Reviews

• 

  danyukhin

  Oct 6, 2016

  I've been following Michał & Co.'s work for over a decade now, beginning with their classic shooter Soldat and following up with games like King Arthur's Gold and Trench Run. Here's a few things I can tell you with absolute certainty: these folks love their tight gameplay and their relentless brutality. Several years ago Michał and Sigvatr (the man behind some controversial internet art) spent some time making a game called "Berserker", which was supposed to be the most violent thing ever, but something didn't work out and the project got canned. BUTCHER, I believe, is *the* ultraviolent game that Michał has been wanting to make all these years. It's dark, unforgiving and unrepentant. The gameplay is very no-buIIshit, and so tight that it hurts. Nothing is the game's fault - if you die, it's because you're not good enough. The graphics work really well, leaving just enough to the imagination and giving off a distinct DooM/Quake/Alien vibe. The gore is irreproachable, from the slurping of the shoes against a whole floor of dead humans to the way an entire enemy splatters with blood and pieces around the room due to a chainsaw stuck in their entrails. The soundtrack and sound design are very fitting and well-done, I will definitely be adding the music to my playlist. I recommend BUTCHER wholeheartedly. You might want to avoid it if: you don't like gore; you don't like a challenge; you don't like pixel graphics. METAL AND FLESH
• 

  -Fish-

  Oct 6, 2016

  Step right up and get your @ss handed to you for only $9 I've heard some light comparisons to Deadbolt and Hotline Miami. This is neither. Those gameS are more akin to puzzle games as you derive a solution after you study the pattern. Butcher is merely getting your @ss kicked over and over until your reflex skills increase. Stick with it though as the gameplay is VERY rewarding after a bit of practice. Butcher is so brutal that I can see alot of folks definitely complaining about the difficulty. No quicktime events, handholding, or easy mode here folks. Casual gamers need not apply.
• 

  ofiara lasu

  Oct 6, 2016

  I was really hyped for this game, played the demo and really loved it. I also clocked thousands of hours on Soldat before from the same developer and loved it. Butcher works fine and smooth, weapons are fun to shoot and movement feels alright. Game is hard which I liked about the demo, but unfortunately the graphical style with addition to all effects makes everything impossible to see. You can turn some of the effects off in the Options menu, but it doesn't make it better. In red/dark environments it's almost impossible to see where you are, where enemies are, where targeting reticule is. Add environment destruction, blood, glowing lava, screen shakes and effects withwith addition to godly marksmanship skills of the enemies makes the game rather frustrating instead of being just hard. It's a shame because if the visuals would be clearer and readible it would be a great game.
• 

  FUS

  Oct 8, 2016

  [h1][b]BLOOD[/b] FOR THE [b]BLOOD GOD![/b][/h1] [H1][b]SKULLS[/b] FOR THE [b]SKULL THRONE![/b][/H1]
• 

  Jo291

  Nov 10, 2016

  The best first person shooter that is not actually a first person shooter that you will ever play. Butcher is unique among 2d shooters in that it has far more in common with the first person shooters from the 90's like Doom and Quake than it does with something like Contra or Commander Keen. There is minor platforming that takes place in the game but its much subdued in favor of precision aiming and deadly combat. Its not just that either, the level design, the health bar and general hud, the level hub, the end level screen were it display's the number of enemies killed and the secrets you've collected, and especially the industrial and oppresive atmosphere, it all comes together to form this feeling in your mind that your playing a first person shooter masquerading as a 2d one. Butcher one ups those 90's shooters in the gore department with its genuinely impressive blood physics system. Blood splatters on to walls and spills on to floors, drips off of platforms onto the ground below, enemies scream and cry out as they slowly die if shot non-fatally, you can chew enemies in half with your weapons splaying their intestines all over the floor, enemies can be drowned, fed to piranhas impaled on hooks crushed and exploded into gibs, popped like cherries, the list goes on and on, it gives it a flair and brutality that accentuates the high difficulty, and this game is HARD son, I remember when I started my first play through on "hard" difficulty (The lowest difficulty btw) when I was in the forest area I thought to myself "shit man how am I even going to beat this game." but as you play and learn the behavior of the enemies and hone your reflexes and improve your aim, you can feel yourself getting better and better until you finally beat it, and then its time to start on the next difficulty level, Its cool to think back to how I was having such trouble with just hard and now I'm on my third play through on Hardest. The key is not to give up or relent, don't let the game win, its like beating your head against a brick wall until it breaks but each time you hit it your blows get stronger and harder, you get better at it. Its a real accomplishment to make a game like this where you feel a sense of progression merely from honing your skills rather than leveling up skills or something like that. The soundtrack is a really special thing, if I could describe it I would say it resembles a mix between the ambient industrial nine inch nails soundtrack of quake with something more fast and nearly break-beat like. It adds to the oppressive and dark atmosphere of the game extremely well and atmosphere is something that this game already has in spades. Probably one of my favorite games of the year and It was just something I bought on whim without even hearing about it before.
• 

  Zombient

  Feb 19, 2017

  Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I keep dying. Let's go into the good, the bad and the bloody mess (in a good way) that is BUTCHER. [h1] The Good [/h1] +Graphics are pretty awesome. Love the old school look. +Lots and lots of blood. +It doesn't hold your hand. This game isn't kidding about being hard. [h1] The Bad [/h1] -It maaaay be a little too dificult for some. But that's not really a "bad" aspect of the game. -I die. A lot. -Aiming could be a little easier. Playing with the Xbox controler feels like you're controling your guy with a long poll. Mouse and keyboard is the way to go. -Did I mention I die a lot? Because I do. -You're not actually a butcher. No hamburgers today ;( [h1] Overall Rating [/h1] I'd give it a 9/10. Def worth buying. A few minor kinks could be worked out, but they're honestly not even big enough to mention.
• 

  Biurza

  Apr 24, 2017

  Great Game, with very interesting gameplay, design and story. Can't complete level? Well git gud or go make your own levels in Editor. Be artsy butcher. Tired of both from above? Well i can give you a hint, go to any level and keep pressing space button repeadetly. I'm pretty sure what happens next pretty much describes everything you are doing in your life. Have Fun!
• 

  [GNU/LINUX] Norbert

  Apr 24, 2017

  Ohhhh that's how I like it ... silly fast, chaotic, full of blood, over the top and with an industrial soundtrack. This game puts a smile on my face. Yes it's difficult, you'll find yourself trying the same level 20-30 times, but it's not frustrating: the levels design is relatively fair and well thought. The engine is stable, the controls are responsive, runs perfectly on Linux, there are nice Steam cards, funny achievements, a great level editor, Steam workshop integration (additional levels), speedrun mode, a delicious soundtrack and the Devs are dedicated and supportive. It's a little short but frequently on sale, for once I wouldn't mind getting some DLC and local co-op would be the icing on the cake ;)
• 

