Manhunt

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Manhunt is a violent and controversial Stealth Action/Survival Horror video game released by Rockstar North in November 2003. It follows the story of death row inmate James Earl Cash who's execution was faked by a man known as The Director. The Director plans to us Cash in a deadly game of cat and mouse, forcing him to kill gang members in cordoned off areas of Carcer City while he records it for the sake of making Snuff videos. The game is notable for various tie-ins with the Grand Theft Auto series, most notably the use of Carcer City, a location mentioned in Grand Theft Auto, as the game's setting.

Manhunt
Developer(s) Rockstar North
Publisher(s) Rockstar Games
Release date(s) November 18, 2003
Genre(s) Stealth Action/Survival Horror
Mode(s) Single player
Rating(s) ESRB: Mature
Platform(s) PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox
Media

In 2007, the game was succeeded by a sequel, Manhunt 2, which features fewer relations to the GTA series.

References and crossovers between the Grand Theft Auto series and Manhunt

GTA 2
  • Grand Theft Auto 2 features a series of gangs, one of which goes by the name Loonies, they are described as ‘Mental Patients’ and have a very similar look to the Smileys from Manhunt. The cars that they drive have a small smiley face on the top of them, similar to the simplistic design the Smileys use for their masks, or draw on walls. In Manhunt the Smileys are referred to as ‘Loonies’ by Starkweather, during the scene ‘Mouth of Madness’, the fact that they are also mental patients bears too much of a similarity to the ‘Loonies’ from GTA2 to simply be a coincidence.
Grand Theft Auto III
  • On the Lips 106 radio station in Grand Theft Auto III the news reporter Andee states: "So I'm sitting here, reading the Liberty Tree, and it says 'In nearby Carcer City, a good day for law and order as police chief Gary Schaffer was cleared of corruption charges in a controversial decision by the court.' Let's hope those missing witnesses turn up safe and sound.” This is a potential timeline conflict. Grand Theft Auto III is supposed to take place around 2001, Yet at the journalists apartment in Manhunt we can see from the calendar on her kitchen wall that the events of Manhunt take place around November of 2003. The only other explanation is that this is the second time that the Police Chief has found himself in trouble.
GTA Vice City
  • There are Sprunk soda machines that can be seen in numerous places, such as the background during one of the cutscenes in the backstage at the Love Fist show. The Sprunk logo design was significantly changed for Manhunt and has maintained the aesthetic designed for Manhunt in later Grand Theft Auto Games.
  • During the introduction titles and opening scene in Manhunt there is a drug store called Ryton Aide. In Grand Theft Auto: Vice City the same store can be found at Little Havana.
  • There is a mattress store that has a poster that says ‘The Best Mattresses in Carcer’, this is likely a reference to Joes Beds from Manhunt.
  • The junkyard in the scene 'Fuelled by Hate' has the same car crusher and surroundings as the one featured in the junkyard of Vice City.
  • During one scene (View of Innocence) on the second floor of the shopping mall, one of the counters has the words Tarbrush Café and a picture of a coffee cup. In Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, the characters Tommy and Lance had to destroy the ‘Tarbrush Café’ during the mission Cop Land.
  • You can find multiple blue and white shopping bags with the word Gash written on them in the Journalists apartment during the scene ‘Press Coverage’. In GTA Vice City there is a department store of the same name, and the store is located at the North Point Mall.
  • One of the idle comments members of the Hoods make is "Yeah, we got it all, a BJ Smith grill, the works, she’s real happy." In Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, BJ Smith is the former tight-end of the Vice City Mambas football team. This line is clearly a spoof of the real world George Forman Grill.
GTA San Andreas
  • While at Zero RC have a look around and you will see photos of mock-up action figures from past games developed by Rockstar North, including Cash and Piggsy from Manhunt. These figure shots were originally found in the bonus art gallery once you had gained a 3 star ranking on 'Trained to Kill'. Interestingly enough the image has now been altered to display the final design for Cash, as apposed to the beta model shown in the bonus art panel in Manhunt.
  • When in one of the bars like the Ten Green Bottles, look at the artwork on the walls. Amongst other pieces of art you can see a Cerberus guard mural painted on the wall.
