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Fiendly
May 27, 2010

That's not right!


About MANHUNT
In the early 2000s, Scottish developers Rockstar North dominated the gaming scene with the first 3D installments of their Grand Theft Auto series. The GTA games were famed for pushing the boundaries of good taste from the very beginning, but when their exclusivity to the Playstation 2 pushed that console to the top of the gaming market, good taste in gaming went out the window and a new era of immoral, consequence-free violence against human targets was born. Rockstar, either trying to ensure their place as the leaders of the trend they started or simply proving themselves to be natural born killers, followed up their second smash hit GTA game with Manhunt, their first game without "Grand Theft Auto" in the title in four years.

Manhunt was a huge departure from the formula they made their fortune on. The colorful, humorous GTA setting was replaced with dark alleys and a darker story, and the freedom and overwhelming power players had grown to love was completely inverted, instead forcing linear progression and slow-paced stealth with the constant threat of a swift death hanging over the player's head. It was generally well-liked by critics and gamers, a feat considering they were working so far outside of their comfort zone, but the positive reviews were quickly overshadowed by controversy. The game's gimmick of rewarding the player for producing the most grisly, sadistic gore ever seen in an interactive medium was considered reprehensible by many, and the term "murder simulators" was coined for or at least popularized by its association with Manhunt. Naturally, the brutality and notoriety made for an experience that sticks in your head like an ice pick and is something any gamer should at least be familiar with, provided they can handle it. It's also fun, tense, and well-presented, for what that's worth.

A sequel, Manhunt 2, was developed by a completely different team and released in 2007. It tops its predecessor in almost every way imaginable except quality, and makes no attempt to relate to the story or intent of the original. As such, familiarity with Manhunt 2 will have no direct effect on your experience with Manhunt, and I would go so far as to recommend watching Nickmeister's very thorough and hilarious LP of Manhunt 2 to satisfy any curiosity about the game without playing it yourself (although you might want to hold off on the final video in which Nickmeister spoils the end of Manhunt).

About the LET'S PLAY
To preserve the game's intended pace and tone, I'll be taking a thorough and methodical approach to each scene while keeping things interesting by varying my tactics and executions (we will be seeing every execution over the course of the LP), and I'll be playing on the lower of the game's difficulties. As such, my ranking at the end of each scene will be ruinous and will yield little to no reward, but I will be getting the best possible rating for each scene off camera so I can discuss any interesting challenge doing so poses and ultimately show off the unlockables earned. Before we get started, take heed of the following:

:siren:TRIGGER WARNING:siren:
If you know nothing else going into this, know that Manhunt depicts extreme violence and gore pervasively. If you are morally opposed to or physically repulsed by such things being gleefully reveled in, you are unlikely to find anything enjoyable within these videos and should proceed with caution or look elsewhere for entertainment. If simulated bloodshed by the gallon is your thing like it is mine, though, I invite you to join me and discover or rediscover this classic gaming milestone.

SCENE SELECTION (Play All)

Born Again/Doorway Into Hell



Road To Ruin



White Trash



Fuelled By Hate



Grounds For Assault



Strapped For Cash



View Of Innocence



Drunk Driving



Graveyard Shift



Mouth Of Madness



Doing Time



Kill The Rabbit



Divided They Fall



Press Coverage



Wrong Side Of The Tracks



Trained To Kill



Border Patrol



Key Personnel



Deliverance


SPECIAL FEATURES


Fiendly fucked around with this message at 04:26 on Jun 17, 2015

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Fiendly
May 27, 2010

That's not right!
FAN ART

Grimwit puts a smile on Cash's face (this smile, in fact)


CATALOG (Full catalog available here and here. Warning: Contains spoilers)



OTHER VALIANT VIDEO TITLES
If you've enjoyed the career of rising star JAMES EARL CASH, you might be interested to see how his many co-stars earned the honor of coming face-to-face with the master. Check out this back catalogue of classics, currently at a discount, with more titles being added all the time! (Note: Website services are currently unavailable)


