"Maybe life is like a ride on a freeway
Dodging bullets while you're trying to find your way" -unnamed polymath

I know I'm not the only person caught unaware of how they made not only one, but TWO mainline sequels to the Crazy Taxi series. While they may not be fully souped-up reimaginings, Crazy Taxi 2 and 3 contain all of the content in the prior entry plus a little more, it's a little more apt to think of these as expansion packs. What this mercifully does is maintain the lean and mean purity of the breakout title and sprinkle in a handful more options and maps for just the right amount of variety and personalisation.

The most standout addition in these expansions for me is the jump button, it's wild how much this shakes up your approach to the West Coast you'd otherwise be nailed to the ground for. With the ability to scale buildings and a sense of mastery of the course, it's insanely satisfying to defy the will of the sat-nav and take batshit and overly-direct routes to a dropoff point. I particularly love pulling off a crazy boost and landing on top of a highrise in the middle of nowhere and finding that the developers had the foresight to put a hidden customer there as a little treat. This is kind of fucking amazing. Unfettered videogames. The moment I understand how the fuck you're supposed to pull off a Crazy Drift it's over for you all.

If ever you feel the meter calling, the PC version of the game is easily available in a simple google search. Be sure to use the CT3Tweaks fan patch that adds certain optimisations, greater framerate and resolution support. The soundtrack is kind of hilariously bad but it's all stored in the root folder as .ogg files and I'm sure it'll be no problem to customise yourself.

It's not just the trademark ripping and tearing -- it's the viscerality of even the quieter moments: shoving a severed head into an eye-scanner, prying a weapon from the cold dead fingers of a corpse, stomping carefully engineered relics of scientific ingenuity into dust, locking and twisting a beefy gun mod into place, brute-force heaving a hydraulic door open... These things are character development.

I missed these little touches SO BAD in Doom Eternal back when it came out, and wondered recently if it had colored my opinion of the gameplay too much. So, before revisiting it, I decided to complete my fourth playthrough of this, its predecessor, on the normal difficulty mode. (I did one Ultra-Violence clear back in 2018 and liked it, but to me the game really sings not when you feel vulnerable, but rather--more in accordance with the narrative--when you feel like a fucking unstoppable God).

I can barely think of one other game of this length that I've completed that many times. It's a little confounding even to me why I keep getting drawn back to it... the confidence of its simple story and world are a marvel to me, its buttery-smooth performance is a rapture, its design is ratcheted down so tight that even the tiniest flaws (one-too-many stupid Mancubi in a particular enemy hive, or the fact that you inevitably have to hunt down one stray imp to end every battle) couldn't be more glaring... but none of those qualities, or even their combination, is unique to DOOM.

What is unique to DOOM is its array of curious dichotomies. Its music blends metal seamlessly with hard techno; its world depicts the folkloric fires of hell against the frigid corridors of scientific and capitalist bloat and overreach; its game mechanics mix a surprising amount of platforming, of all things, in with the shooting (next to Respawn's endeavors, it's the best platforming in an FPS)...

And, it could not be more linear, yet it feels more open with gameplay possibility than many "Open World" games; each room a killing-puzzle that could be conquered countless satisfying ways with countless different dopamine-drenching weapon combos, pathway choices and tactics.

A violent reverie.

A game you’ll want to like more than you can

The subject matter of Manhunt is one I’m enthralled with. Mock found footage snuff films such as August Underground are not good films whatsoever, but they are quite peculiar. I’ve always been morbidly curious in such things and I can’t quite put a finger on why. Maybe it’s a fascination with death, maybe it’s just a desire to see how far the gore can go. Either way, these low quality amateur films have an indescribable atmosphere. It’s quaint, yet menacing. They are without polish, but that’s what makes it so raw and intense. There’s no expert cinematography or editing to create a coherent film. It’s just vile acts and you’re witnessing it. Manhunt, through its expert sound design and brilliant aesthetic, captures this atmosphere flawlessly.

It all starts with the manual. It reads like a magazine for a snuff film site, complete with accurate pseudonyms such as “Mr. nasty”. Then there’s the main menu. It looks and functions like a VHS tape, and the haunting score sets up Manhunt’s dismal aura.

The gore in Manhunt has been topped twice over, but the context of the gore has not. You’ve seen ridiculous fatalities in Mortal Kombat way gorier than anything found in Manhunt, but Manhunt’s snuff film design makes the player feel it even more. The sound design ensure you feel every bone break, every decapitation, and every gargle of blood. The atmosphere creates a melancholic sensation in the player. It’s not a celebration of how far violence can be pushed, although pushing limits is part of its appeal. Manhunt is more of grim reminder of the depravity that goes on in this world.

The banter the Hunters have in this game is great. Each gang is very distinct. There’s white supremacists, mental hospital patients, and those that continually repeat lines of domestic abuse. They all add a ton of personality to each section and help with the variety. Starkweather, the director behind the twisted snuff films the player is participating in, also has lines that hint towards his debauchery. He’s the type of guy to get his rocks off to these brutal murders. There’s tons of lines in this game. Each playthrough you’re likely to hear something new.

The gameplay in Manhunt however isn’t amazing. What starts as an intense game of hide and seek turns into a bad third-person shooter filled with trial and error.

The stealth in Manhunt is fairly well constructed, but unfortunately has simple exploits that dampen its impact. Manhunt has a clear indications of how quiet and shrouded in darkness you are. The game will never lie to you. Finding pockets of darkness makes you invisible unless an enemy runs right into you which can only happen when they’re on alert. The mini map shows enemies you have a sight line on or who are making noise. Making a loud noise will alert enemies to your position. This is where the exploit is. It’s way too powerful to alert enemies while hiding in the dark. Through this mechanic, it doesn’t even matter how the game designers set up the patrols for the hunters. They’ll always come running, and as soon as they turn around you execute them. Sometimes more than one will come and you’ll have to think on the fly, but generally, Manhunt is a exploitable and simple game.

The levels have some nice open design throughout. Some levels are completely linear which is disappointing, but a few such as White Trash or Mouth of Madness have open areas with many enemies. This is where the game is at its best because it isn’t easy and it’s engaging to figure out the best way to tackle the challenge.

Then there’s the third-person shooting. Good lord. Now, I want to preface this by saying I’m not against the third-person shooting in theory. Manhunt is a fairly long game. If it was all slow-paced stealth, it would have suffered. However in practice, it’s terrible. The shooting sections keep what makes Manhunt memorable. The soundtrack and intensity is still there through these sections, but the shooting is bad. You die in very few shots, so shooting without cover is usually suicide. It feels like the only way to succeed in these sections is to use exploits or go through the motion of trial and error. It’s boring and tiring. Enemies stop following the rules and just stand behind cover. A lot of sections feel like the only way to win is to shoot one guy and then run to darkness, rinse and repeat. It’s not engaging or fun.

Manhunt means a lot to me. It’s the only game I can think of that fits this niche of horror. But when it’s all said and done, I’m able to look past the my nostalgia and fondness of the subject matter to tell you that the gameplay is below average. Manhunt is a chore to get through at times. The second half has the worst dip in quality I’ve seen outside of Resident Evil 7. But the atmosphere is peak. It’s one of my favorite aesthetics ever in a video game. It kept me playing until the conclusion, once again.

6/10