10 Hated Video Games That Are AWESOME Now
5. Manhunt
A Rockstar game, courting controversy and hatred? Surely not.
Jokes aside, what didn't help Manhunt at the time was the unfortunate implication in a murder case in the UK, back in 2004. The game was already courting controversy, but this inaccurate reporting created a whirlwind of fury and animosity about the "murder simulator".*
Now, though?
Well, it's tame by comparison. Look at Bulletstorm, DOOM '16 or even the newest Hitman games for inventive and savage ways to off people and demons.
Instead, Manhunt is a time capsule game: reminiscent of the "glory days" of tabloid junk news. Rockstar may only slightly push the envelope, going for more story-focused nowadays, but back at the start of the century they were always seeing how far they could go.
Play it today, casting aside all the roughness of what 2004 Rockstar was like, and it's a very competent stealth/action game, a well written if slightly iffy story, uncovering the seedy world of "torture porn" and snuff films before films like Hostel touched upon them.
It's not a beautiful game, but a thoroughly engaging, darkly memorable one.
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*In truth, the game was found in the victim's bedroom, not the killer, removing any connection as to why the murder was committed.