Cleaned Up Manhunt Not So Clean After All

Those dastardly computer whizzes find a way behind the blurry veil.

After having its new game, Manhunt 2, snubbed by ratings boards around the world, Rockstar went back to the workbench to tone down the game. The retail version of Manhunt 2, out now in the US, includes a filter effect that distorts your view of the more sadistic killings, but some intrepid coders have already figured out a way around Rockstar's obfuscation measures.

A post from a user named iKest on the MaxConsole forums gives details instructions for getting rid of the filter effect on a ripped version of the PSP edition of Manhunt 2.

Several users on the forum said that the hack allowed them to bypass the filter.

For many, this will have echoes of the Hot Coffee fiasco that landed Rockstar and parent company Take 2 in scalding water, after it was discovered that there were sexual scenes hidden deep within the code of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, where no normal user would have found them.

We asked Rockstar to comment on the Manhunt 2 hack but the company did not get back to us.

Manhunt 2 was released on 30 October in the US, on Wii, PlayStation 2 and PSP. It's not yet clear if this hack works in the other versions of the game.

Whether Britons will ever get to play Manhunt 2 is not yet clear. The company is reportedly appealing the British Board for Film Classification's decision to reject the game.

The BBFC denied the game a release for a second time in October, saying that the changes that Rockstar made to the game did not go far enough.

GameVideos has a comparison video up this week, showing off some of the changes that have been made for the US release of the game.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo