Sliding behind a grimy wall clutching a filthy plastic bag left discarded in the rubbish-filled streets of your old neighborhood, you wait for the man in the cheap black suit and black bandana over his mouth to pass really close. You hear him cough just inches away and when it’s time to strike you jump out of the shadows and toss the thick bag over his head as he begins to claw frantically as the bag that is suffocating him. You feel him go limp and let his body drop. Spotting another one of your victim’s colleagues, you grab a shard of a broken bottle and you wait behind the cover of an ally waiting to strike again. This is Manhunt 2, a chilling stealth-action game that’s a sequel to the controversial original.

Leave it to Rockstar to be neck deep in some kind of controversy whether it involves some “hot coffee” or a schoolyard bully that preys on everyone but the latest hullabaloo was whether or not Manhunt 2 would receive an AO rating. Making all the suitable edits, the game finally secured an M rating but still preserved most of the elements that made the first game so gruesomely enticing (well, for those who can stomach it). Still, thanks to the edits, this sequel feels like the stealth kills are held back and don’t have the same impact as the original. That’s not to say what you will experienced in this game is sugar coated - far from it, actually - but what the game lacks in harsher executions it makes up for with a mature story.

Manhunt 2 revolves around Daniel Lamb and Leo Kasper, two men that find the doors to their insane asylum cells open. Suddenly, each inmate of the hospital for the criminally insane rush out to freedom, hang themselves or are beaten to death by the hospital’s baton-wielding staff. Lamb and Kasper make their escape but it is Lamb who starts questioning his sanity as well as the fact that he can kill so easily and mercilessly. Dragging Kasper along with him, Lamb goes on a journey to discover what led him to an asylum that seems to be running experiments with the inmates and what exactly is The Pickman Project? These are the questions that drive our demented hero to discover his past while eluding gangs like the Bloodhounds as well as those working for the secretive project.

Your quest begins in the asylum itself but you will quickly find yourself outside as you track down places Lamb has visited or thinks he visited and that includes a sex club filled with perverts wearing gimp outfits as well as an adult shop and even the giant Maibatzu Plaza. As the story unfolds you will also be playing flashbacks that reveal more about Lamb and his comrade Kasper. I won’t spoil the many twists and turns the game has to offer in the story department but believe me when I say that it will have you hooked in its twisted tale.

Like the first game you will have pursuers on your tail and many of them are hard-hitting members of the Project, vicious hoodlums and a number of sadistic maniacs that aren’t shy about beating you to death. Sure, you can face them with any of the items you can use as weapons and hope for the best but trust me when I say you won’t live too long. The only way you will survive is using the cover of night or dark corners found throughout the environments. Using stealth you can creep around to keep your pursuers from hearing your footsteps. You’ll encounter a number of weapons depending on the environment and by weapons I mean anything Lamb can get his hands on such as empty beer bottles, bricks or even discarded plastic shopping bags. By pressing the Square button you can unleash a number of stealth kills depending on the item you use. Using axes result in decapitating heads while pens, shards of glass or any other pointy object is used to stab your enemy.

Unfortunately, the enemy AI isn’t as smart as the first game’s enemies and you will find that you can easily fool them by simply running around a corner and finding a dark spot. Some enemies do manage to show some intelligence but it’s not very often. Still, it’s fun luring your enemies to their doom by flattening yourself against a wall and knocking on it to catch their attention. Thankfully the game’s controls make the stealth action run smoothly on the PSP much like the PS2 version of the game. 

As far as the graphics are concerned, Manhunt 2 looks good on PSP. In fact, it looks very much like the console version down to the lighting, detailed character models and disturbing atmosphere. When Lamb executes a stealth kill, the screen is awash in psychedelic colors as you kill your enemy. There’s blood in the game but you won’t see the screen splatter with blood and decapitations aren’t as gruesome as other violent games. It’s actually impressive to see a game that looks as good as this but then again Rockstar brought all the graphical beauty of The Warriors to the portable format without losing anything.

There’s a decent soundtrack that plays during cut scenes but it isn’t a major presence since sound plays a role in the gameplay. You’ll be surrounded by sound (mind you, not as well as the console version) and the environments are filled with background noise that can cover your heavy footsteps. You’ll know when enemies are near because you’ll hear them talking or kicking bottles. The voice acting isn’t bad at all if you don’t mind the heavy profanity and there’s even some humorous lines scattered throughout. 

Manhunt 2 for the PSP is not only a great port of the console version but also one seriously deranged and entertaining sequel that might not push the gore to its limits but still manages to be just as delightfully creepy. As a stealth action game, this one has its share of decent moments and as a game that pushes the envelope in terms of brutality you can’t go wrong with this one. Still, you can’t help but think it could have been more innovative and less repetitive in certain places. Don’t get me wrong, this is still a game worth a peek … just be warned that this one definitely lives up to its M rating.

Gameplay: 7.2
Skulking around the environments waiting for your chance to drive a piece of broken glass into the men that once held you captive is part of what sets this game apart from other stealth-action games. The story is deep and involving and the controls fit the portable format right.

Graphics: 8.0
As far as the game’s graphics are concerned, the PSP does a great job of bringing all the visual razzle dazzle from the PS2 version. The flashy effects cover up the true brutality during stealth kills and the character models look good in the grimy environments.

Sound: 7.5
The cracking of skulls and the sickening sound of somebody getting stabbed to death comes out decently through the PSP speakers but it lacks the overall surround sound we only get on a console. Still, the background noises work well enough and the voice acting is handled well enough.

Difficulty: Medium
The enemy AI isn’t as sharp as the first game but it does an adequate job of providing a challenging setting where the enemies try to hunt you down and even peek into the darkness where you hide. Also, like the first game, dismissing stealth means a most violent end.

Concept: 7.5
A perfect port of the PS2 version, Manhunt 2 on the PSP brings all the stealth kills, intriguing characters and an interesting story with a number of twists that lead to multiple endings. There are a number of gruesome kills in the game and the level design is actually well done.

Overall: 7.2
Still somewhat disturbing and suitably creepy, Manhunt 2 still manages to provide a chilling good time on the PSP. With decent controls and loads of stealthy kills, it might still generate plenty of controversy anyway but more mature gamers will find this worth playing if they enjoyed the PS2/Xbox original. It’s certainly not for the squeamish.