Analysis of Violence Advocated In Games - Manhunt (2003)

Manhunt is a controversial and violent video game which was released by Rockstar Games in 2003. Immediately after it's release, the game sparked controversy across several countries because of it's gruesome and extremely graphic nature, and this put the games' developers (Rockstar Games and Take Two Interactive) under serious pressure. Rockstar faced worldwide hatred for the game, because of the fact that violence is clearly advocated throughout the game. The game almost encourages it's consumers to take up the role of a serial killer, and embark on a journey that sees them murder different people in an extremely graphic manner.

The explicit nature of the game entices the game players to play it, and the people who play it develop a sense of leadership and dominance over the men they murder in the game. This clearly shows that the content within the game has a serious psychological effect on the game players, because they are injected with a violent and murderous in-game personality that they become intent to succeed and complete the game with. The homicidal attitude of the main character in the game can blur the perception of reality by the player and cause them to make irrational decisions that may and can negatively affect and even kill those around them.

As the in-game footage shows, the aggressive and extremely violent behaviour is presented as being acceptable and simple to perform for any individual. This exact idea that is brought up has negative connotations written all over it, as it is morally unacceptable in society for violence to be advocated in such brutal fashion. The stealth attacks that can be performed during gameplay are incredibly straightforward for any gameplayer to carry out, and gives the predominantly young audience of gameplayers the sense that they are capable of murderous activities from the comfort of their own homes. The ability for the gameplayer to use weapons such as knives allows them to move stealthily with protection against any enemies that he or she may encounter. Using the knife as an example, any gameplayers is able to kill several nearby foes by using it to slash the throats of the men that they meet within the storyline for the game. The ability for the gamer to dominate in stealth situations such as these gives them a brutalizing element to their personality, which is something that can potentially be reflected by youngsters in real life.

Manhunt has been blamed for the murder of Stefan Pakeerah, 14 by his friend Warren Leblanc. Leblanc was said to have been obsessed with Manhunt. This caused the game to be either pulled from the shelves or heavily restricted in sales to the public. This murder is a dramatic example of the seriousness of playing too many violent games, as inappropriate habits can be inherited after playing them. The Pakeerah case caused chaos within the UK at the time, and really damaged many teenagers' perceptions of reality and fantasy, as they were caught in two minds over what should be deemed inappropriate and what is acceptable. An argument against such a violent game as Manhunt could be that the players of the game are inheriting ideas and actions that can potentially put their, and their peers' lives in serious jeopardy. The fact that a large number of the teenage population play video games regularly shows that youngsters are potentially more likely to recreate the actions that they witness while playing games. The access that teenagers have to violent and seriously graphic games can damage their awareness of the seriousness of actions such as murder and abusive behaviour. As the Pakeerah case shows, continuous enjoyment of a graphic video game can lead to devastating consequences, such as actually re-enacting the physical brutality in a local environment.

Manhunt is relevant to our documentary project because it shows that excessive hours of playing it can have a detrimental effect on youngsters' lives. As the Pakeerah case shows, teenagers can become obsessed with playing these violent games and will learn morally unacceptable actions from it that they can re-enact in real life. The obsession that teenagers have with gruesome games such as these can lead to serious consequences, as can the obsession with any game to a certain extent. For our documentary, we will be categorising the negative aspects of obsessive gaming and showing different reasons for why it can be damaging for the minds of youngsters. When explaining the negative impact of addictive games, we will be presenting the violent content that games such as Manhunt contain, linking to the concept of our documentary as we want to explain a message about obsessive gaming.