  • At the Police Department Headquarters in Las Venturas you can find two pictures of Cash and three pictures of members of the Hoods posted on a bulletin board as wanted. There is also a bunch of writing to accompany it; unfortunately it is too small too make out, but it likely doesn’t say anything in particular that is worth noting.
  • During the Casino Heist mission Architectural Espionage you are required to enter the City Planning Department within Las Venturas. As you make your way through the building explore the rooms and you will come across various blueprints pinned within a few of the rooms, and one of the blueprints is of Starkweather's mansion, as featured in the last few scenes of Manhunt. The blueprint is titled ‘ Starkweather’s Estate’.
  • Originally an Easter Egg in GTA Vice City and then featured in Manhunt, the Sprunk vending machines once again make a return. It seems Rockstar North is finally happy with the Sprunk logo as it has retained the same design aesthetic as featured in Manhunt, as apposed to how it originally looked in Vice City.
  • San Andreas makes use of a minimalist Manhunt inspired stealth mechanic on select missions; Carl Johnson can perform a level one execution from Manhunt with the knife by creeping up behind a pedestrian. After you have performed a stealth kill in San Andreas the fallen victim's death pose is the exact same animation as in Manhunt. Keep your eye out and you will spot other animations that were originally used in Manhunt. Also using the same aiming and targeting system featured in Manhunt, when a pedestrian is targeted three triangles circle the targets head, the triangles are again color coded, with green triangles indicating an alive pedestrian and black triangles around dead pedestrians.
  • There is a junkyard that can be found in the rural district of Flint County by Angel Pines while on the way too San Fierro that is assembled using various models from the junkyard and surrounding areas within Manhunt during the scenes ‘White Trash’ and ‘Fuelled by Hate’. Also within Flint County junkyard you will come across a crane which was originally used during the scene ‘Fuelled by Hate’.
  • The blue propane canisters that are located around the countryside area are once again taken from Manhunt, they are similar in design, size and color and have the following written on them ‘Carcer Gas 15KG’. When shot they explode, these were originally used during the scene ‘White Trash’.
  • Other in game models that look to be taken from Manhunt include the boxes of ammunition and nail gun boxes that can be found laying around in the various Ammu-nation stores. The wheelchairs within San Andreas appear to be the exact same models from Manhunt, including the textures used.
  • On the shores of Palomino Creek, north of Los Santos, there are several large, wooden, spool-shaped objects with the almost-indistinguishable words "Jartnuk Cable Company" and "Carcer" on them.
  • In the first cutscene at the airport, the arrivals board shows one flight incoming from Carcer City.
  • In the countryside you can spot a few of the pedestrians wearing overalls with a tartan shirt on, it looks to be a reused texture from one of the Smilies.
  • One of the gangs that roam the San Fierro country side in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas has a tattoo of the word RIFA on his chest; in Manhunt the Innocentz have this same tattoo in the exact same location.
  • During one of the commercial breaks on K-Rose, listen out for an advertisement for Carcer City.
  • A radio advertisement for Carcer City makes references to steel mills being closed and "dining in the glow of the Flaming River". Many steel mills in the Midwest closed during the early '90s, including those in Pittsburgh, PA, Philadelphia, PA, Cleveland, Ohio, and Detroit, MI. The "Flaming River" is a clear reference to the "Burning River", a period in the 1970s where the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio was so polluted that it caught fire
  • During the radio talk show Area 53, a caller by the name of Vivian calls in from Carcer City and talks about crop circles. On another radio station WCTR, a woman calls into the show The Wild Traveller from Carcer City.
  • There are pedestrians that can be heard saying comments about Carcer City such as "this is why I am moving to Carcer City" other lines of dialogue include "Hey! This isn't Carcer City, okay!" when bumped in to. There is a male pedestrian that sometime says "Where do you think this is, Carcer City? Watch out!"
GTA Liberty City Stories