OFFICIAL HUNTER WEAPONS
VALIANT VIDEO ENTERPRISES is now offering the originals and reproductions of the weapons used by the hunters in STARKWEATHER's productions. Note that the weapons are being offered to our members only and will be delivered by a Valiant Video Enterprises Courier via specified drop location. FOR ALL ORDERS CALL MESSAGE BOX 606





BLACKJACK: A short, blunt instrument, better for incapacitation than elimination. Ideal for the collector or would-be hunter on a budget, or one that wants a target to suffer as many blows as possible before succumbing. - CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE



CROWBAR: Some people want a little more out of their weapon, and this is the perfect tool for them. With a little creativity, there's no situation you can't pry, bash, or stab your way through with a crowbar! - CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE









































CONCEPT ART

Fiendly fucked around with this message at 05:48 on May 1, 2015

discworld is all I read
Apr 7, 2009

DAIJOUBU!! ... Daijoubu ?? ?
I'm pretty excited for this since my only interaction with the series was playing the first half of the second game, getting confused and aggravated, then putting it down and having people tell me that the first Manhunt was apparently far and away the better of the two.

Brumaldo
Jun 29, 2013

That first person view is sexy as hell.

I used to play this as a teenager when my mom was home, to freak her out as much as possible.
I remember getting frustrated with the game pretty early on though, so I'm definitely going to follow this.

KennyMan666
May 27, 2010

The Saga

I played this game up until a certain stage where the enemies were so many and so tough that playing it became kind of an exercise in frustration.

I tried the PC version of 2. The control options being limited to picking one of two pre-set configs quickly made me not want to bother.

Zain
Dec 6, 2009

It's only forever, not long at all
The executions are totally the focus of this game, but it doesn't really seem that fun. Maybe it's just from the non-player's point of view. Maybe it is better actually playing it?

Zorblack
Oct 8, 2008

And with strange aeons, even death may eat a burrito with goons.
Lipstick Apathy
This was a great start. I'm bookmarking and looking forward to more.

marshmallow creep
Dec 10, 2008

I've been sitting here for 5 mins trying to think of a joke to make but I just realised the animators of Mass Effect already did it for me

This game can be frustrating at points, but I really enjoyed it. Much, much more satisfying than the sequel.

marshmallow creep fucked around with this message at 16:15 on Oct 25, 2014

Roman Reigns
Aug 23, 2007

Brian Cox sounds like he was having fun doing this game. I like it when celebrities really get into their roles when voicing games.

Didn't know about The Warriors connection, I always figured it just influenced the design a little.

DumbRodent
Jan 15, 2013

Heart Thumping Field Trip
BIG PANIC?
Great start! I have fond memories of being very young and feeling deeply unsettled by this game. Very twisted trip down nostalgia lane for me.

Can't wait to see more.

Kaboom Dragoon
May 7, 2010

The greatest of feasts

It's always been Wankershiv!

I know the game got a lot of rap for being a murder simulator - which it absolutely is, there's really no getting around it - but it's also one of the tensest games I've ever played, which is pretty loving impressive. There's one stage in particular later on that's a great mix of tense and frantic. Problem is, when I played it, it was also prone to loving up and failing to respond to level triggers. Kinda hope it happens to Fiendly, actually.

Also it bugged me that they say that Cash was sentenced to death, but they pointedly refuse to say what it was for. I know that's an attempt to set up some moral ambiguity there, but it would've been so much better if the 'tape' containing that part had just been corrupted, blanking it out.

Niggurath posted:

I'm pretty excited for this since my only interaction with the series was playing the first half of the second game, getting confused and aggravated, then putting it down and having people tell me that the first Manhunt was apparently far and away the better of the two.

The second game is absolute garbage, plain and simple. And Leo, your cheerleader in the sequel, is nowhere near as engaging as our faceless friend here.

