Speaking of atmosphere, everything about this game speaks to Rockstar’s intention to set up a dark, pressing feeling of dread. Levels are all dark and dingy, with plenty of shadows and broken down appearances. Medicine and weapons appear as flickering images, to convey the feeling that we’re not quite sure how much of this is real and how much is in Danny’s head. Unfortunately, all this darkness makes it hard to see where weapons are. Most weapons you’ll stumble over as you progress, you just won’t see them before doing so.

The audio in the game helps convey atmosphere as well, but, like the rest of the game, is a mixed bag. The sparse environmental audio does a great job of ratcheting up the tension, however voice acting ranges from very good for Leo and very creepy for the Watchdogs and Hunters to overwrought whining for Danny and super expressive bursts of profanity for everyone else. Rockstar definitely believes in the idea of swear words making things “adult” and takes the opportunity to show how adult they are at every opportunity, which then somewhat lessens the impact. Thankfully, the executions are all as bloody and disgusting sounding as you would expect them to be. This game is field trip for Foley artists.

The graphics don’t help as everything looks horribly dated with blocky character designs and muddied textures. Obviously, no one was expecting the kinds of visuals available on the 360 or the PS3, however these are graphics you’d expect to find in PS2 games from three years ago.

Given all that Rockstar does to draw you into the story, there are just too many design choices to remind you that you’re playing a game, to keep the storytelling a coherent affair. For example, why does Danny start off the level with nothing in his hands when he just ended with a sledgehammer and all he did was walk across town? How is he able to go from completely blood spattered at the end of one level to completely clean the next, yet can’t seem to change out of his inmate jumpsuit until the sixth level? Most importantly, why doesn’t he just flee, wait for things to die down and then come back for answers? This last one is the toughest to reconcile as you don’t really feel the need for putting Danny in these situations, and as a result, controlling him. Sure, the story has lots of twists and turns, however anyone who is a fan of the psychological thriller genre will see the main twist coming from the moment they start playing, so even that effect is muted.

In the end, Manhunt 2 tries real hard and there’s a definite thrill to sneaking up on someone to take them out, or luring someone to their demise however by the twelfth time you’ve hid in a corner and whacked someone with a sledgehammer, you’ve had your fill. There are just too many nagging gameplay problems for the story to overcome and once your reach one of the two final endings, you’ll be wondering why Danny didn’t get on that flight to Paraguay ten hours earlier. Hardcore psychological horror fans will probably enjoy the story enough to work through the gameplay problems, but those dying for a new stealth action game, or wanting to see what all the hubbub was about, should probably stick with a rental.