Games I would like to see: Campfire
Manhunt was one of my favourite games back on the Playstation 2. Not to sound like a sociopath or anything, but I felt that Rockstar had somehow managed to surpass the cartoon brutality of GTA and release something so incredibly real (at the time) and so very disturbing. I also killed cats. Just kidding.
Manhunt sounds simple. You kill people in very, very nasty ways, all while on camera for peoples’ entertainment. Basically, you are in one very long and bloody snuff film. The character you control, James Earl Cash or ‘Cash’ as he is simply referred to in the game, is an con on death row. Why? We don’t know. All we know is that he must have done something pretty bad to wind up there. Once executed he awakens to find himself alive and well in the dilapidated Carcer City. A voice over an intercom tells him to use the ear piece located on the desk near him and, so, begins Cash’s relationship with ‘The Director’ who will guide him through the city of hell, brutally killing anyone in his way.
Even though the deaths in the game are executed in an incredibly gruesome way, you can be safe in the knowledge that the people you are killing are ‘the bad guys’. The people that deserve it. The junkies, the rapists, murderers, street gangs — you know — bad people. So when you ram that sickle into that unsuspecting victim and tear away his manhood in an instant, you can sleep soundly knowing that he ‘had it coming’.
Being 16, I felt I had something I should not have been playing. Sure, I watched plenty of horror films as a kid but this was the next level. This was interactive gore. This was the ‘Video Nasties: The Next Generation’. The bottom line was, Manhunt caused a lot of controversy and, if something controversial is released, be it a book like American Psycho or a film like The Evil Dead, people wanted to get their hands on it. Now, I’m not saying Manhunt sold millions (although the ‘Manhunt Franchise’, according to take-two, has sold 1.7million copies as of march 2008), what I am saying is that the game caused a bit of stir, so much so that developers started to take notice. Shortly after Manhunt’s release, where it received favoured, solid reviews, a developer released shots of their latest game ‘Campfire’.
When doing a little research for this article I came across some great news. Campfire is back is business. I first heard of Campfire back in 2003 when the game was dubbed ‘the next Manhunt’. Now that the next level of violence had developed a market in videogames, developers thought they would tinker with the idea. The idea of Campfire is a slasher movie fans wet dream. All those films you have watched, Halloween, Friday the 13th, Prom Night and Texas Chainsaw Massacre are available in this game. Pretty much. The overall concept is that you create your own serial killer in the true fashion of the 70’s and 80’s slasher genre and go on a killing spree, stalking the unsuspecting teens while they sit in their cabin, around the campfire or house party. The game was scrapped by Sony back in 2004, which I found saddening as this was one of my most anticipated games at the time.
This could be you…
So when doing the research and coming across a few articles that stated Campfire: Become Your Nightmare was due for release in 2009 in console format and PC, I was very happy indeed. So really this article should be called ‘Games I will see’ since the game that I wanted to see created is actually being created. Why I decided to write this is simply because the game that we may see for Halloween ‘09 may not the be the game I want to see. See? Nordic VFX, the company that has taken creative control of the project, will have a tough time with this one. Where I do want to see the cheesy gore of the classic slasher films and the stalking of the unsuspected teens with my personalized inhumane, machete wielding monster in the hockey mask, one cannot help but wonder how Nordic VFX will get away with this.
Taking this game to the next generation of gaming could make Campfire even better. If you read the press release by Nordic VFX back from 2007 (Official website linked below), they mention online capabilities, downloadable content and HD gaming. Sounds like they have big plans, but could this game really stir up as much controversy as Manhunt? I can imagine the game itself will be aimed at people like me, those that love their horror films ,but there are people out there, mostly the non-gamer types that may not understand and will simply see this game as brutal and sadistic. Bad people are not being brutally butchered this time round, they will be useless, but still innocent, teens.
So, what would I like to see from this game? Well…
Dark Environments -
Judging by the screenshots on the official site, this is a definite. Obviously you need to feel like Michael Myers when stalking your victims, standing in the shadows and watching your ‘prey’.
Interactive Environments -
Tapping lightly on windows, knocking plant pots over, maybe even cutting the power to wherever ‘the teens’ are. There should be many different ways to approach a situation, like Agent 47 in the Hitman Series but more sadistic since you’re a serial killer and not a contract killer.
Choice -
Choice should be a key feature in this game. Do you let one live and let them tell the police about you? You could end up on the evening news as one of the most prolific serial killers ever. You could even choose a house at random if there is a scenario in a neighbourhood. An idea that has played on my mind is following scenarios through differently. As with Halloween 2, you may need to follow one of you victims to the hospital after they survived your attack. You could be hunted by the police. You could even lure the victims to you.
Gore -
Of course there has to be gore. Maybe not completely over the top but if you can chainsaw a grub in Gears of War then by god you should be able to chainsaw the little blonde-haired teens in Campfire!
There are probably hundreds of things I would want included in this game. Being that this the next generation of gaming one can only hope that Nordic VFX can use this to their advantage and release something that will surpass even the most die hard horror fanatic’s expectations. One cannot help but wonder what kind of controversy this game will cause though. Hopefully the BBFC are not readying themselves up just yet to destroy this game by editing it into a useless, joyless, unplayable piece of gaming, like they did with Manhunt 2.
Campfire: Become Your Nightmare. Will it be the next Manhunt? Only time will tell…
Source: NordicVFX
#1 – Suki on January 19th, 2009 4:53 pm
Dunno why, but I’ve got a bad feeling about this game….
Keep up the good work Meat!
Your blogs are a pleasure to read!