TheLastRoboKy
May 2, 2009

Finishing the game with everyone else's continues
Really looking forwards to this one. I played a friend's copy of it when it first came out but for whatever reason really never went far into the game. Joining the ranks of people who heard good things and looking to see where it goes!

Choco1980
Feb 22, 2013

I fell in love with a Video Nasty
I was always curious about this game, but I'm daunted by any sort of survival type game. Fun Fact: The movie that Rob Zombie is trying to get off the ground, 3I, sounds suspiciously similar to this too.

David D. Davidson
Nov 17, 2012

Orca lady?
One fun thing that I doubt you're going to show off is that if you plugged in the ps2 headset that came with SOCOM Navy Seals you could turn on a feature where eneimes could "hear" your breathing. This added an additional challenge that was made up where you played on the hardest difficulty, crank the mic sensitivity as high as it goes and see how far you could get.

Fiendly
May 27, 2010

That's not right!

Choco1980 posted:

I was always curious about this game, but I'm daunted by any sort of survival type game. Fun Fact: The movie that Rob Zombie is trying to get off the ground, 3I, sounds suspiciously similar to this too.

I thought the same thing when I heard about the premise of that movie. Zombie's just lucky the clown gang got cut from Manhunt or he'd have a lawsuit on his hands.

David D. Davidson posted:

One fun thing that I doubt you're going to show off is that if you plugged in the ps2 headset that came with SOCOM Navy Seals you could turn on a feature where eneimes could "hear" your breathing. This added an additional challenge that was made up where you played on the hardest difficulty, crank the mic sensitivity as high as it goes and see how far you could get.

Yeah, I won't be able to show that off because I never got that mic, but I've always thought it was a really cool feature that I've wanted to try out.

Roman Reigns posted:

Didn't know about The Warriors connection, I always figured it just influenced the design a little.

Y'know, it was the talk around town back when Manhunt was new that it was originally supposed to be a Warriors adaptation, and I took the actual Warriors game years later to be confirmation of that rumor since it seemed unlikely to be a coincidence, but I can't find anything on that now and my "evidence" is unsound at best. Either I know something no one else does or I'm perpetuating a long-dead myth, which I'm kinda okay with. At least the gangs and "Fury's" jackets on the Hoods are clear Warriors references.

Zain posted:

The executions are totally the focus of this game, but it doesn't really seem that fun. Maybe it's just from the non-player's point of view. Maybe it is better actually playing it?

Oh yeah, the game's definitely fun and, as Kaboom Dragoon noted, tense as gently caress. We're still in the tutorial stages, the real game gets to feel a bit like an open-ended puzzle where you have to figure out how to single out targets for long enough to execute them in more complicated areas crawling with Hunters.

I almost expected this LP to be a waste of people's time since the game's so infamous I assumed everything had been spoiled for everyone already, so it brings an evil grin to my heart (yes, I want you to envision that) knowing there's some blind viewers, as well folks who missed ol' Manhunt (I didn't realize how much I missed it myself until I picked it back up for the LP).

Iron Chitlin
Sep 3, 2011

I need to use the bathroom!
It's hard to explain what I love about this game. Mechanically it's a pretty shallow stealth game, there is not one character in the story who isn't a horrible person, and the mechanical change that occurs roughly halfway through the game isn't as engaging as the core stealth gameplay. Yet I still love the hell out of Manhunt, the atmosphere and unflinching dedication to presenting a truly unpleasant and uncomfortable scenario goes a long way to making it a truly memorable game. I loved your Splatterhouse LP and will definitely be following this one as well.

Discendo Vox
Mar 21, 2013

We don't need to have that dialogue because it's obvious, trivial, and has already been had a thousand times.
I'm really looking forward to this. I know it's a lot to ask, but is there any chance you could record and show off 5 star hardcore runs once you're done with the main game? It'd be interesting to see you break the game over your knee, and give you (and us) more to discuss in terms of gameplay and challenge.

