Anyone fearing that Manhunt 2 wouldn't have a similarly stomach-churning and disturbing subject matter as the original - are you insane? - can rest easy, thanks to a new trailer, batch of screens and mind-troublingly murky interactive website. All of which flesh out a backdrop to Rockstar's gritty murderfest sequel that's darker than a blackout in a coal mine.

The fresh info exposed by this multimedia massacre suggests that Manhunt 2 might also share one of the first game's most atmospheric touches - that of a disembodied voice taunting and talking you through the butchery.

Except, this time, there's no Director speaking through a microphone. Instead, the trailer seems to hint that an unsettlingly shrill voice will be coming from inside your own head, causing lead character Daniel Lamb to clutch his poor noggin and shriek "SHUT UP!"

More concrete details seep like horrible fact maggots from the interactive website, which gives you access to notes on experiments conducted on hapless innocents at the Dixmor Asylum for the Criminally Insane, where Lamb is interred.

Experiments like giving students mind-busting killer drugs, or locking someone in a room with only insects and fresh corpses for company. Jesus, how do the think-men at Rockstar manage to keep their lunches down?

Further perusal of the footage will show you a potential explanation for Lamb's ability to escape his cell - a lightning storm hitting the asylum - some moments of what could be co-op gameplay with Daniel's mysterious pal Leo Casper, and images of the experiments conducted on Daniel himself.

We're anxious to get deeper into Manhunt 2 's seedy world, but for now we'll just be off to take a nap and think of nice fluffy things, like kittens frolicking in fields of feathers, before we run the risk of getting our breakfast back in reverse.

April 13, 2007