Players assume the role of Daniel Lamb in third-person perspective while at some points they instead control the villain Leo Kasper. Although different in appearance and personality, both have similar controls. As with the original game, the primary gameplay mechanic is stealth execution, whereby the player character must approach an enemy from behind, undetected, and kill them. There are three 'levels' of execution, with each level progressively more violent and graphic than the last; Level 1 (Hasty) executions are quick and not very bloody, Level 2 (Violent) are considerably more gory, and Level 3 (Gruesome) are over-the-top. The player is entirely in control of which level they use; once the player has locked onto an enemy, the lock-on reticule changes color over time to indicate the level; white (level 1), yellow (level 2), and, finally, red (level 3). When playing on PC or Wii while doing the executions, there is a quick time event in which lists down certain moves that either the mouse or Wii Controller must move or by pressing a certain button at a specific time in order to finish the execution. If it does not finish in the specific time, it will stop the execution and skip the execution completely, although the player still kills the person.
Manhunt 2 has updates made to the stealth mechanics of the previous game. For example, players are now given more choices in terms of executing enemies. Aside from the three levels of execution per weapon, players can now use firearms for executions. Two further additions to the execution system are "environmental executions" whereby the player can use elements of the game world (such as manhole covers, telephones, fuse boxes, toilets, etc.) to eliminate opponents, and "jump executions" whereby players can attack enemies from above by leaping off a ledge. A scoring system based on how brutal the executions were excluded from the console versions in order to obtain an M rating from ESRB, while the PC version retained this feature.
While out of combat, players must hide from enemies by simply staying out of their point of view or hiding in the shadows. The shadow system in the game has been tweaked from the first game. In Manhunt, unless a hunter saw a player enter a shadow area, he would be unable to detect the player within it. In Manhunt 2 however, enemy AI has been expanded, with some enemies more vigilant than others. When hiding in the shadows, if an enemy investigates the area, the player may have to mimic a combination of buttons or motions (similar to that of a quick time event), in order to regulate the character's breathing so as to ensure that he remains calm and undetected. In the PC and Wii version, the player must keep the cursor inside an on-screen circle. Climbing and crawling have been added to the game to increase the sense of exploration. Another new feature is the ability to smash lights so as to create extra pockets of shadow. Audio is a hugely important aspect of the game. Simple tasks such as running, opening doors, walking on gravel and cornstalks, or accidentally knocking objects over, can alert the enemy to the player's position. However, sound sources such as machinery can be used as a tool to cover the player's own noise. Other forms of combat aside from stealth are also incorporated. Gunfights can be done when firearms are available. Players can take cover from enemy fire, while individual body parts such as the head can be targeted. Painkillers can be found throughout if the player's health is low. When the player is discovered by an enemy, they can either run, hide or attempt to fight back with hand-to-hand combat.
Plot
In 2007, at the Dixmor Asylum for the Criminally Insane, a severe thunderstorm causes the security system at the asylum to momentarily go offline, opening the cell doors throughout the facility, resulting in the populace wandering freely through the corridors. Two such inmates are Daniel Lamb (Ptolemy Slocum) and Leo Kasper (Holter Graham). Daniel is disoriented and partly amnesiac, unable to remember how or why he came to Dixmor. Under Leo's guidance, they escape the facility and make their way to the ruins of Daniel's old home. Inside, Daniel recovers medication which Leo says he left there for himself in the event of his forgetting the past. The medication helps to clear his head somewhat, and he begins to remember fragments of his former life. He and Leo then set out to unravel the secrets of Daniel's past, all the while pursued by bounty hunters and agents of a mysterious organization called "The Project".
As the plot unfolds, Daniel learns that he was once a top scientist in the employ of the "Pickman Project", a government-sponsored weapons program involving brainwashing and mind control techniques. The Project's goal was to create the perfect assassin; to accomplish this, they developed the "Pickman Bridge", a brain implant containing the personality and skills of a trained assassin which could be activated on command. In theory, the two personalities could co-exist in the same mind, completely unaware of one another. The idea was that the assassin could be remotely triggered, carry out his mission, and then revert to the original persona, who would have no memory of what he had just done, hence would be immune to interrogation.
As Daniel puts the clues together and begins to remember more of his past, he and Leo set out to find Dr. Whyte (Linda Orth Pallavincini), a Project researcher and one of Daniel's co-workers. However, before they can get to her, they are ambushed and sedated. Daniel wakes up in a room with Whyte, who reveals the truth to him. Six years prior, with the Project's funds under threat, Daniel volunteered himself to test the Pickman Bridge, hoping that the resulting payoff would allow him to clear his family's debts and provide a financially secure future. However, the Bridge malfunctioned soon after it was implanted, causing Daniel to suffer from dissociative identity disorder, resulting in him being able to directly communicate with the implanted personality, who he perceives as a real person - Leo Kasper. Whyte explains that Leo is dangerously unstable, and has been working against Daniel from the very beginning.
She reveals that, after the implant malfunctioned, Leo's personality asserted itself, suppressing Daniel's own, and he went on a rampage across the city, murdering police officers and members of the Project, destroying the Project's records of Daniel and himself, and finally making his way to Daniel's household and killing his wife (Charissa Chamorro). His goal was to weaken Daniel's grip on reality to the point where Leo could take complete and total control of his mind. However, the Project caught Daniel/Leo after the murder, erased his memory, torched his house, and had him committed to Dixmor, where they had been working to study the effects of the implant and repair the damage, without success. Upon learning the truth, Daniel determines that he must destroy Leo once and for all. He enters a deep hypnotic state and faces off against Leo within the confines of his own mind. He is finally able to let go of the guilt he feels over his wife's death, allowing him to "kill" Leo and assert control.