Kaboom Dragoon
May 7, 2010

The greatest of feasts

Fiendly posted:

I almost expected this LP to be a waste of people's time since the game's so infamous I assumed everything had been spoiled for everyone already, so it brings an evil grin to my heart (yes, I want you to envision that)

Mr Confetti
Feb 1, 2013
Never played this game myself but watched a friend play bits and pieces. Definitely following this to see everything I missed.

Ledgy
Aug 1, 2013

Up against the wall
Count me in as a guy who doesn't know jack about this game. I'll follow the LP closely, I've always been curious about Manhunt.

dscruffy1
Nov 22, 2007

Look out!
Nap Ghost

Fiendly posted:

Y'know, it was the talk around town back when Manhunt was new that it was originally supposed to be a Warriors adaptation, and I took the actual Warriors game years later to be confirmation of that rumor since it seemed unlikely to be a coincidence, but I can't find anything on that now and my "evidence" is unsound at best. Either I know something no one else does or I'm perpetuating a long-dead myth, which I'm kinda okay with. At least the gangs and "Fury's" jackets on the Hoods are clear Warriors references.

Having played the Warriors to death I've never made that connection before, but I can see it once it's pointed out for sure.

Also I'm not at all surprised that this game is right up your alley :v:

Roman Reigns
Aug 23, 2007

Fiendly posted:

Zombie's just lucky the clown gang got cut from Manhunt or he'd have a lawsuit on his hands.

I don't know, the next gang you run into kinda comes close to being a bunch of clowns :v:

Choco1980
Feb 22, 2013

I fell in love with a Video Nasty
Yeah, count me in as another semi-blind viewer. I knew what the concept of the game was, and that Rip Torn was your "coach", but that's like, 90% of my knowledge base.

Watching this, I couldn't help but feel a little bit of deja vu in the gameplay mechanics. Then it hit me where I've played something similar--going for the dog tags in MGS 2 and 3 (haven't played past the ps2 era, so I can't say if the mechanic is in later games) where you have to stealthily hold up the soldiers individually.

Derek Barona
Dec 8, 2009

WHO'S YOUR FRIEND?!
Well I can honestly say out of all the executions, I'm most proud that I called the crowbar throat-shank to myself about ten seconds before Fiendly did it.

LEGO Genetics
Oct 8, 2013

She growls as she storms the stadium
A villain mean and rough
And the cops all shake and quiver and quake
as she stabs them with her cuffs
I remember reading that you could use a USB headphone set, similar to the one used in SOCOM for Manhunt in order to give directions to the character, but it never worked for me.

shaszoor
Jun 15, 2009
This is one of those games that, while I enjoyed playing it, I can't say was fun. It really hammers on the feeling of life being nasty, brutish and short. The executions are entertaining but the way the game is presented it all feels more like desperate attempts to placate a madman than the cathartic random acts of violence you would see in GTA. I also really dug the games manual and how it pulled you into the games world. Most of what is in it is probably spoilers but I really liked its presentation.

Fiendly
May 27, 2010

That's not right!

I said evil grin! Evil! Were you even trying?

Discendo Vox posted:

I'm really looking forward to this. I know it's a lot to ask, but is there any chance you could record and show off 5 star hardcore runs once you're done with the main game? It'd be interesting to see you break the game over your knee, and give you (and us) more to discuss in terms of gameplay and challenge.

There's an idea. I can't resist a request to be even more of a completionist, so I'll have to figure out some way to work 5-star worthy gameplay into the LP somewhere.

shaszoor posted:

I also really dug the games manual and how it pulled you into the games world. Most of what is in it is probably spoilers but I really liked its presentation.

Oh yeah, it's great. I'll definitely be mentioning interesting parts of it in the videos and posting snippets in the thread as they cease to be spoilers.

dscruffy1 posted:

Also I'm not at all surprised that this game is right up your alley :v:

Shbobdb
Dec 16, 2010

by Reene
Wow. This game really lives up to the hype. It is shockingly violent.

