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Manhunt 2 Banned in UK

Daley

By Daley
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Daley

Daley

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A sequel to violent video game Manhunt has been banned in Britain, it was announced today.

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) rejected 'Manhunt 2' on the grounds of its "casual sadism" and "unrelenting focus on stalking and brutal

slaying".

The game "constantly encourages visceral killing", it said.

The BBFC's ruling means the game cannot be legally supplied anywhere in the UK. It is the first video game to be refused a classification since 1997.

David Cooke, director of the BBFC, said: "Rejecting a work is a very serious action and one which we do not take lightly. Where possible we try to consider

cuts or, in the case of games, modifications which remove the material which contravenes the Board's published guidelines.

"In the case of 'Manhunt 2', this has not been possible.

"'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.

"There is sustained and cumulative casual sadism in the way in which these killings are committed, and encouraged, in the game."

The original 'Manhunt' game was given an 18 classification in 2003 and was "at the very top end of what the Board judged to be acceptable at that category", he

said.

"Although the difference should not be exaggerated, the fact of the game's unrelenting focus on stalking and brutal slaying and the sheer lack of alternative pleasures on offer to the gamer, together with the different overall narrative context, contribute towards differentiating this submission from the original 'Manhunt' game," Cooke explained.

"Against this background, the Board's carefully considered view is that to issue a certificate to 'Manhunt 2', on either platform, would involve a range of unjustifiable harm risks to both adults and minors within the terms of the Video Recordings Act."

'Manhunt 2', for PS2 and Nintendo Wii consoles, is made by Rockstar Games. The company has six weeks to submit an appeal.

The last game to be refused classification was 'Carmageddon' in 1997. The BBFC's decision was overturned on appeal.

Didn't see that coming.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/27545/BBFC-rejects-Manhunt-2

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Rudderless

Rudderless

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The difference is that you were forced to kill in the most horrible way in the first game. Here, it's just excessive brutality for the sake of it.

I expressed concerns about this a while back, and it seems the BBFC have shown similar concerns.

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Gwynster

Gwynster

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Part of me thinks censorship is bad.

A larger part of me thinks that it might be an idea to draw a line somewhere simply to provoke a proper discussion. Carmageddon may have been banned but it was complete rubbish, this is probably a much more appropriate point of debate.

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roskelld

roskelld

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Part of me thinks censorship is bad.

A larger part of me thinks that it might be an idea to draw a line somewhere simply to provoke a proper discussion. Carmageddon may have been banned but it was complete rubbish, this is probably a much more appropriate point of debate.

Carmageddon was ace. Fantasic twist on the racing genre.

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Scribblor

Scribblor

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*Strokes U.S Wii.*

They don't ban films for gratuitous violence so I don't see why they should ban this. Give it an 18 and stop with the nanny state already.

Don't be preposterous. The BBFC routinely censor excessive violence, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if they banned a film where the entire point of the film was that the 'hero' went around killing people in the most gratuitously violent way possible.

Having said that, I haven't seen the game and the BBFC are almost certainly overreacting, but calling the ban the product of a 'nanny state' is ever so slightly reactionary.

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