  UncleYar

  Apr 26, 2017

  Overhyped, I was expecting it to be much more fun based on Steam reviews. That'll teach me to trust those. It's kind of a 2D Painkiller, you very often get locked in arenas and enemies spawn around you leaving you a split-second to react. Well, it's like Painkiller if you always wished that Painkiller made you jump around on platforms all the time while trying to shoot enemies... more on this below. The game [b]absolutely doesn't give you a Doom or Quake feeling[/b], that part of the game description is misleading. Pros: - Loads of blood and gore, cool fire and lighting effects, satisfying gun sounds - Nice parallax backgrounds - Shooting with the mouse, a rare feature I've missed from platformers like Abuse and Soldat. Cons: - One hand being busy with the mouse means that jumping and dropping from platforms is on the same hand as moving left and right, so jumping will be awkward no matter how you configure controls. The problem is that there's a lot of jumping around AND jumping down platforms required to avoid fire or being stabbed to death in the aforementioned arena, so expect a lot of awkardness and unnatural straining of your left hand. This might actually be better with a controller, haven't tried yet, but then you give up on the precision mouse shooting. Mouse shooting worked in Abuse because the emphasis was on the shooting, not platforming, and you didn't need a "get down from platform" button. It worked in Soldat because it was a PvP game with a limited number of human enemies and a relatively methodical pace, not a horde game. If this game had only solid platforms you cannot traverse downwards (think Super Metroid for those who never played Abuse) it would already be much better off because it would have one less platforming button to worry about. In that sense the game is let down by its level design. - [b]Game makes you worry about clips and reloading[/b], definitely not a feature of the games it claims to be inspired by. There are no good visual clues for that (and you wouldn't have time to look at them anyways, see: jumping around), so you have to count your shots or rely on sound... or most likely, try to take a shot and have the gun not react and reload instead, while the enemy shoots you in the face. In this kind of frantic shooter it's more of a stupid distraction, Doom and Quake lacked reloading for a good reason, not because the technology didn't allow it. - [b]Very pixelated, hard to see brown enemies on a brown background[/b]. Distinctions between foreground and background objects are badly indicated, you have to learn by trying to go through stuff or most likely, by being shot at through stuff. Doesn't go great with the following point. - Weapons don't have a max range (similar to Soldat in that sense) and AI enemies are programmed to shoot with full accuracy, so you constantly get shot from the other side of the screen or through a tiny gap between two obstacles by enemies you barely see. Limiting ranges or making all platforms block fire would have made the action more in-your-face. - Very difficult as advertised, only it has some very obnoxious enemies that teleport to you and nearly instakill you if you don't react. Unless you have insane reflexes you're likely to get very frustrated by those. Again, this was not a feature of Doom/Quake or any good shooter I remember, for that matter. - You play the bad guy. But you're not really a cool bad guy, you're just an executioner out to butcher people. Yay. - "Community" or those responsible for over-hyping are a bunch of friggin' foaming at the mouth elitists who put down anyone who dares criticize the game (just wait for the comment section below, that should be proof enough). Basically game's a magnet for antisocial teenagers in need of validation. Might give it another shot since I exceeded the refund time anyways, but this whole pretending to be Doom or Quake-inspired and then locking you up in arenas left a bad taste in my mouth and tipped the review in the negative. EDIT: Reply to the dev's comment: Thanks for your comments s-m-k, I have a lot of respect with what you did with Soldat. You also know how to keep it cool in the comments. I need to correct a few facts with your facts: - reloading: I distinctly remember that there are clips, i.e. every few shots you must wait a set delay before being able to fire again. Doom/Quake let you fire an infinite number of shots at the same rate as long as you have ammo. - reflexes: it's the combination of awkard finger position to chain going down platforms and jumping, and of the quick evasion needed that's obnoxious. - standing still: I understand the mechanic. And it feels rather silly to get shot from across the screen just because you stopped for a moment, only to realize "oh, he got me through that non-obvious gap in the scenery I could never have noticed at this distance without paying close attention" - teenagers: adults that behave like fanboys are even worse, I was really put off by what I saw on the forums. With some luck, you have some happy customers who are not like that.
• 

