UK kill Manhunt 2

Mike Bantick
Wednesday, 20 June 2007 10:55

Your IT - Entertainment

RockStar Games have hit the controversial headlines again, this time with the yet to be released Manhunt 2.  The Wii/PS2 game has been banned by the BBFC for sale in the UK.

No stranger to battling censorship, RockStar games have fought the law (and the law has won most times) with their Grand Theft Auto series, Bully and previous Manhunt games.

Today comes news that Manhunt 2, destined for sale on the PS2 and intriguingly for the Nintendo Wii will be banned from sale in the UK.

David Cooke, Director of the BBFC said:
“Rejecting a work is a very serious action and one which we do not take lightly. Where possible we try to consider cuts or, in the case of games, modifications which remove the material which contravenes the Board’s published Guidelines. In the case of Manhunt 2 this has not been possible. Manhunt 2 is distinguishable from recent high-end video games by its unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone in an overall game context which constantly encourages visceral killing with exceptionally little alleviation or distancing. There is sustained and cumulative casual sadism in the way in which these killings are committed, and encouraged, in the game.

“Although the difference should not be exaggerated the fact of the game’s unrelenting focus on stalking and brutal slaying and the sheer lack of alternative pleasures on offer to the gamer, together with the different overall narrative context, contribute towards differentiating this submission from the original Manhunt game. That work was classified ‘18’ in 2003, before the BBFC’s recent games research had been undertaken, but was already at the very top end of what the Board judged to be acceptable at that category.”

“Against this background, the Board’s carefully considered view is that to issue a certificate to Manhunt 2, on either platform, would involve a range of unjustifiable harm risks, to both adults and minors, within the terms of the Video Recordings Act, and accordingly that its availability, even if statutorily confined to adults, would be unacceptable to the public.”