Manhunt 2 Banned in UK
- Scribbled on June 19th, 2007 by Jonah Falcon
- Filed in Action, ESRB/Ratings, Industry News, Nintendo Wii, Sony PlayStation 2
Manhunt 2, Rockstar’s controversial “murder simulator” has been banned in Great Britian. The title, which pits the gamer in the position of viscerally killing his enemies in the most gruesome manner, was put on the hit list due to its content. According to David Cooke, director of the BBFC:
“Where possible we try to consider cuts or, in the case of games, modifications which remove the material which contravenes the Board’s published Guidelines. In the case of Manhunt 2 this has not been possible… Manhunt 2 is distinguishable from recent high-end video games by its unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone in an overall game context which constantly encourages visceral killing with exceptionally little alleviation or distancing… There is sustained and cumulative casual sadism in the way in which these killings are committed, and encouraged, in the game.”
The last game to be banned by the BBFC was Carmageddon in 1997, which was basically Death Race 2000. In order to get that one through, the people were turned into zombies. After all, it’s not violent if they’re already dead.
Manhunt 2 is due for the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo Wii sometime later this year.
(Thanks, GamesIndustry.biz.)
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