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Manhunt2 2015-12-24 19-09-22-44

The skyline of Cottonmouth.

Cottonmouth is the main setting of Manhunt 2. Although it is never mentioned by name in Manhunt 2 (or GTA, for that matter) it has been acknowledged to be named "Cottonmouth" by a Q&A with Rockstar, as well as an unused "Cottonmouth Police Department" seal within the PS2 Beta's files. It was stated to be inspired by a bunch of large southern American cities such as Atlanta and New Orleans, meaning that Cottonmouth is likely on the southern coast of the USA. In Rockstar Games tradition of creating settings that are caricatures of real world US cites (i.e Liberty City = New York), it can be assumed Cottonmouth is a caricature of New Orleans.

Description[]

It is depicted in the game to be a large coastal city, possibly situated on Gulf of Mexico or the shores of the Atlantic Ocean due to the presence of a port in the mission Best Friends.

However, the city looks like a combination of New Orleans and Atlanta in general. It is also unknown in which state Cottonmouth is or if it is a real or fictional state. There are license plates scattered on some cars and trucks. Even though the city is implied to be big, the exact population is unknown.

It is also believed that Cottonmouth exists in the same fictional world as the Grand Theft Auto games, because of overlaps and references within them. This city is much more modern, cleaner, and safer than Carcer City, with skyscrapers in the area of Downtown, domiciled houses, and blocks. Compared to Carcer City with it's tough and sadistic gangs, Danny and Leo seem to be more dangerous.

It can be assumed that Cottonmouth may represent New Orleans post-Hurricane Katrina-the massive storm destroyed much of the city in 2005, causing a huge economic decline, leaving a wasteland of abandoned buildings and a rising crime rate. The shuttered, empty streets and abandoned buildings that still stand within Cottonmouth (such as Danny's old house) help support that New Orleans was most likely Rockstar's biggest inspiration.

Inspiration and Design[]

Conceptualization[]

It's no argument that the setting of a Rockstar title is one of (if not, the most) important character of the story they want to tell. Being that 'Manhunt 2' was going to be Rockstar's final title in their highly well established "GTA 3D Universe", the location was once again set within their parody version of the USA; this time visiting locations not previously explored before. As with most pre-production, the initial team at Rockstar Vienna (formerly 'Neo Software Produktions') made a journey to the southern United States for inspiration. Their chosen locations would not only help design the levels for Manhunt 2, but also set its tones and themes throughout. Their idea was to mash several southern US cities into a new location, which come to be known as the state of "Cottonmouth", as well as the unexplored Cottonmouth City.

New Orleans, Louisiana (Post-Hurricane Katrina)[]

The first three chapters of Manhunt 2 (Dixmore Asylum, Danny's House, and Red Light) consist of locations that are heavily reminiscent of New Orleans, Louisiana; although in a highly derelict state. The rotted interiors and dilapidated look of Cottonmouth's Red Light District borrows elements taken directly from the French Quarter. Not only the style of architecture, but the surprising amount of openly advertised adult entertainment is also culture borrowed directly from its real life counterpart. While Katrina technically has no real direct impact to the design of Manhunt 2, the deep dark rut the city sat in is reflected perfectly within the game's overall hopeless mood, even to uncover the truth.

*It is also interesting to note: Internally, both levels within the Red Light District are labelled "TolerancecZone" and "ToleranceZone2" for chapters 'Red Light' and 'Safe House' respectively. A "Tolerance Zone" refers to a location within a city where prostitution is legal, or 'tolerated'. [[What's also interesting is that these 'tolerance zones' exist within New Orleans as well, though prostitution is illegal statewide in all 50 states except Nevada]]

Districts[]

Untitled City Center[]

The City Center is a high density commercial district in Cottonmouth which has several skyscrapers that appear during the mission "Assassination". The skyline seems to be heavily inspired by downtown Atlanta and the midtown district of New Orleans.

Red Light District[]

Red light district

Red Light District

The Red Light District is a mid-sized area located in Cottonmouth and is heavily based off of the French Quarter in New Orleans. It's unknown where it is located in the city, but it is home to several strip clubs and brothels, notably the Bees' Honey Pot, the Strip Club and Fetish Dungeon and the Velvet Glove. It is also the turf of the Red Kings, with their main base being located in the abandoned Flipper Fruit grocery store.

Wooddale[]

A middle class suburban district which is featured during the missions "Ghosts", "Bees' Honey Pot" (cutscene only), and "Domestic Disturbance".

Untitled Affluent Suburban District[]

An upper class suburban district which only appears in the scene "Most Wanted".

Blackwell Island[]

An island that is located within the metropolitan vicinity of Cottonmouth.

Untitled Port[]

An industrial port used for sea freight within Cottonmouth on Blackwell Island.

Neighborhood

One of Wooddale's streets.

[]

Manhunt2 2013-11-24 20-08-36-40

The affluent suburban district in Most Wanted.

Places of Interest[]

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City Centre.

Comparisons to other Rockstar-developed games[]

Some places in the city are similar to other places of the cities in the Grand Theft Auto 3D Universe:

  • The Red Light District is similar to the Red Light District in Liberty City.
  • The Sewer System in Cottonmouth is much the same as the sewer system in Los Santos.
  • The Downtown area is similar to the Downtown in Los Santos. Some building models from Los Santos are reused in the game.
  • The rich suburban district in the level Most Wanted is alike the Prickle Pine district in Las Venturas.
  • The residential district in the level Domestic Disturbance is similar to the Rockshore West district in Las Venturas.
  • The final room in the mansion in Daniel's mind in the level Release Therapy is similar to the attic room in the level Deliverance in Manhunt, where James Earl Cash killed Starkweather.
  • The studio back lot is alike the Red County in San Andreas.
  • There are unused brothels in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (that can be accessed via glitches) that resemble Bees' Honey Pot. [Citation needed]

Crime[]

Wooddale cops

The S.W.A.T. team in pursuit of a serial killer.

