Manhunter 2: San Francisco

The Good
I'm not quite sure if Manhunter: New York was a success, but the developers of this game expected it to become a trilogy, and if you already played the first game, you would have found out that having bombed several New York landmarks, such as Bellevue Hospital and the Empire State Building, The Manhunter chased his antagonist all the way to San Francisco.

Like before, Evryware decided that they would not be putting any old location and be done with it. They actually visited San Francisco, memorizing both its layout and its actual locations, and use that as a basis for the game. It is set in a post-apocalyptic future where Orbs invaded the Earth, so every outdoor location looks run-down. But the indoor locations, often resembling labs or apartments, are well-designed. And even though the game has a low resolution, the detail that Evryware put into the graphics is excellent, and this includes the posters you see every now and then.

There are those death screens where the developers give you advice on how to deal with the situations that got you killed in the first place, as well as an opportunity to try again. The death screens are well designed, with the three developers wearing robes like they did before, and Dee Dee Murry looking cute as ever. The dead trees in the background blends well with the game's setting, and the epitaph looks good. The deaths themselves are pretty funny to watch since the game has a bit of humor thrown in. My favorite deaths are the ones involving ninjas you meet early in the game.

When it comes to gameplay, all the mechanics are still there. You can still track people throughout the city; use the Manhunter Assignment Device from time to time; and play those fun arcade games that have you avoiding droids, blocking shurikens, and trying to avoid falling in acid, and more. What's unique about these arcade sequences is the way you can set the difficulty of them at any time.

The game is split up into three days, and their structure is the same as in the first game. The first thing you do is track as many humans as you can to reveal new locations, then the rest of the day is spent on adventuring and getting through arcade sequences. I like the last day because you get to hear the backstory of the Orbs, that the Orbs may not be evil after all.

That intelligent cursor is still there, changing whenever the player hovers something interesting on the screen, a technique similar to games like King's Quest VII. One difference that I noticed is the "3" icon, meaning that the game switched to third-person view and you can see the Manhunter on screen.

Sound-wise, both the music and sound effects are good, especially coming out of the Tandy speaker. You have the same catchy theme song and sound effects used in the first game.

The Bad
As I said in my last review, the engine used for Manhunter 2 is rather outdated, since Sierra games around that time used the company's newer SCI engine, which boasted better graphics and sound card support. So had the game been developed with this engine, it would have looked and sounded better.

The Bottom Line
In conclusion, Manhunter 2 has similar mechanics and structure that was present in the previous game, but there are some differences, such as the change of city and some minor tweaks. The graphics and sound is good, and the developers have hinted about where the third game would be set in. Unfortunately, this was never made, although Evryware have told The Manhunter Shrine that they are in the process of making it. If it gets made, I would be happy to see what it is like and the features the developers have put into it.