A controversial video game outlawed for being sadistic, brutal and bleak has finally been approved by censors.

Manhunt 2, made by the Edinburgh-based firm Rockstar, will now be granted an 18 certificate after a nine-month fight with the British Board of Film Classification. No UK release date has yet been set.

The Video Appeals Committee upheld an earlier decision that the game could be sold - a decision greeted with dismay by the BBFC.

Rockstar Games, the creators of Grand Theft Auto, says Manhunt 2 - in which characters kill their way out of an asylum using items such as glass shards and syringes - is no different to any other 18-rated entertainment products.