Manhunt casts you as James Earl Cash, a prisoner on death-row. You are led down a corridor where you are about to receive a lethal injection. The needle goes in. You wake up hours later. A mysterious voice tells you to stick in the nearby earpiece, and explains that the "lethal" injection was just a heavy sedative. The man, later identified as Starkweather, turns out to be a director of snuff movies, where the people are really killed. He explains that if you follow his directions, manage to kill people and survive, you'll earn your freedom. This begins James Earl Cash's journey.