Summary
Invasion of the orbs
The Good
Manhunter: New York is an interesting game by Sierra. As the back of the box cover says,
Manhunter is “a twist on contemporary adventure games”, because unlike other
Sierra games of its era, such as
King's Quest and
Leisure Suit Larry, this game requires no text input, and this means that you won't get sore fingers while playing the game.
It is the year 2004, two years after the orbs invaded New York, and you, as the Manhunter, must track human activities and monitor their movements, as well as working for the Orb alliance while plotting against them. The former is done by using MAD (Manhunter Assignment Device), a computer which allows you to find out information about humans and track their movements throughout the city. This is essential to get further into the game, as tracking each suspect or finding out about a person, using their ID card as a source, reveals locations that you have not yet visited. The locations that you visit are real, and include Bellevue Hospital, Grand Central Station, Central Park, and the Empire State Building.
And the majority of
Manhunter involves visiting these locations, and see if there is anything unusual about the scene that you are in. The game takes place during four days. More often than not, you will find a dead Manhunter each day. You can zoom in to have a look at how they died. The first of these death occurs at Bellevue Hospital where a Manhunter (without his brown robe on) is spread across a table. And if you don't get out of there soon, the maggots will fly onto your face and eat it. It is a terrible way to die.
There are times in the game that require a bit of map-making, and not only do you have to draw maps, but you also have to draw where your suspect goes, and follow their path shortly afterward. You have to make a note exactly where a suspect goes in Central Park, and follow their trial carefully, or risk being blown up by a land mine. If you do not know how to draw maps properly, you can always capture the screen using a software program and print it out. With the use of some maps, you will also have to get through a series of mazes in the game.
Manhunter's graphics are like those in a typical Sierra AGI game – they contain chunky graphics with a 16-color palette. The graphics themselves have that gophic feel to them, and no matter why you go, the sky is a burnt-red as the game is set in a post-apocalyptic world – much like the games in the Tex Murphy series. I like exploring the death of a Manhunter at close-up, as some of the deaths are gruesome.
Not only do you make maps and explore real locations, you also get to play little arcade games. Most of these games are quite easy, and you will be familiar with the aim of the game. Instructions on how to play them are found at the bottom of the screen. Most of these are based around the games that you used to play in the 80's. For example, in the last arcade sequence, you have to climb your way up sticks, and go between them, without coming in contact with the fireballs that drop down out of nowhere, and if you do, you fall off. This gameplay is similar to that of
Donkey Kong Junior. And two of the arcade sequences involve jumping over weapons that punks throw at you, which is fun.
The sound is very basic. When you get an object or change between cursors, the game often emits a single beep. Some of the music is good. They are played during the most important events in the game. The Amiga version actual has better music mainly because the Amiga's sound chip produces two or more tones, rather than just one tone, like the PC Speaker produces.
The best thing about
Manhunter is unlike most Sierra games, you do not have to restore the game if you die. The death screen shows the three creators dressed in brown robes, give you a hint about the scene that you died in, and say something like “Now let's back up a few minutes before you made that fatal mistake.” This technique is quicker than restoring your game.
The control is keyboard only. Just because you see the Amiga mouse cursor inside the game doesn't mean you can control everything with the mouse.
The Bad
The introduction to
Manhunter could have been long. It says “The orbs invaded New York in 2002...” and show these orbs flying into the city, then the credits roll up. Big deal. Then the theme song plays. This theme song is not long enough to be even considered a theme – it only lasts for ten seconds, just like the other music in the game. The best piece can be heard while playing the final arcade sequence.
Some users have complained about the mazes in the game and how they are frustrated, and that is understandable. Even I found the mazes a bore to get through. If you didn't bother drawing out a map earlier that will help you survive the maze, then you will be stuck. But even if you did, it takes a lot of time to check your maps out regularly while you navigate the mazes, just to make sure that you don't approach any dead ends, or worse still, don't land yourself in trouble. Once you made it through, you should be relieved that you will not face any more for a while.
The Bottom Line
If you have played Manhunter all the way through, then you might try getting your hands on the
sequel, which is set in San Francisco, way over the other side of the States. This sequel is better, with more cool graphics, more gruesome deaths, more arcade sequences, more challenging mazes – the works. It is also longer than the first game. As for this game, I would like to see a remake by
AGD Interactive, complete with new graphics, sound, and mouse support, as well as various enhancements.
