Manhunt Rejected Again, Rockstar Reacts

All the latest details on the controversial Wii/PS2 game.

Twice Rockstar has submitted its lightning rod of a game, Manhunt 2, to the British Board of Film Classification and twice the organization has snubbed the company.

The latest denial came this week when the BBFC said that it had rejected a revised version of Manhunt 2 submitted by Rockstar. This was the second submission after Rockstar's first attempt was rejected in June.

BBFC director David Cooke admitted that Rockstar had made changes to the game but said in a statement that they didn't go far enough.

"The impact of the revisions on the bleakness and callousness of tone, or the essential nature of the gameplay, is clearly insufficient. There has been a reduction in the visual detail in some of the 'execution kills', but in others they retain their original visceral and casually sadistic nature," he said.

Cooke said the BBFC had suggested changes to Rockstar that the company chose not to make.

Manhunt 2 made headlines this summer after being rejected by ratings bodies around the world. The game has since been approved for release in the US, and it seems the game will be released in the Netherlands as well.

The ultimate fate of the game in the UK isn't certain. Rockstar said in a statement on Monday that it was carrying on in its appeal to try to earn a release for the game adding that the changes necessary to get the game approved "are unacceptable to us and represent a setback for video games".

"The BBFC allows adults the freedom to decide for themselves when it comes to horror in movies and we think adults should be similarly allowed to decide for themselves when it comes to horror in video games, such as Manhunt 2," Rockstar said.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo