Take Two finally wins "M" rating for its "Manhunt 2" title

After months-long controversy, Rockstar Games, the premium content development division of game publisher Take Two Interactive Software Inc., has finally won ‘M’ rating from US rating board for its long-awaited sequel “Manhunt 2” in North America.

The Entertainment Software Rating Board on Friday has given "Mature 17+" (M) rating to Manhunt 2, a sequel to 2003 title Manhunt, providing a sigh of relief to the New York-based game publisher that was forced to suspend the release of the title due to its extremely violent content.

Originally rated "Adults Only 18+" (AO) by the US rating board, ‘Manhunt 2’, the sequel to one of their darkest games, ‘Manhunt’, is made by Rockstar Games and was originally due for a July 10 release in the United States on both Nintendo Co.'s Wii and the PlayStation 2 (PS2) by Sony Corp.

Besides assigning the ‘Mature’ rating, the ESRB also allocates the following content descriptors to “Manhunt 2”: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content and Use of Drugs.

After winning the ‘M’ rating, Manhunt 2 is now set to launch on Halloween (October 31st) in the US following the submission of a modified version of Manhunt 2 to the ESRB.

In June, Take Two decided to temporarily suspend the game distribution plans after the title faced bans by Britain and Ireland, as well as a ratings predicament in the country due to its extremely violent content.

Troubles for the new Manhunt 2 game title began early in June when Britain banned the game because of the violent content. Soon after, Ireland decided to ban the same, and then Italian Communications Minister Paolo Gentiloni also said that he would seek to have the sale of the game canceled there as well.

Calling the Manhunt 2 "cruel and sadistic, Gentiloni had said the game contains "a squalid environment and a continuous, insistent encouragement to violence and murder."

Adding more to its woes, ESRB, the video game industry's self-regulated ratings board, had given a preliminary version of "Manhunt 2" an "adults only" rating, the most stringent rating that prohibits retailers from selling the game to anyone under the age of 18.

The ‘M’ rating for “Manhunt 2” is immense pleasure for its creator Rockstar Games, the company most renowned for the controversial titles such as the ‘Grand Theft Auto’ series of urban crime games.

"Manhunt 2 is important to us, and we're glad it can finally be appreciated as a gaming experience," said Sam Houser, founder and executive producer of Rockstar Games. "We love the horror genre. Manhunt 2 is a powerful piece of interactive story telling that is a unique video game experience. We think horror fans will love it."

Manhunt 2 depicts the escape of an amnesiac scientist and a psychotic killer from an asylum and their subsequent killing spree. Players of the video game 'Manhunt 2' would assume the role of a psychotic man who escapes a mental institution and then indulges in a bloody killing spree, using variety of weapons and objects, as he tries to find out what happened to his family.

The graphically violent original Manhunt, which has been banned in many countries, including New Zealand, Australia, and Germany due to the game's violent content, revolved around a man on death row named James Earl Cash. The ultra-violent action game featured creative kills such as bashing faces with a crowbar and wire stranglings.

Though the game was fairly well-received by consumers and the press, but at the same time it was surrounded by the controversy in many countries. The controversy stemmed from the extremely graphic manner in which the player kills enemies.

Manhunt became the first computer game in Ontario to be classified as a film. The game has been declared illegal for players of all ages in Germany. Apart of this, the game was linked to the murder of Stefan Pakeerah, 14, by his friend Warren LeBlanc, 17 in United Kingdom.

A copy of Manhunt was recovered from the murder site. However, later it was transpired that the murderer did not own or play the game, instead it was the victim who owned the copy of the game, even though he was under 18.