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Manhunt - Rockstar's Secret Weapon?

Posted by simoniker on from the interactive-plastic-bag-suffocation dept.

Thanks to Shacknews for pointing to a Gamers.com report with the first solid details about Rockstar North's PS2 'survival horror' title, Manhunt. This allegedly disturbing and voyeuristic, long in development game is from the developers of Grand Theft Auto, and has been kept about as secret as it's possible to. But according to this new information in a UK magazine, it's "a wholly realistic survival horror game, in which the player assumes the role of an inmate on death row whose lethal injection is faked, and suddenly finds himself in the middle of a violent urban warfare game arranged for the amusement of its wealthy creator. Your goal is to escape the city... populated by roving armed gangs." Are Rockstar keeping this quiet to get the game onto shelves unbanned, or is the stealth marketing just a publicity ploy?

11 of 37 comments (clear)

  1. Re:No Marketing Needed.. by TripleA · · Score: 3, Insightful

    You have to convince the distributors and store chains to sell the game in the first place, you know. And when considering if to sell a game or not, their major concern is marketing budget. Sad but true.

  2. Reused idea by sofakingl · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Not meaning to troll, but this sounds a lot like they are trying to reuse the story from either "The Most Dangerous Game" or "The Running Man".

    1. Re:Reused idea by Paradise+Pete · · Score: 4, Informative
      his sounds a lot like they are trying to reuse the story

      Almost all story plot ideas are reused. Movies, television, plays, whatever. The basic elements of what make good stories can be found over and over and over again. There are even standard formulas for stories. How many stories does this formula match? :

      - Meet the Main Character (MC)
      - MC has a problem.
      - MC attempts a simple, straightforward, and reasonable solution.
      - The first attempt fails, because of some new, unforseen information.
      - MC attempts a more complicated solution to the now more complicated problem.
      - The second attempt also fails, because the problem turns out to be much more complex than previously thought.
      - MC attempts a third solution. This attempt is is very complicated, and involves great risk.
      - As this attempt unfolds it encounters tremendous resistance, and seems doomed to failure.
      - At the last moment, the MC snatches victory from the jaws of defeat.
      - Finally, another character confirms that the problem is solved. This part is important, as it assures the audience that it is indeed over. This character is essentially the one who says "He's dead, Jim." Even though everybody knows he's dead, it still has to be said.

      Many many stories fit this framework. And the three attempts is exactly the right number. Four is tedious, and two is unsatisfying.

  3. is this NEW? by Transcendent · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ...whose lethal injection is faked, and suddenly finds himself in the middle of a violent urban warfare game arranged for the amusement of its wealthy creator. Your goal is to escape the city... populated by roving armed gangs.

    Sounds like the same game as GTA, but with a different way of getting on the street, and a different way of getting off... but the middle could be exactly the same.

    1. Re:is this NEW? by rgonsalves · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I don't think it is new either. I think i remember seeing this movie in the 80's but it was called The Running Man.

      -RPG

    2. Re:is this NEW? by techstar25 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      That's the problem with making a game where your character is free to do EVERYTHING and ANYTHING. It's hard to make another game with anything new to do.

      Maybe your character can eat his own arm to survive. Now, that would be cool.

  4. Well... by Bagels · · Score: 2, Interesting

    From what they've revealed so far, it does at least make me wonder what the main character would be on death row for. Of course, any character in the GTA games would probably go straight to death row if caught (or just life in prison, depending on the state's position on capital punishment), so it's not too hard to imagine. The whole premise of the game sounds a bit shaky, though - I'm not involved in the legal system, but I seriously doubt that there would be any way to "fake" a lethal injection.

    --
    --- Bwah?
  5. Reeeeeehaaaaaaasssh..... by Mulletproof · · Score: 2, Informative

    State of Emergency, anyone?

    --
    You need a FREE iPod Nano
  6. Rockstar or *Rockstar North*? by robson · · Score: 2, Informative

    Very important difference.
    Rockstar is a publisher.
    Rockstar North, formerly DMA, is a developer -- the people behind the Grand Theft Auto series.

    Don't assume a GTA-level of quality just because Rockstar is publishing the game. One link within the article mentioned Rockstar North, but not in an official or definitive way. We'll see, I guess.

  7. Re:No Marketing Needed.. by ryarger · · Score: 2, Informative

    Too right on State of Emergency, but the Italian Job you mention was published by Eidos, not Rockstar. Rockstar's Italian Job (for PS1 published a year or so ago), was widely lauded as one of the best PS1 games ever.

    The correct link

  8. Robinson's Requiem by Jagasian · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Damn, I was hoping that someone was creating a modern version of Robinson's Requiem. That game was a true survival game, where your spaceship crashes on an earth-like planet. You then have to eek out a living, survive the elements, etc... The game was very detailed, medically, and you sometimes had to resort to things like self amputation of limbs in order to survive.

    I was around 12 years old when I played that game. I would always start the game off by amputating both legs. Made movement really difficult. ANyways, that game was all about experimentation.u