You just run through the experience as quickly as possible, rather than exploring all the tiny details and elements of design. Without a reward structure to give the incentive to self-induce more complex play, vast elements of strategy and nuance are abandoned by the player. Playing such a game is strange because one is so accustomed to the subconscious sense of progress and reward in a game. You’re just doing the simple head shot move that offers little satisfaction and trudging through the level. Now, with the last minute censorship, there is no incentive to ever take the high road. The low road is supposed to be much less satisfying because you’re missing out on the death scenes. Once you get sick of trying to lure a guard close enough to see their gory death, you can just shoot them and get on with it. low road scenario to help people who are stuck on a level. You can also lock on and make insta-kill shots provided they are close enough. Aiming with guns resembles Resident Evil 4 albeit clunkier and with some awkward control issues. Mixed with this are the gun portions of the game. Like Thief, melee combat with more than two people is suicidal so the stealth kill becomes a necessary strategy in many levels. The longer you hold the lock, the more violent the stealth kill. You then wait until they walk around to inspect the noise, turn their back on you, and then lock on. Sounds like running or knocking on a wall will attract guards. Otherwise you can be seen from a certain radius. When you bar turns blue, you’re totally invisible. Manhunt 2 is a combination of Resident Evil 4 combat and a simplified light/dark stealth system. The way the game creaks and falls apart without that reward system is nearly as instructive an experience as seeing an excellent game fully intact. The result is the unique experience of getting to see the nuts and bolts of a game with zero appeal attached to their function. The game design’s entire function was to challenge the player to get the most impressive kill and now that no longer exists. Whereas the original appeal of the game was experimenting with weapons and seeing the various death scenes unfold, in its censored form this appeal is no longer there. Rockstar’s Manhunt 2 is a very interesting game that inadvertently, due to the controversy and subsequent censoring of its violent kill scenes, developed a very unique game design. Although they might slip in an interesting idea or maybe a radical plot, in terms of game design most things are by the book.
![manhunt 2 plot manhunt 2 plot](https://images.nintendolife.com/screenshots/13743/large.jpg)
One of the unfortunate consequences of the current AAA climate in game development is that it’s tough to find a high production game that experiments very much.