Wazzu
Feb 28, 2008

Are you sure I'm winning the Rumble? That does'nt seem right.....
At some point a bonus video at recommended brightness might be nice.

While it makes the LP many times more watchable, it looks a bit silly you hiding in the 'shadows', and no one being able to see a reasonable distance.

Shbobdb posted:

Wow. This game really lives up to the hype. It is shockingly violent.

I find it just boring after a while. Death has no real meaning when it's hundreds of random thugs.

Kai Tave
Jul 2, 2012
Fallen Rib

LEGO Genetics posted:

I remember reading that you could use a USB headphone set, similar to the one used in SOCOM for Manhunt in order to give directions to the character, but it never worked for me.

I don't think you could use the headphone to give orders to the character. The headphones, to the best of my recollection, served only two purposes in Manhunt...the first has already been elaborated on, where by using it enemies could hear your (as in you, the player) breathing which added to the difficulty. The other thing that would happen if you used the headset is that all of Brian Cox's dialogue would play through the headset rather than your television speakers, just like the headset that Cash is wearing in-game.

Night10194
Feb 13, 2012

We'll start,
like many good things,
with a bear.

Wazzu posted:


I find it just boring after a while. Death has no real meaning when it's hundreds of random thugs.

Agreed. This seems like it's just kinda trying too hard. But then, that's the impression a ton of Rockstar's stuff leaves on me.

azren
Feb 14, 2011


Having recently revisited the LP for the sequel, I was reminded of how much I wanted to see someone do this one. Thank you.

Shbobdb posted:

Wow. This game really lives up to the hype. It is shockingly violent.

Maybe? I dunno, I'm not finding it particularly shocking, nor did I find the sequel to be so. Maybe all this time I've spent with horror games/movies and the internet has left me jaded.

Sef!
Oct 31, 2012
I love Manhunt. To this day, I don't think there has been a game that has effectively conveyed such an overwhelming sense of dread. From the visual design, to Brian Cox's amazing narration, to the incredibly tight gameplay loop, it just sort of mires you in this sense of filth. And it feels dangerous; not only in terms of content, but also gameplay. Enemies basically have the same amount of health that you do. You're fragile, outnumbered, and have to rely on some pretty heinous poo poo to get through the game. It's really incredible how laser-focused the tone of it is.

I'm really excited to see how this LP rolls out; not only because Fiendly's great at this kind of thing, but because there is a specific level in particular that really nails the super-grim morality of the game to a T, and I'm very interested to see how people who've never played the game before respond to it. I imagine Fiendly knows what I'm talking about, and takes the time to explore the context of it when we get there.

Haerc
Jan 2, 2011
I watched the LP of manhunt 2 last year and was interested in seeing one of the first manhunt. Thanks for doing this.

Kai Tave
Jul 2, 2012
Fallen Rib

Sef! posted:

I love Manhunt. To this day, I don't think there has been a game that has effectively conveyed such an overwhelming sense of dread. From the visual design, to Brian Cox's amazing narration, to the incredibly tight gameplay loop, it just sort of mires you in this sense of filth. And it feels dangerous; not only in terms of content, but also gameplay. Enemies basically have the same amount of health that you do. You're fragile, outnumbered, and have to rely on some pretty heinous poo poo to get through the game. It's really incredible how laser-focused the tone of it is.

Something that plays into this, which has already been noted by someone else upthread, is that at no point does the game ever weigh in on the subject of what Cash was sentenced to death for or whether or not he was actually guilty. You'd generally expect a video game to go down the road of "the protagonist is actually innocent/was framed and is really a good person simply being forced into a terrible situation" but Manhunt pointedly refuses to do that, and it's a lot more likely given the game's tone that Cash probably doesn't have a heart of gold.