  • Many weapons have made it into Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories from Manhunt. The weapons include a meat cleaver, hand axe, baseball bat (aluminum), nightstick, a knife and a handgun just to name some of the obvious ones. Some of them even appear to be the same weapon model as used in Manhunt, if not then certainly based on the same designs.
  • Slash TV is another hint at Manhunt, set as a mini game where you have take out as many different people as you can using only the Chainsaw with the overalls and hockey mask on while someone is filming it.
  • Another hint to Manhunt include a mission titled Snuff, in this mission you are asked to eliminate members of the Sindacco Family that are putting pressure on a fellow Sindacco who would like to become a member of the Leone Family. The turn coat in question is JD Otoole, he runs a sex shop. During the mission he is watching from a near by building and video tapes it all for his very own snuff movie, he calls Toni to express his gratitude for the clip.
  • A man named Ken calls "The Electron Zone" on LCFR and states that he is "calling from Carcer City."
GTA Vice City Stories
  • If you listen into the various pedestrians you pass in the game you can hear some claim to have had previous occupations in Carcer City, such as 'I was a plumber in Carcer City!’
  • The junkyard in Vice City Stories has the same tower that is featured in the scene ‘Mouth of Madness’.
  • One of the newer game play elements introduced in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories it the prospect of Empire Building. There are various building types you are able to purchase and they all grant you a relevant outfit to wear. If you purchase a high roller ‘Robbery’ building (the building sets you back $ 1,400) you get access to the ‘Hood’ outfit. This outfit seems to be a reference to the Hoods from Manhunt.
GTA IV
  • In Broker you can find the same hippopotamus as originally featured in the Carcer City zoo of Manhunt. The hippo statue can be found down alleyways, at the beach boardwalk, and outside the bowling alley. Looking at the models it appears that the geometry used is exactly the same, with the only enhancements coming from the lighting and improved texture work.
  • Some of the pedestrians in Grand Theft Auto IV have familiar Manhunt characters printed on their shirts. It can be hard to locate some of these pedestrians due to the fact that they seemingly only appear in specific locations and at certain hours of the day.
  • Many locations throughout Liberty City have small banks known as 'Checks Cashed'. This store brand was originally found in Manhunt and could be found in the opening scene 'Born Again'.
  • If you look on the criminals section of the Liberty City Police Department's website you will stumble across two characters that are listed as originating from Carcer City. In order to access these pages you need to do is visit the following webpage address: www.libertycitypolice.com/profile.html, then select F-J, if you look under place of birth you will see Carcer City for two different people.
  • One of the many Xbox 360 achievements possible for Grand Theft Auto IV is titled 'Manhunt'. In order to gain this achievement you must complete all 30 of the 'Most Wanted' side missions which can be accessed through using the computer in any LCPD patrol car.
  • One of the statistics you are able to view in Grand Theft Auto IV is 'Distance traveled', under this statistic it is possible to achieve 'Liberty City to Carcer City' as the distance traveled. This is achieved fairly early into the game, no more than a few game hours, this further indicates that Carcer City is right next to Liberty City.
General
  • Multiple vehicles that have appeared prior in GTA III and GTA Vice City have appeared in some form in both Manhunt games. Including but not limited to the Pony, Yankee, Forklift, Blista Compact, Boxville, Securicar, and the Carcer City police cruisers share the exact model as what's seen in Vice City. Only difference is it has a white and black color scheme instead of white and green. It should be noted that driving is not something the player can do in Manhunt, these vehicles are placed strictly for scenic and atheistic purposes.
  • Many models for things that enhance the scenery can be found around GTA games and are from Manhunt. This includes but is not limited to chairs, tables, flower beddings, buildings, and billboards. This is done to maintain a certain level of consistency between games due to them all being in the same universe.
  • Sprunk, featured in Vice City, San Andreas, and GTA IV as a drink players can buy for regaining health, is also featured in many levels of Manhunt, but cannot be purchased or drank. Also, one of the items in Manhunt that use use to lure hunters is a Sprunk soda can.

Trivia

External links

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