Manhunt and Manhunt 2: where to buy them legally today and why they were banned

Manhunt is a stealth action game about death row inmate James Earl Cash. His execution is faked, and Cash is released into the fictional Carcer City, where gangs hunt him down. Everything is filmed for a "Director" who tells Cash what to do through an earpiece. You hide in the shadows, sneak up and take out the hunters, and the more brutal the kill, the higher your rating for the scene.

That "brutality rating" made Manhunt one of the most controversial games of the 2000s. It was released with an adult rating, and in Germany the PS2 version was confiscated in 2004. Manhunt 2 is a separate story with new characters: former scientist Daniel Lamb escapes from a psychiatric hospital.

To be clear, these are games for adults only. If you want Rockstar games without this much violence, take a look at Bully or L.A. Noire.

Since November 2021, the first Manhunt has been playable on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S through backward compatibility. Manhunt 2 has never been re-released on newer consoles.

Why you can't buy Manhunt 2. The uncut AO-rated PC version was sold digitally from November 2009, only in North America through Direct2Drive, and was later pulled. The game isn't on Steam, the Rockstar Store, PlayStation Store or GOG; on GOG it only sits on the players' wishlist. There is one legal route: a used disc for PS2, PSP, Wii or PC. Sites offering a Manhunt 2 "download" are handing out pirated copies.

The Manhunt 2 story. In June 2007 the ESRB gave the game an AO (Adults Only) rating. Games with that rating don't get released on consoles, so the planned July 9 launch was canceled. A cut version received an M on August 24, 2007 and came out in October.

In the UK, the BBFC twice refused to classify the game, which effectively bans it from sale. Rockstar appealed, the case went to the High Court, and only on March 14, 2008 did the cut version receive an 18 certificate. Manhunt 2 reached UK stores on October 31, 2008, a year after the US.

The first Manhunt was confiscated in Germany in 2004.

These are the requirements from the Steam page. It is a 2004 game, so any modern PC can run it. That said, Rockstar does not officially list Windows 10 or 11 compatibility, so you may run into launch or controller problems. The Steam version is available in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.

Manhunt has no codes that work from the first minute. The game awards up to 5 stars per scene: up to three for the brutality of your executions, one for time and one for taking out every hunter. Stars unlock bonus material. Cheats (among them invincibility, full equipment, fast running, silence and a super punch) unlock in pairs for 5 stars on Hardcore difficulty, and then you switch them on in the main menu. This is described in Rockstar Support's help article on Manhunt bonuses.