Manhunt 1

Manhunt 1 is a thrilling stealth assassination game where players control a death row inmate involved in the filming of a horror movie. Players must eliminate the criminals hunting them, as required. The game features over 20 different levels, requiring players to skillfully use shadows to stealthily approach and ambush the hunters, ultimately securing victory. A variety of weapons are available, from common baseball bats, crowbars, and knives to pistols and rifles. Players must utilize melee weapons to the fullest extent possible, adding to the game's challenge.

Gameplay of Manhunt 1:

Manhunt is a stealth game played from a third-person perspective. The game consists of twenty levels, called "scenes", as well as four unlockable bonus scenes. Players survive the scenes by dispatching enemy gang members, occasionally with firearms, but primarily by stealthily executing them. At the end of each scene, players are graded based on their performance, and awarded one to five stars. Unlockable content becomes available when the player achieves three or more stars on a certain number of levels. On normal difficulty (called "Fetish"), players can earn only four stars; one is awarded for completing the scene under a certain amount of time, and one to three stars are awarded based on the brutality of the executions carried out during the scene. On hard difficulty (called "Hardcore"), players are graded out of five stars; one for speed, one to three for brutality and one for completing the scene. To gain the maximum number of stars, a set number of brutal executions must be carried out over the course of each scene; face-to-face fighting does not award stars.

To carry out executions, players must approach a hunter from behind, undetected. To facilitate this, each scene is full of "dark spots", shadows where the player can hide. Enemies cannot see into the shadows, unless they see the player actually entering the area. A standard technique in the game is to hide in the shadows and tap a wall to attract the attention of a nearby hunter. When the hunter has examined the area and is moving away, players can easily ambush and execute them. The game has three levels of execution, with each level progressively more violent and graphic than the last: "hasty" executions are quick and not very bloody, "violent" are considerably more gory, and "gruesome" are over-the-top blood-soaked murders. Players are in control of which level they use; once players have locked onto an enemy, the lock-on reticule changes color over time to indicate the three levels: white, yellow and red.

Over the course of the game, players can use a wide variety of weapons, including plastic bags, baseball bats, crowbars and a variety of bladed items. Later in the game firearms are available for use when executions become impractical. Should players take damage, their health depletes; health can be restored through the use of painkillers, which are available throughout each scene.Players have a stamina meter which depletes as they sprint, but automatically replenishes when remaining stationary. Manhunt makes use of the PlayStation 2's optional USB Microphone and the Xbox Live microphone feature on the Xbox in their respective versions of the game. When such a device is connected, players can use the sound of their own voice to distract in-game enemies and hear director's command through the Headset directly. This adds an extra element to the stealth aspect and immersion of the game, as players must refrain from making noises such as coughing as these sounds too can attract the attention of any nearby hunters.

Strategies of Manhunt 1:

There are three styles of attacks that can be performed during an execution: Hasty, Violent, or Gruesome.

Walk up behind the unsuspecting hunter and press the X or Square Button while the targeting arrows around the hunter are white. This allows you to perform Hasty execution.

If you want to perform a Violent execution, remain behind the victim and continue to hold the attack button until the arrows turn yellow.

When you are sure the victim is not going to turn around, continue to hold the attack button until the arrows turn red, then let go to perform a Gruesome execution.

Each style of attack triggers a unique camera close-up cinematic that features the victim being murdered in an exceptionally violent way. Each weapon has three unique execution cinematics. The more violent your executions, the more Style Points you receive.

Do not make a sound as you approach the victim, and avoid bumping into him at all costs. Both of these mishaps will blow your cover.

Always be aware of your surroundings. Make sure no one else is around to see or hear an execution. If there is a possible witness nearby, be prepared to run around a blind corner and into a shadow.

Watch your foot noise. Make sure you are not walking on gravel or other surfaces that make sound when you approach your victim.

Use the strafing buttons to slide left and right to face your victim's back as he rounds corners. This maneuver is also useful to avoid his peripheral vision when he looks around while you're directly behind him.

Player Comments of Manhunt 1:

Manhunt is a TPS stealth-horror game, where you get executed in prison, but got save by a rich producer, who want you to do some top A killings for his movie... meanwhile you are the one, who being hunted.

Before heading into the review, I played this game on 64bit Windows 10. To everyone, who want to try this one out, you need to download ermaccer's Manhunt Fixer, because doors / gates won't open properly and the AI will behave weirdly and I also encourage you to tick "Widescreen Frontend Textures" to make your experience as best as it could. Thank you ermaccer!

What the brightest part in the game, is defienetly the mood and gameplay. The mood is unsettling and nerving. There is no or quiet music in the game, because of this you will only hear this dangerous sound ambient. Also, the graphics and the "noisy picture" you get in the game just puts more dread to this experience. About the gameplay, it's varied. You mostly need to go around in stealth and take out your hunters, however you will need to do gun fights, escort missions on different locations. Also, the different type of weapons, the amount of them and the numberous killing modes are really adding to the game. You can go to an enemy and fight with him in hand to hand, but you can execute for a more brutal way. Also, the game is encouraging you to take this path, because at the end of every level, it will rate your performance, based on the executions you did, how fast were you and what difficulty you played on. All together these add a really scary atmosphere to the game with lot of different elements, and this is something I appraciate.

I need to mention the sound and music. I talked about the ambient, which is dreading, but I need to say more about the voice actors. They killing it! Almost every voice line I heard, it was genuinely threatening and crazy sounded. They really did a good job, but of course there are other characters and enemies who are sane, and they did job too. About the music, I mostly heard in cinematics, and in there it fitted perfectly. It really adds a good mood to the game.

Time to talk about the story and give more info about the gameplay, too. As I said, you playing as a prisoner, who got death senteced and was in the electrical chair, but the next thing you hear and see, that someone kidnapped you and want you to be featured in his movie. This is a really good set, because you are not feel safe at all and later you will find out, this is a crazy situation. The story get's more weirder, when you need to do stupid things, for example escort a homeless guy to the end of the map, kill a bunny guy or safe your loved ones. I really don't want to spoil it, but to be honest if you are really not pay attention to the game, you can miss the story easily, like I did, but thankfully the concept arts got me. However, it's not really revolutionary, but this is not the main thing in the game you will notice.

Gameplay is varied, you either have to kill quietly or do gun fights. You need to distract your enemies, either with a throwable item or just bagging the wall. Stealth is fun in the game, especially if you take out a large group of enemies with someone else's head and a sickle. But what I need to justify, in this game you don't feel invincible, because enemies can take you out easily if you do something wrong. If you make too much noise to bait someone, they can find you. If you don't check corners, you can easily get gun down, so your only friend is the shadow.

Final Thoughts:

Manhunt 1 runs straight from launch, mirroring the PSP build while pushing its atmosphere forward. Harsh sound cues, tight 3D spaces, and enemies who close in fast give each encounter a sharp rhythm. The tension comes from the mix of pressure, darkness, and the constant sense that something is tracking you just out of sight.