Upcoming gritty horror ‘Butcher’s Creek’ is inspired by ‘Manhunt’

Butcher’s Creek is an upcoming action-horror game inspired by cult classics like Manhunt and Condemned: Criminal Origins, and it’s from the developer of Dusk.

Set in the autumn of 1993, the player steps into the shoes of a loner seeking “authentic snuff videotapes”, bringing him to an abandoned cabin near Butcher’s Creek, Pennsylvania. However, sadistic killers hiding in the shadows capture the protagonist who force him to perform the violence that he’s been looking for in a desperate attempt to escape the darkness.

Wielding weapons from hammers to boxcutters, the loner will photograph the murder scenes that he finds throughout Butcher’s Creek to “fulfill [his] dark pseudo-sexual desires and regain lost health”.

Moreover, the “unique aesthetic” using “gritty shot-on-video look of found footage with the photosourced visual style of Source Engine games” is evocative of both Manhunt and Condemned.

David Szymanski, the developer, previously worked with publishers to deliver Dusk and Gloomwood. Butcher’s Creek on the other hand is self-published, at this point in time, and will be released in 2024.

In 2012, Take-Two Interactive quashed any optimism that the highly controversial series Manhunt would be revived for modern consoles.

However, players have been hankering to see Rockstar Games return to the untrammelled handle on violence that the games had, with discussions over taking The Last of Us‘ approach to gore, combat and stealth as an inspiration.

A few months ago, Grand Theft Auto Online players stumbled upon references to a fictional soft drink that featured heavily in the Manhunt games, stoking the embers that the game could be revived in some shape or form. For now, fans will be satiated with the upcoming Butcher’s Creek.

In other gaming news, Invincible‘s Atom Eve is getting her own spin-off game with award-winning writer Jill Murray bringing fans a new story beyond the comic books and show.