In 2001, the city has a low crime rate. This is mentioned by a civilian in the level Domestic Disturbance, who says "This neighborhood is completely safe, hasn't been a mugging in 8 years." However, by 2007, the crime rate went up severely. The main problem for the city is the organized crime, and in particular the problem of gangs (such as The Red Kings).

The city has also problems with specific individuals like Leo Kasper and Daniel Lamb. The force responsible for patrolling and maintaining order in the city is the Police Department, consisting of Cops and a S.W.A.T. team.

Hunters in the City[]

Gangs[]

Bounty Hunters and Hitmen[]

Police Department[]

Other[]

Manhunt2 2016-10-21 19-39-14-92

The housing estate of Cottonmouth, as featured in Domestic Disturbance.

Notable Residents[]

Transportation[]

The main form of transport throughout the city is by road, there is a prominent freeway seen in the level Ritual Cleansing. There is also a train system and a Port situated near the bay and Blackwell Island. Ship sirens can be heard in this area. The city also is most likely to have an international airport, due to its high density and scale.

Weather[]

The city is located in a cold, temperate and rainy climate. It has occasional thunderstorms and rain. There are no visual clouds except when there's rain. Sometimes, the sky is colored a dark-blue haze color. In the level Best Friends, the sky is clear and surrounded by stars, the water is covered by fog, but at the end of the level, the fog disappears. In the level Altered State, the moon appears to be big.

Trivia[]

  • Strangely, the Cottonmouth Police Department seal was supposed to appear on the Police Maverick as seen in some trailers, but it was cut. (however it was found in the beta texture files). Also, the police cars don't bear the seal. Also, throughout the game, it is never mentioned the name of the city and in the Manhunt 2 instruction booklet it is said in one of the cases that the downtown area is called simply "City Center". This mean that the city from Manhunt 2 was supposed to be called Cottonmouth, but by judging by the facts above, technically in the game, the city is unnamed, even if the name was revealed by the Rockstar Games. It is unknown why the city isn't technically named in the game or mentioned. Ironically, many districts and neighborhoods around have a name (e.g. Wooddale, Red Light District, Maibatsu Plaza, Blackwell Island etc.)
  • Cottonmouth is a type of snake found in the southeastern part of the United States, probably giving a clue to where the city would be located.
  • In the mission Broadcast Interrupted, there is a weather board showing an unspecified map. It is unknown what the area represented in the map, but it would be the location of Cottonmouth or some other locations nearby because the weather board belongs to The Project as they focuses on experiments in Cottonmouth and some companies here are owned by them.
  • Cottonmouth appears to be surrounded by mountains, which would be almost unrealistically for a coastal US southern city.
    • However, Atlanta in real life is located close to the Appalachian mountains.
  • A river might be located in Cottonmouth, since there are sewer systems.
  • If Cottonmouth is inspired from New Orleans, the city might be located in a parish and not a county, since New Orleans is in Orleans Parish.
  • The seal of Cottonmouth Police Department shows a body of water, probably a sea or an ocean, a hidden shinning sun and some palm trees on a coastline. Despite this, Cottonmouth must be located in a tropical or a Mediterranean climate and could support the fact that Cottonmouth is a southern US city. The seal looks almost identical with that of the Vice City Police Department.
  • The pedestrians in the city speak with a Southern accent.
  • In the artwork of the Red Light District, some skyscrapers can be seen in the background. One in the left side resembles the One Shell Square building in New Orleans and AT&T Midtown Center in Atlanta, the big one in the right side is hard to identify because it's a silhouette, but it would bear some resemblances to the Sun Trust Plaza in Atlanta. The building behind the Bees Honey Pot looks like a down-sized version of Coca-Cola Headquarters building in Atlanta and the other one in the right, which seems to bear a large antenna on it's rooftop, would be inspired by Westin Peachtree Plaza building also in Atlanta. This indicates that the Downtown area of Cottonmouth would be based on Downtown Atlanta or Midtown Atlanta.
  • The map of Cottonmouth or at least, it's shape, could be represented by the police patch, as it takes many features from the New Orleans Police patch: the crescent and a possibly white star. The N.O.P.D's patch's crescent represents the city's shape. Because Cottonmouth Police is heavily based on N.O.P.D, we can assume that the crescent on the patch is the shape of Cottonmouth.
  • New Orleans is best known for it's cotton production and, also, it sits on the mouth of Mississippi River, hence resulting Cottonmouth.
  • In 2007, Cottonmouth's criminality rate raised very much due to the large amount of levels happening in this period. This might be a reference to the criminality rate in New Orleans in the same period, as New Orleans was described as the "Murder Capital of the United States". Although, in 2001 period, the criminality rate is rather lower, according to some pedestrians in Domestic Disturbance mission.
  • The name "Cottonmouth" is likely a reference to a side effect of using opiates like heroin and morphine, which causes the mouth to become dry and feel like cotton do to increased gum friction from dehydration.

References[]

  1. http://www.rockstargames.com/newswire/article/36881/asked-answered-max-payne-3-and-grand-theft-auto-v.html
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