How did Manhunt 2 go from AO to M?

Much talked about Manhunt 2 gets released this week in the US, and not with the announced AO rating but with - M. With past few months covered in controversy regarding the rating of the new Rockstar game, it seems that finally gamers will be allowed to play the role of vicious murderer. Jeronimo Barrera, vice president of product development at Rockstar Games gives an interview regarding the release of Manhunt 2.

Jeronimo Barrera, vice president of product development
We were floored by the AO rating because we thought we were definitely still in M-rating territory with what we originally gave. We always thought we would release it. It was a bummer, and we immediately said, ‘Let’s figure out what we’re going to do with this’.

We are very happy to have the game out, and we feel we kept the original vision and the content and we didn’t neuter the game as people say we have. You know, a lot of people just believe this is a murder simulator and all you do is kill people, but the reality is that there’s a really strong narrative. And I think we’ve built something that’s really unique in the sense that it puts the player in a position that you absolutely would never get into in the real world.

The scoring was a hold-over from the first game, and when we had the opportunity to make edits because of the rating, we decided to remove it. We felt it flowed better without a score screen between levels. We want you to have that same sense of anxiety that you get when you’re watching a horror movie, but you’re part of it. We want to get the person to crouch down in their seat. But onscreen they’re hiding in the hide box in the shadows, waiting for the hunter to go by so they can get to the next spot.

Read the full interview with the Jeronimo Barrera at MTV.