It is no secret that the world (except for maybe the Netherlands) is not giving Take-Two/Rockstar’s Manhunt 2 an easy time. The game’s violent content has been beaten to a bloody pulp by the various ratings boards, and this latest news shows that they won’t let up until Manhunt 2 is an un unrecognizable, disfigured mess.
Today, the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has shut down Rockstar’s newest revision to Manhunt 2, essentially banning it, despite changes made in efforts to clear it for UK release.
“We recognise that the distributor has made changes to the game, but we do not consider that these go far enough to address our concerns about the original version,” offered David Cooke, director of the BBFC.
Cooke goes on to explain that while they notice that some visual aspects have changed, others still “retain their original visceral and casually sadistic nature,” and they felt that “the bleakness and callousness of tone” of the game has not changed enough.
Hit the jump to see what Rockstar had to say about all of this.
From Rockstar:
“We are continuing to appeal the British Board of Film Classification’s decision to deny the edited version of Manhunt 2 an 18-plus certificate and thereby ban its release in the United Kingdom.”
“The changes necessary in order to publish the game in Britain are unacceptable to us and represent a setback for video games.”
“The BBFC allows adults the freedom to decide for themselves when it comes to horror in movies and we think adults should be similarly allowed to decide for themselves when it comes to horror in video games, such as Manhunt 2.”
Normally, we’d love to get our word in, but it looks like Rockstar’s response nailed it. Live-action horror movies are permitted to go basically uncensored, but video games are still locked down so tightly that creativity is restricted. This truly is a setback for video games.
It doesn’t look like Rockstar has any plans of giving on up Manhunt 2. Let’s hope that they don’t have to resort to toning down the game any more than they already have.
[via Gamesindustry.biz]
