Manhunter 2: San Francisco

In Manhunter 2: San Francisco, you step straight out of a crash-landed alien shuttle to hunt a killer across a ruined Bay Area. Developed by Evryware, this 1989 release trades typical text parsers for grim investigative tracking.

Tracking a killer through alien-occupied San Francisco

You begin the game immediately after the events of the original New York story. Your stolen ship crashes into the Bay, leaving you stranded in an occupied city. You steal the identity of a dead local agent to serve the alien Orbs while secretly aiding human rebels.

Investigation relies on the Manhunter Assignment Device, or MAD. You select locations on a city map to follow targets through real local landmarks. Chinatown, Coit Tower, Alcatraz, and the Transamerica Pyramid all feature alien modifications and grisly murder scenes. Exploring these sites brings up first-person views where you examine clues and piece together identities without typing single commands.

The Murry siblings, who formed the design team behind Evryware, traveled to San Francisco to photograph every location. That effort gives the post-apocalyptic backgrounds a genuine spatial logic. You track serial killer Phil Cook by following his trail of victims from the Bank of Canton to the Embarcadero.

Arcade spikes and symbol puzzles in Manhunter 2: San Francisco

Progress relies heavily on deciphering alien symbolism and manipulating strange machinery. You will spend time reversing experiments on mutated humans to restore their original forms. The logic in these environmental puzzles is surprisingly fair if you take clear notes on patterns.

The action elements created friction among players and contemporary reviewers alike. Several sections force you into arcade mini-games, including dodging hazards and surviving rapid combat sequences. The keyboard controls feel sluggish during these moments, causing frequent deaths that reset your attempt.

To address complaints about difficulty, the developers added an option to adjust action sequences. Lowering the setting gives you extra leeway on timing, though it does not remove the arcade sections entirely. If you dislike arcade twitch testing in your adventure games, these sequences will test your patience.

The final stand of Sierra's AGI engine

Published by Sierra On-Line, this was the last commercial title built using their original Adventure Game Interpreter framework. By 1989, Sierra had already moved most internal development to the newer SCI engine, which supported higher screen resolutions and sound cards.

Because it used older tech, contemporary magazines gave mixed responses to the presentation. The 16-color graphics look crude alongside standard 1989 releases, and sound support relies on standard PC Speaker chirps or 3-voice Tandy music. Despite those visual limits, the distinct art style manages to sell the dread of an alien occupation.

The story structure heavily mirrors the first game. You perform similar tracking tasks, answer to the same floating Orb masters, and chase the exact same villain. Moving the location to the West Coast freshens the backdrop, but the core objective remains virtually unchanged from the New York chapter.

Play Manhunter 2: San Francisco online right now

The design holds up best for players who appreciate dark sci-fi mystery and environmental observation. While the keyboard-driven action parts remain clumsy, the atmosphere and puzzle structure reward methodical investigation. Over 100,000 copies sold upon release, proving that its grim vision connected with computer owners of the era.

You can launch this MS-DOS game directly in your web browser without downloading extra software. If you want to experience this dark piece of Sierra history, play Manhunter 2: San Francisco free in your browser right here. Keep your MAD tracking log handy, adjust the arcade difficulty down if the action scenes stall your progress, and see if you can finally catch Phil Cook.