With a USB headset attached, you can hear Starkweather talking to you as if you had the ear peice James Cash wears in the game, and you can use it to spook enemies with the microphone. You can also use it to gain an advantage in some situations, such as breaking up a large group of gang members with a decoy weapon. If you happen to walk over some gravel or knock over a garbage can near an opponent, they'll hear it and beat you senseless. You use sound to lure enemies towards your position, both accidentally and purposefully. I personally thought the concept was a bit sloppy (I would have preferred an automatic meter), but it does the job. In order to get a more gory kill, you must hold either X or square for a certain time while shadowing the opponent. My only hang-up on the controls is the Execution meter. You'll be breezing through the gang members once you get the hang of it. The game's controls are fairly straightforward and are explained in the first chapter. They all apparently wear miracle ears though, as they will hear the smallest peep from you if you are within range. Luckily though, enemies are basically legally blind and won't see you if you're in the shadows (your status icon turns blue when you're in a "safe zone" shadow) unless they're actively searching for you. If you get ganged up on (no pun intended), you might as well wait for them to finish it off because you frankly don't have much of a chance to do anything. Getting into straight-up fights almost always earns a continue screen, as enemies really smack you around. All you have to do is hide in the shadows, watch their patterns, and attack at the right time. Most of the time the enemies are relatively simple-minded. You're constantly hiding, tailing, or tiptoeing around the map while on the lookout for enemies. The gameplay is standard stealth fare, albeit slow to an almost tedious pace. The game features a chapter-based system where you try to get from one objective to the next without dying. The game starts off very cinematic, not unlike its GTA brethren, and afterward you're thrust into a fairly thorough tutorial level. You are not alone, however, as Starkweather (or "The Director") is videotaping your every move for his line of videos.
Survive against the various gangs, rent-a-cops, and other slime that are the residents (and hired goons of snuff-video maker Starkweather) in Carcer. But instead of being lethally injected, you wake up in a run-down Carcer City with only a single objective: survive the night. You play the role of James Earl Cash, a convicted murderer sentenced to death.
Manhunt is a voyeuristic grab bag of The Running Man meets Metal Gear Solid. With its newest contribution, Manhunt, hitting store shelves, the publisher is aiming to raise the bar for gory, mature video games to another level. Rockstar is known for its edgy, often controversial games, including Grand Theft Auto 3, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and State of Emergency. Developer: Rockstar North | Publisher: Rockstar Games