  Rebie 🍑

  May 9, 2017

  Review written as of 08-05-17. The game took me 4 hours to finish. BUTCHER's premise is very simple. Your goal is to exterminate the remainder of humanity. You, as the ruthless and emotionless cyborg are responsible for decimating, decapitating, eviscerating, mutilating and destroying anything that moves and even remotely resembles living flesh and matter. Ready up your weapons and dust off your sensors since Mother is sending you to the nearest orbiting space station close to Earth to fulfill your purpose. - Graphics - Basic 2D side scroller Gory, flashy, heavily "retro" stylized Overall brown-greyish colour palette with red/yellow/InsertGlowyColourHere highlights Has some stylized fog and lighting effects - Sound - The guns sound good, all of them pack a punch and you can hear it Music is good, especially the track from the trailers, it just fits the game so well! :) Gore sounds meaty as fuck, I likey! - Gameplay - The game plays like a bastard child of DOOM and Soldat. You move your cyborg with WASD while shotting and aiming in all directions with your mouse. The game has the following weapons, in order of obtaining them : 1 chainsaw 2 shotgun 3 assault rifle 4 flamethrower 5 granade launcher 6 railgun The game has basically 8 enemy types, they are as follows - ninja, guy with whatever weapon, jetpack guy with whatever weapon, flying snake thing with a sawblade on a chain (?), big tanky guy with homing rockets, flying cop car shooting rockets, piranhas or whatever those fish are, cheetah/tiger thing. - Level Design - The game consists of a hub space station with teleporters to each chapter and the final boss. Each chapter has 4 levels, there are 5 chapters + boss. So there are 20 levels + 1 boss room at the end. Levels have a lot of environmental hazards such as saw blades, moving saw blades, saw blade spiders, spikes, drops, holes, lava, fire, crushing blocks etc etc. The levels follow a basic pattern of connecting rooms with corridors, then locking you in a room where you have to defeat enemies to progress. In those situations the game starts spawning enemies all around you and your goal is to survive. So overall... would I recommend the game? Yeah but probably on a sale and ONLY if you are like me and you like games with a lot of gore, chaotic fast paced action and - in this case - in 2D side scrolling platformer setting. You will die a lot in this game because you will get surprised by spawns. You need to learn them to beat the levels. Weapons will feel a bit stale and run of the mill, nothing different or exotic. You will try to cheese the game by shooting enemies through walls with your railgun because you can, because that's the optimal way to play it and after you've finished the game you will think to yourself "That's it?". I wish there were more weapons. I wish there were more enemies. More distinguishable map variety. Maybe a different spawn system, random level generator so you can replay the game over and over for the fast paced craziness and gore. I refuse to replay the same levels over and over just to get that cool kick from the gore and such, maaaybe for the achievments if I feel desperate enough and I have absolutely nothing better to do that day... While playing the game I kept thinking "It would be cool to have this gore and shooting in some rogue lite". Maybe expand on the universe, anything to flesh the game out some more. Get it on a sale, if anything. Thanks for reading!
• 

  Ryan Dorkoski

  May 19, 2017

  [b][i]BUTCHER[/i] is alot more fun than I expected.[/b] To me, it plays exactly how I would want [i]Doom[/i] to play as a platformer. It's fantastic fun in short bursts. I'll never finish this title - nor am I likely to get more than a few hours out of it, but [i]it does it's thing really well.[/i] There is nothing too complex here; what you see is what you get. The controls feel great. The artwork and music are top-notch. Totally worth full asking price if this looks like your jam. Yes, this title is challenging - but I didn't find it as difficult as others have described. Maybe I haven't hit the super hard levels yet.
• 

