and sweaty! While you're all out playing space marine in fluorescent green armor shooting each other in the fanny with guns like the Needler (oooh scandal!), ignoring the homoerotic undertones of the whole gay pageant you've for months been pining away for, I'll be wondering what might have been.

    Yea go ahead. Take my karma!
    • "ignoring the homoerotic undertones of the whole gay pageant you've for months been pining away for" And there are no homo-erotic undertones of wanting to grab some other man's balls? And nothing phallic about a gun? I'll be sure to tell Freud that.
    • You sound angry and want extreme violence. You should really look into some sort of therapy because you're coming across as a 14 year old with an anger management problem rather than a mature person who enjoyed a game.

    • It has Brian Cox
      Yeah, but it would have been so much better had they placed him in a climatic sequence with the entirety of In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida playing in the background.
  • I think that they ought to sell the AO-rated Manhunt 2 online and have the M-rated one in stores. They already have the AO-rated game done, and just because Nintendo doesn't allow AO rated games on their systems doesn't mean that it can't be published. The Action Replay, and the cheat devices before it have never been Nintendo-approved, but they are created and sold, anyway.

    Or they could just release it in the Netherlands and include and English language option..
    • "I think that they ought to sell the AO-rated Manhunt 2 online and have the M-rated one in stores."

      They probably would if they could. However it is my understanding that Microsoft and Nintendo do not allow AO games. MS and Nintendo have to sign the game as neither consoles will run unsigned code (without being hacked or being a developer console). So basically the developers are out of luck and can only release a M rated version.

      Now if they make a PC port, there won't be an issue with an AO or un-rated vers
  • From TFA: "When Danny sneaks up on an enemy, gamers can hold the A button down, at which point they will be given the option to pick from three different murder animations (on Wii, they get to act them out with Nintendo's motion-sensitive controllers). "

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