Despite being the first game in ten years to suffer this fate the news that Manhunt 2 has been banned from sale in the UK isn't overly surprising. I've seen the game and it was ugly although the violence - syringes in eye, sledgehammers - is only part of it. Plenty of games get 18 certificates but very few of these are released for PS2 and Wii only - consoles that appeal to a younger age group. Maybe if it was coming out on PS3 and 360 it may have survived. Or maybe not.
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," said David Cooke, director of the BBFC.
Chances are the ban will be front page news tomorrow, following soon after the Resistance cathedral "controversy". But while the Manchester thing was ridiculous the Manhunt ban makes sense. Forget all the guff about parents, in the real world Manhunt 2 would have been played by 10 year olds on their Wii. Imagine how long it would have taken for the usual media suspects to pick up on little Johnny's wiimote garroting pastime. Of course, there are obvious censorship worries and if the game was exclusive to, say, the PS3 then things would be different. But the BBFC don't act lightly and I think in this case they've got it right.
