While the 80s and early 90s horror films feature violence and gore in an attempt to frighten audiences, recent flicks focus more on pain and depravity for shock value. The original Manhunt worked hard to try to tap into that and translate it into a more visceral experience by putting the control into gamers' hands. It was successful, even if only on a niche level, thanks to a gripping story that made players feel like they were really fighting for their lives. Manhunt 2 tried to copy that formula, but its gameplay mechanics and tired storyline do little to move the series forward.

You will spend most of your time stealthily slipping from shadow to shadow, as making noise or wandering underneath street lights results in enemy detection. This sort of thing has been done in numerous other games, and although Manhunt 2 features decent execution (no pun intended), it eventually gets boring.

If you're sneaky, you'll be able to creep up on your next unintelligent foes and pull off a bloody, or at least dreadfully painful, execution. You lock on with L and R, and depending on how long you hold the square button determines the level of brutality in the kill. If you screw up and get spotted, you'll have a hand-to-hand brawl, which is much tougher to survive, usually requiring a couple of pill bottles for recuperation. You can block attacks by holding down triangle, but the switch between block and punch is a little hard to time correctly. This cycle of evade and attack drones on endlessly, while you try at the same time to perform fetch missions in order to further the plot. There's just not enough variety to keep things interesting.

Because of this, Manhunt 2 feels like it exists solely for the sake of violence. There is no denying that most people will pick up the game out of a morbid curiosity, especially if they're not familiar with the original. The game's tale of a reluctant killer (Lamb is more egged on by his accomplice than driven by his own homicidal tendencies) intrigued us, but the story makes it difficult to care about him. Lamb may not want to kill others, but the people playing the game probably do, making it hard to identify with this anti-hero.

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