Forget GTA 6 and Red Dead Redemption, I want Manhunt 3

pcgamesn.com:

Grand Theft Auto 6, GTA 5, and a Red Dead Redemption remaster are more than enough for Rockstar to focus on right now. But as we approach the 20th anniversary of the first game, and as I come to the end of replaying it, yet again, I’m craving the return of Manhunt. One of the greatest horror games ever made, it’s not just scary, but shocking, smart, and legitimately squalid. There’s something to be said for the current tide of triple-A games, which – compared to perhaps two or three decades ago – represent a culture that has seriously broadened its appeal. But Manhunt takes me back to a time when gaming was a counter-culture, and it felt like a willingness to experiment and plumb the depths of poor taste still existed among big-name developers.

I’m a bit cynical, a bit jaded, and a bit older now than I was, and it takes a lot to really get to me. But I still think Manhunt is genuinely nasty. Ignoring some of the old hysteria and hyperbole, and the reputation that Manhunt has gained as one of the most controversial games ever, this is still more brutal and nihilistic than any other mainstream release I’ve seen in my lifetime.

It’s a horrible cliche, and often untrue, but I think it genuinely applies with Manhunt – you couldn’t make this game now, or at least, it seems very unlikely that Rockstar, or any other big developer, would allocate a budget and attempt to market a game like this now.

It’s not just the violence. It’s the sexualization of the violence. It’s the director, Lionel Starkweather, groaning into your earpiece when you open a hunter’s face with a hammer. It’s the old mock-up website for the in-game snuff ring business Valiant Video, a place where you can buy latex gloves and gimp masks.

This is a journey