#2 – Absent Qualia on January 20th, 2009 3:36 pm
Firstly I’d just like to say great work on an informative and entertaining article you seem to have done your research well. However, I sense that this blog is blatantly biased in favour of the game, it is as you put it a “slasher movie fan’s wet dream” but one man’s wet dream is anothers man’s ruined holy robes. Now I’m not one to jump on the bandwagon and I remember all the ridiculous controversy over Manhunt, but it seems that with these types of games there is an ethical, psychological and practical side to be considered. Obviously it would have to be said that anyone who went on a psychotic murderous rampage due to a video-game wasn’t right in the head to start with, and a game where someone can play as a serial killer and exercise a few existentialist demons seems fairly healthy as far as the sane members of society like you or I are concerned. But where is the line drawn? Would you be ok with a game where someone could act out rape fantasies or paedophilic desires? Perhaps you might not see a problem with this and you would be entitled to that opinion but it does beg the question why is rape more contravertial than serial murder? To readdress a point you made on Manhunt, you said that we could sleep soundly knowing that the ‘bath-buddy’ that we have just destroyed belongs to a man that had it coming to him. Campfire would not give one this satisfaction, there’s no feeling of righteousness or justification, which leads me to my final point. Does it not seem that the companies that are releasing the game would be doing so for controversy’s sake, god knows it sells. Anyway, this comments almost as long as the blog itself now so i’ll leave you to ponder it over. Again, great article, I look forward to your next one…
#3 – Zombie on January 20th, 2009 4:52 pm
Awesome blog, looks like an awesome game, being a huge horror fan myself it looks like one of the high points of 09 for me, even though i don’t have a console at the moment. (ahem)
in response to absense’s comment, personally i wouldn’t mind a rape based game to be quite honest, as long as the victims were all over 18 and dressed as schoolgirls or nurses.
#4 – Meat Abstract on January 20th, 2009 11:43 pm
Abscent Quila
Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed my article, it was a lot of fun writing, very nostalgic!
Reading through your comment, you did leave me much to think about. I have had this debate many times over with people, be it with my girlfriend, friends, even on forums. Our generation as a whole is desensitised to violence. Look at the amount of films that are released today that show countless people being killed and millions of people around the world flock to theatres to see them. It is pure entertainment value. Why do so many people to keep watching the Saw films? The storyline has just gone completely bizarre in those films but the deaths scenes remain incredibly creative and that is why people go to watch them. Same with the Halloween Franchise, Friday the 13th and any other long running horror franchise.
Manhunt is simply the gamers equivalent to an incredibly violent film. Most people will play out of pure interest, some may even be disgusted by it but there is still a large audience that will play the game for sheer entertainment value that that is as far as it goes. Campfire does indeed place you in the role of a serial killer where you, the player, will the decide the fate of these teens. When playing this, some people will question if what they are playing is right, which of course it isn’t (and even then it depends on how violent this game will be), but there will remain that audience that are desensitised to this type of violence and will know this is a fantasy world. You made a very good point though, where do we draw the line? When watching films or reading a book, rape is always the subject that is always horrible seeing and reading about. It remains the ‘shocker’ moment in films, with rape scenes being edited out of films for being too graphic and violent. This happened in Rob Zombie’s Halloween in which a woman with mental disabilities is raped by two of the care takers in the mental institution. This was cut out the print to be shown in cinemas because it was very graphic. The idea of rape is making someone feel powerless, taking a piece of humanity away from the victim. Overall, it is mentally destroying and while death is still exceptional in films and that we can happily sit and watch Rambo 4 in which Rambo unloads a turret gun on a truck load of soldiers which causes us to cheer him on even more, rape still has the ability to make people, myself included, question the entertainment value of what they’re watching, and while at times can emphasise the brutality of the film you’re watching, deem pointless and unnerving to watch.
And yes, I was incredibly biased with the feature. As there is very little information released about the game, it is nice to speculate what features may be in the game and what it will deliver. What I wrote was what I personally wanted to see included and being a horror nut basically makes this game a must have for me. Any news on the game (which I am keeping an eye out for) will be delivered unbiased.
Again, thank you for reading and thank you for the very thought provoking comment. Hope to read more in the future!
Zombie – I knew you would like a game like that! You sick, sick man!
Suki – Yeah, I have a bad feeling about this too. BBFC will not be happy with this one.
#5 – agentluap on January 21st, 2009 9:21 am
Great article and feature.
Reading over this article reminded me of my original thoughts on Manhunt, I originally thought ‘why would you release a game like this?’ and vowed I’d stay clear of the game, but the longer I went without it, the more the urge grew to play it. Until, I eventually got the game. I must admit I enjoyed playing it.
My view on putting rape into games/movies is it’s something that I would not like to play/see in a graphic content, the reason I think rape should be looked upon with more of a stern view than murder in the entertainment industry is because it’s seen as more of a shock because of the psychological damage it does to the victim.
This Campfire game seems like it’s certainly going for a shock tactic and I’m sure it will cause a lot of controversy in the gaming business and that the BBFC will have another case in court as they did with Manhunt 2.
#6 – Murray on January 21st, 2009 2:28 pm
Nonetheless, it’s very interesting to think of Manhunt and similar franchises as games that cater to gore and B-Horror fans. I certainly haven’t seen it marketed in that fashion, but perhaps if they did do that and stuck to their guns, they may have a stronger case against the censors.
#7 – Jerry Abbs on July 19th, 2009 7:57 pm
I don’t think the game is coming sadly:-(
That news is actually about two years old now (almost to the day as this news was first reported on July 13th 2007), it’s just been reprinted and released as though new. That’s when Nordic VFX grabbed the title rights and did a website update. I don’t think there’s been any progress on the title since. It definitely won’t be releasing this October, hell, they’re still using the same concept art that was making the rounds six years ago and the website hasn’t been updated in about two years as well, with the seven part story that was supposed to be released in parts at regular intervals still stalled at part two