Review of "Manhunt":

James Cash, the death row inmate/protagonist of "Manhunt" — a new ultra-violent game for PlayStation 2 from Rockstar Games, gets a new lease on life when his lethal injection turns out to be a sedative.
The Darkwoods Penitentiary staff has spared Cash so he can star in a snuff movie. From here on out, his life is about sneaking up on gangs of criminals and snuffing them, one at a time.
This is a stealth game. Cash is not especially tough, but with the player's help, he can slip through shadows and catch enemies unaware. Once Cash slips the bag over an enemy's head, or uses a shard of glass to cut his throat, or the wire to garrote him, a video camera records the "execution."
Cash gets points when he successfully sneaks up and snuffs folks. He gets wounds and demerits when they spot him and fight back. How "Manhunt" ever got an M rating (suitable for players ages 17 and up) is a modern mystery. If it were a movie, it would not get an R-rating. It would be rated NC-17 or possibly even X.
If "Manhunt" sounds bad in theory, just wait until you see the "executions." The hacking, the slashing, and the strangling are all shown in graphic detail. This is not a game about making snuff movies; it is a snuff game, pure and simple. It may be disgusting, but "Manhunt" is too well made to be ignored. The graphics are grainy and the voice acting is okay at best, but the sum of these parts is viciously hypnotic. "Manhunt" is as addictive as brutality itself. Rockstar Games, the same company that pushed the decency envelope with "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City," may make socially-reprehensible games, but it also makes games with great production values.