Just when we thought the Manhunt 2 drama was over, the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has refused to rate the game yet again.
Initially rejected by the BBFC and rated AO (adults only) by the ESRB back in June – circumstances that rendered it essentially un-marketable – Manhunt 2 has been edited by Rockstar to obfuscate many of its most violent scenes. It has since been granted an M (mature) rating by the ESRB, allowing it to be sold in North America, but UK censors are still not biting. According to the BBFC, the game’s content is still too grisly.
"We recognise that the distributor has made changes to the game, but we do not consider that these go far enough to address our concerns about the original version," said BBFC director David Cooke.
"The impact of the revisions on the bleakness and callousness of tone, or the essential nature of the gameplay, is clearly insufficient.. There has been a reduction in the visual detail in some of the ‘execution kills’, but in others they retain their original visceral and casually sadistic nature," he added.
According to the BBFC, the only route left now is for Rockstar’s parent company, Take Two Interactive, to make a formal appeal to the board.
