London (England) – The British government has banned sales of the upcoming Manhunt 2 game by Rockstar Games. In the game players control an escaped mental patient who goes on the war path. While this probably sounds bad enough, the detailed finishing moves proved too much for the British Board of Film Classification. Rockstar Games now has six weeks to appeal the decision.

Manhunt 2 was supposed to be released for the Nintendo Wii and Sony PlayStation 2 on July 2nd. Using the Wii remote, players can perform “death moves” which include using a pair of pliers to clamp down on an opponent’s ummm man-parts (OUCH) and using a saw blade to cut people in half. The board said these moves proved the games’ “unremitting bleakness and callousness”.

The game is not yet rated in the United States, but the Entertainment Software Rating Board is rumored to be looking at granting an “Adults Only” rating, while Rockstar wants a less restrictive Mature rating.

Rockstar, owned by Take-Two, has pushed the envelope and is probably best known for its bloody Grand Theft Auto line of games where players steal cars and beat up pedestrians.

This is the first video game banned in Britain in ten years. Back in 1997, the board briefly put the brakes on sales of Carmageddon a game in which players hit other cars and people. Carmageddon, published by Interplay and SCi, was eventually allowed on British store shelves after SCi successfully appealed the ruling.