Rockstar Games has made many controversial games in its history. One might even argue every game it has ever produced has been controversial. But none ever reached the levels of Manhunt and its brutal, horrifying displays of violence. Now it's coming back, not as a game, but a fan-made movie.

As shown by IGN, Manhunt is the title of the upcoming fan-made movie adaptation of the eponymous 2003 game, whose release was covered in controversy and even forbidden in certain countries. Never has a title generated so much bad rep and anti-gaming press, which is not least because there was a strong crowd at the time advocating for banning video games because they were "teaching" kids to be violent and cruel.

Rockstar's output was particularly targeted due to the nature of its sandbox titles, where one could take out a chainsaw and cut down an entire city of people, or, as was the case in Manhunt, play as a brutal serial killer going after people in the most despicable ways possible, all while making sure it's all filmed and documented. Essentially, players were tasked with making snuff films, and while the game has many merits and thematic depth, that fact alone caused quite the stir.

Over two decades later, it's getting made into a movie. And that, of course, means even more blood, gore, guts, and violence on full display with no artistic compromise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XER6U0O7W7Q

The style of the movie appears to closely follow that of the game, with a retro camera filter over the entire screen, emulating the sense of "snuff" in question. In just 40 seconds of footage, we can see heads split open, blood flowing in rivers, and chainsaws going to work. It takes what Manhunt the game is and elevates it to a whole different level, making significant use of our advances in technology and practical and digital effects, as well as of the fact that this is a movie and not a game.

All the limitations of the original seem to have been overcome, allowing for a true R-rated horror fest that is bound to be a super fun splatterpunk flick.

Now I'm not saying I particularly love horror movies like this (even though I am a fan of Rob Zombie), but this seems to be quite a faithful, thoughtful, and, most importantly, fun adaptation that turns a game that hasn't aged so well into something worth watching.

If the story has been expanded or refined, we could be looking at the ultimate way to experience Rockstar's most controversial game, now in a better time when there are no groups of politically motivated gaming haters trying to shut it down.

The post Rockstar’s most controversial game is getting a fan-made movie, and it’s even more brutal than its inspiration appeared first on Destructoid.

2003’s Manhunt is a brutal, gritty title that occupies a strange place in Rockstar’s catalog as something that should be considered the company’s best work, yet it remains overshadowed by their own mega-hit franchises. This bleak, uncompromising meditation on the nature of voyeurism questioned the player’s participation in horrific bloodshed, and has since become something of a cult title — and PIGFACE is certainly one of its descendants.

Set in a post-industrial wasteland, PIGFACE places players in the role of a woman with a bomb in her head. Faceless handlers have assigned her to murder members of a drug-dealing gang across a handful of locations, and what little characterization the game offers has those same handlers shocked by how little pushback they receive from their living weapon – almost as if she’s as much down for all the murder as the people playing the game. The gameplay is as basic as the graphics – this looks like a Quake-era experience and feels like gritty, vicious shooters of that time, back when most titles were developed by a handful of people and when it was easier to smuggle bizarre and extreme content into even major titles.

After choosing a mission, the player picks their loadout from a decent arsenal – but in a twist that feels strange for an FPS (and may have been inherited from Manhunt) the player can only bring a single ranged weapon. This creates a bit of awkwardness, as the player is asked to decide on a playstyle before they have a sense of what the level is like, and pre-mission the briefings are not particularly voluminous. So, there’s often nothing to do but guess whether a sniper rifle or a shotgun is better for any given area, and if that doesn’t pan out, they can hope to snag a more appropriate weapon off of a dead body somewhere along the way.

The strange part is that for a game seemingly built around experimentation and taking chances, the developers punish players harshly for mistakes. Any time they fail a mission, a steep financial penalty is incurred. While guns only have to be bought once and ammo is free, healing syringes cost money, ensuring that if a player fails a particularly difficult level more than a couple of times, they’ll be forced to try again with even fewer resources, and consequently, less chance of success.

Enemy AI is also a little on the spare side at this point. I’m sure it’s a difficult to balance and all of the enemies can be best described as drug-addled wastrels, but they were remarkably unobservant and unresponsive whenever violence kicked off — enemies will watch a guard’s head get blown off with a sniper rifle, shrug, and then get right back to their patrol seconds later. Setting off explosives or blasting away with a machine gun might attract reinforcements, or it might not – enemies were largely unpredictable in an ‘is the AI broken and not responding to triggers?‘ kind of way.

Still, there’s plenty to be optimistic about here. The violence is every bit as brutal and upsetting as one would hope given PIGFACE’s obvious inspiration. There are huge blood spatters with every shot, and enemies scramble around and scream as they’re injured, making the whole thing feel doubly unpleasant.

This unpleasantness also permeates every bit of the world. Every room is full of trash and dirty needles. The player is asked to shut down drug factories, and all they find are a few drums and jars crudely linked together with hoses and tape. This game is about the absolute lowest-tier of criminal being executed by an assassin who lives in a dingy one-room apartment next to a set of elevated train tracks. It’s a celebration of the grindhouse aesthetic and seemingly pointless violence – although as the story gets developed in later updates, that might well change.

PIGFACE is in a rough Early Access state at the moment, with inconsistent enemies and no real narrative to speak of. I don’t expect the graphics to get any better – the low-end look is the point — and it’s a clear throwback to a rougher, more brutal past. Anyone lamenting that we never got a Manhunt 3 will find a lot to love here.

Assuming gameplay is rebalanced and more levels are added – I beat all five in just under an hour – this is extremely promising. Hopefully the devs manage to turn it into a more complete experience, as games this heartlessly brutal are few and far between.

Or maybe this kind of game being rare is a good thing? I’ll let history be the judge.

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