Highlights
- Butcher's Creek is a new first-person horror game inspired by the controversial Manhunt series and Condemned: Criminal Origins.
- The game takes place in 1993 and follows a troubled loner who is hunted by sadistic killers after being lured to an abandoned cabin.
- Butcher's Creek is set to release in 2024.
Butcher's Creek is a new first-person horror game that's inspired by Rockstar's grisly Manhunt series and 2005's Condemned: Criminal Origins. Manhunt is known for being one of the most controversial video games of all time, while Condemned is often referred to as one of the better horror games of the Xbox 360 generation.
For those who may be unfamiliar with those games, Manhunt is a third-person horror/stealth game where players commit grisly murders to create shocking snuff films. The game came out at a time when violent video games were facing a great deal of scrutiny, and it was even banned in some countries as a result. Condemned, meanwhile, is a first-person horror game with a focus on melee combat. Both games spawned direct sequels, but their respective franchises have been dormant for well over a decade.
Luckily for horror game fans hungering for something similar to Manhunt or Condemned, DUSK developer David Szymanski has announced Butcher's Creek. Set in 1993, Butcher's Creek is about a "troubled loner" who is lured to an abandoned cabin by "rumors of authentic snuff videotapes" and then finds himself being hunted by "sadistic killers," according to the Steam description. The premise certainly calls Manhunt to mind, while the gameplay sounds very much like Condemned.
A trailer has yet to be released for Butcher's Creek, but the Steam page has confirmed that the game will be available at some point in 2024. The Steam page also lists off some of the gameplay features horror game fans can look forward to once Butcher's Creek launches next year, which includes melee combat utilizing hammers, axes, pipes, 2x4s, and box cutters, the ability to photograph murder scenes to regain health, exploring "decaying farmhouses, collapsing factories, and seedy strip clubs" in the Appalachian Forest, and experiencing "a unique aesthetic combining the gritty shot-on-video look of found footage."
Butcher's Creek sounds like it has a ton of potential, and with both Manhunt and Condemned lying untouched for so many years, it's great to see a new game step up to fill the void. The fact that David Szymanski is making it should is a good sign that the game will live up to the hype. For those unfamiliar with his work, Szymanski made the critically-acclaimed throwback first-person shooter DUSK, and he also created the well-received submarine horror game Iron Lung.
While horror fans wait for Butcher's Creek to drop in 2024, they can luckily check out its inspirations on modern platforms. Manhunt has an HD version available on PS4, plus it's backward compatible on Xbox. Condemned: Criminal Origins is backward compatible on Xbox as well and is also playable through Steam.
Butcher's Creek launches in 2024.
Source: Steam