Jeronimo Barrera, Rockstar's vice president of product development, has stated that Manhunt 2 wasn't neutered in order to receive a revised rating and secure a US release.
The controversial game, which went on sale on Tuesday in the US for Wii, PS2 and PSP, was initially given an Adults-Only rating by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB), effectively barring it from release on Sony and Nintendo platforms, and blocked from sale in the UK after the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) failed to grant the game a rating due to its "unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone."
In Manhunt 2 the player assumes the role of Daniel Lamb, a tortured man who wakes up to find himself in a mental institution he must escape. What follows is a murder spree using weapons including guns, plastic bags and shovels, in locations such as graveyards and red-light districts.
While a revised version of the title was granted an M for Mature rating (17+), Barrera told MTV that the company's artistic vision wasn't compromised by the revisions, and insisted there was more to talk about than just the violence in the horror title.
