Manhunt 2 has a new release date of October 31st, Halloween, for the Wii, PS2 and PSP in North America. The game will be rated M for Mature, with these content descriptors: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, and Use of Drugs.
You may remember that the intense, bloody and violent Manhunt 2 was slapped with an AO (Adults Only) rating in the United States via the ESRB. This rating is a kiss of death for video games because most retailers will not carry AO related games. There are AO-rated PC games available, but that’s because all the system manufacturers: Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo, refuse to allow AO-rated titles to appear on their system, for fear of it forever damaging their image, thus the only place for AO rated games is on PC. Manhunt 2 was shelved from it’s original release date while Take Two (publisher) and Rockstar (developer) figured out what to do and how to get it down to a passing M-rating.
They did not say what content was cut, but they have achieved the M-rating and the subsequent release date of Halloween in the US has been set.
Manhunt 2 however was outright banned in the UK. Rockstar has appealed the decision, but it will take months for that process to go through, which means that UK gamers may be left out from getting to play Manhunt 2 this year.