On the other hand I agree with a lot of the comments about the game largely getting by on style rather than substance. The gameplay is repetitive and I feel like there's maybe one or two levels too many. I also agree that for all the hype surrounding them the executions never really stood out to me as pushing the envelope in any way. I played Manhunt back when the controversy was fresh, imagining that if there was this much uproar over something it had to be something crazy and, well, I guess there aren't many games that let you kill someone with a plastic bag but otherwise I remember thinking "man, all this fuss over that?" These days of course we have games like Gears of War and Space Marine where you chainsaw dudes in half and stomp heads into paste and nobody bats an eye.

KennyMan666
May 27, 2010

The Saga

Sef! posted:

there is a specific level in particular that really nails the super-grim morality of the game to a T, and I'm very interested to see how people who've never played the game before respond to it. I imagine Fiendly knows what I'm talking about, and takes the time to explore the context of it when we get there.
I might have an idea for what level you're talking about. If it's the one I'm thinking of, it's also the one I never played past, because it's when the enemies start becoming a pack of bullshit and I could never figure out how to single them out, no matter what I did I kept getting seen by two or three dudes at the same time and that's a death sentence (:v:) in this game.

algebra testes
Mar 5, 2011


Lipstick Apathy
Looking forward to this, saw it on sale on steam and bought it and I played like five minutes then the game crashed. And steam emailed me and said "We made a mistake and We can't legally sell this game to you so how do you want your refund"

Kaboom Dragoon
May 7, 2010

The greatest of feasts

LordPants posted:

Looking forward to this, saw it on sale on steam and bought it and I played like five minutes then the game crashed. And steam emailed me and said "We made a mistake and We can't legally sell this game to you so how do you want your refund"

Fuckin' Straya, mate.

Sef! posted:

I love Manhunt. To this day, I don't think there has been a game that has effectively conveyed such an overwhelming sense of dread. From the visual design, to Brian Cox's amazing narration, to the incredibly tight gameplay loop, it just sort of mires you in this sense of filth. And it feels dangerous; not only in terms of content, but also gameplay. Enemies basically have the same amount of health that you do. You're fragile, outnumbered, and have to rely on some pretty heinous poo poo to get through the game. It's really incredible how laser-focused the tone of it is.

Manhunt takes heavy inspiration from movies like Driller Killer, Maniac (the original) and so on. The whole thing's basically a sick love letter to the Video Nasty panic that swept the UK (Manhunt was developed by Rockstar North, based in Scotland) in the early to mid-80s. That Wiki page is well worth a read if you want an understanding of the inspirations for the game and the direction the developers went, by the way. The Video Nasty moral panic basically dictated the direction of movie releases in Britain for close on two decades, thanks to the introduction of the Video Recordings Act 1984. As a result, the only way to see any of these movies was on Nth generation VHS copies, usually heavily degraded (which led to the kind of visual corruption you see in the executions). It wasn't until 1999-2000 that films like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre or The Exorcist were allowed to be released over here, even in a cut form. That the game itself eventually fell pray to several bursts of outrage (including one where it was allegedly implicated in a murder, an implication eventually proven to be false) probably gave the developers a small sense of satisfaction.

Choco1980
Feb 22, 2013

I fell in love with a Video Nasty
An ironic, and likely completely unforeseen side effect of the Video Nasty phenomenon that always makes me laugh is that all the best books about horror and exploitation movies of the 70's and 80's seem to come from British authors and/or publishers.

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King Vidiot
Feb 17, 2007

You think you can take me at Satan's Hollow? Go 'head on!
I'm glad someone's finally taking another stab (heh) at this game after the first attempt like 6 years ago. You've got a nice no-gimmick and informative style for this, so I'll be watching and probably playing along at home. It's been a while since I did a proper replay of the game.

Also that bat kill really shocked me the first time I saw it, and I wasn't really one to shock all that easily at simulated violence. The game itself was also, as others have said, tense as gently caress. You feel awful for what you have to do to make progress, you have to hide in gross places from terrible people who want to kill you, and then slowly stalk and kill them. It sounds really unpleasant but the stealth gameplay is pretty tight and it's actually, dare I say it, fun. Also the atmosphere really can't be beat.

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