Entry posted by Cybergoth
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Hi there!
I'd never thought that I'd play a Sierra Adventure like that:
Well, actually I didn't feature any Sierra game ever before, but that's because almost all of them so far were text adventures. I can't stand playing those, so I've been mostly ignoring Sierra, just like Infocom or Level 9 games. Manhunter 2 at hands though, is a point'n click adventure. One could now rightfully argue that the first Manhunter was one as well, but none of my old video game magazines mentioned it anywhere, so I decided to try the 2nd once I read about it.
If you're now thinking Manhunter is a point'n click game like the Lucasarts stuff or something with a toolbar of icons or an intelligent mouse-cursor, you're wrong. It's much simpler here: Each screen just has a few (usually only 1 or two) hotspots you can click and with that you either navigate somewhere, pick something up or launch one of a good dozen little action sequences.
As simple as that sounds, so difficult the game is, but I need to dive into the story some, before managing to explain how. This is a brief summary of what I got from the story bits so far:
The game plays in some post-alien-ínvasion world. The evil "orbs" have won the war and are occupying the planet. Each human survivor has a chip implanted that tracks their position. Some human agents, the manhunters, serve the orbs as some kind of cops. The manhunter you are playing is on a mission to stop a murderous psychopath. I think he also tries to find a way to fight the orbs, assuming the role of a double agent.
The game is broken into several days. Each day usually starts with the manhunter tracking the motion of several "suspects" and then he investigates all the places they've been for clues, mostly written notes like letters or mysterious drawings. Out of these clues you're supposed to figure out the names of the suspects. E.g. an easier riddle at the beginning is "bat vomit" written onto an office door. On the desk you find a note to "Tad", so you figure the writing is mirrored and that the guys name is actually Tad Timov. It gets more complicated from there.
Some of the action sequences are tough as nails, although their difficulty can be toned down via the "Easy Arcade" option in the games options menu. The audio is just some standard PC-Speaker noise. The graphics are EGA and very explicit, you see lots of dead people like the one above.
So far I made it to day 3, but I had to consult a walkthrough 2-3 times already. The story, the atmosphere and the underlying black humor have made it a great experience nevertheless. To be continued...
Greetings,
Manuel
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