  Early Cuyler

  Jun 23, 2017

  DOOM+Nuclear Throne+Super Smash Bros=BUTCHER
• 

  HDoomGuy

  Jun 27, 2017

  Butcher is a game that is deeply rooted in the violent, gritty run-and-gun games of the mid-to-late 90's, and does a perfect job of recreating that feeling while still retaining its own unique identity. First off, let's talk graphics, since that's the first thing you're probably gonna notice from this game's store page. While taking obvious visual inspiration from Abuse (1996)'s dark and grimy run-and-gun action and the gory violence of Doom, Quake, and even Liero, the game still manages to create its own, entirely consistent low-resolution aesthetic. While this combination of grimy visual style and low pixel count may initially cause concerns regarding the ability to follow the game's difficult, fast-paced gameplay (a concern I shared when I first saw this game), Butcher utilizes well designed tells and bright/high contrast visual cues to allow players to effectively keep track of enemy alertness, status, and line of sight, as well as much-needed health and ammo pickups. The game's Liero-inspired gore system works in perfect tandem with the game's aesthetic and gameplay - splashing, sticking, dangling and dripping all over each level (blood also remains after death, a feature that can be can be disabled in gameplay options) but thanks to good visual design, it never creates unneccessary difficulty by blending in with the enemies and clouding your line of sight. On top of it all, Butcher's visuals really never seriously breaks the illusion of being a 96/97-era MS-DOS game. Everything appears palleted and consistent, even utilizing software-style hard lighting you'd often see from games in that era. The good things continue with Butcher's gameplay. Like many games of the DOS shareware era this game is rooted in, Butcher divides its 21 levels into 5 differently-themed 'episodes' and a boss level. These are accessed through a Quake-style hub/gate level, and entry to each episode is unlocked upon completing the one prior. Levels are designed intuitively and you are usually given enough time to react to sudden traps and enemy reinforcements through both the game's inherent visual design and visible cues built into the level architecture. Traps and environmental hazards in each map can be effectively used against your enemies via the melee attack, and level layouts seem to be designed with both the players movement, weaponset and enemies in constant consideration. Secret areas are also scattered throughout, most of which containing health/ammo, a collectable robot skull, or both. Enemies are diverse and hard, but generally well-balanced, and almost all of them have a reaction time/grace period upon entering their line of sight, an alert/attack state, and a flinch/stun state when taking damage, all of which are accounted for in the game's level design and weaponset. Enemies will teleport in during lockdown/arena sections that are scattered throughout the levels, but a bright electrical effect will always appear where one is about to spawn, giving you enough to to zero in on them and cull them out before you get overwhelmed. On top of this, stronger enemies take noticably longer to spawn in during an arena battle, and have an easily-visible healthbar above their sprites, which makes it much more viable to prioritize them during a shootout. The weapons are one of my favorite elements of Butcher, mostly due to the nuance in their design. The Abuse-style mouse-based aiming system is fluid and easy to use, and each weapon has a limited maximum ammo supply (with the exception of the starting chainsaw) as well as unique applications and situational usefulness throughout the game. The chainsaw can be used very effectively in levels with tight corridors and/or platforms where you can easily get the drop on an enemy, since the chainsaw's rapid damage-rate forces them into what is essentially a stunlock and quickly kills them. It's also incredibly useful against melee enemies for this reason. The shotgun is going to be a common mainstay since it has a ton of use in close-to-mid range combat. It has a incredibly grace period between shots, which is good for helping to get a lock on the next enemy without wasting much ammo. The assault rifle is another weapon you'll find a lot of use from, especially in mid-long range where your shotgun isn't as effective, as well as situations where you need a quick rapid-fire weapon. However, firing this gun rapidly does cause a small amount of screenshake, which can be disorienting, so it's probably recommended to fire in bursts for best accuracy and ammo conservation. The flamethrower is a short-range weapon that is effected by gravity and with flames that ride along the walls and floors, which is great for getting enemies around corners. Like most of the mid-upper tier weapons, certain higher strength enemies have a weakness to the flamethrower. There are a few more weapons in the game than what I've just mentioned, but it's probably best you discover them on your own. It's also worth noting that, while enemies drop health and ammo, the limit on the amount of ammo you can carry at any time actively encourages you to switch sweapons and manage resources depending on the situation so that you don't run out during a hairy situation, an element glossed over in way too many old-school styled shooters these days. The soundtrack is fantastic with a variety dark synth, ambient, and industrial-style tracks that are reminiscient of something inbetween Quake and Crusader: No Remorse, and it compliments the gameplay pretty damn well. The sound design in general is pretty well crafted and balanced. Long story short: This game is great and you should get it, especially if you grew up on this kinda stuff back in the day. It feels very sincere in its love for mid-90's games, but not at the cost of its own identity - and most importantly, it's fun.
• 

  Magikarp

  Jul 13, 2017

  Yes, this game is hard. If you can't deal with frustration I wouldn't recommend it. If you enjoy a challenge, I strongly recommend it. The game is a fast paced shooter with a story intended to instill mindless, mechanical slaughter of the human race. If you are looking for something inpirational that gently tugs at your heartstrings, this is not the game. It gives you a figurative and literal middle finger throughout the entire experience, and unless you are a platforming master or masochistic, you are not likely to play this long before getting stuck on a level for a few hours and quitting. I am neither, but I stayed because of the fine variation and very realistic graphics made at a very low resolution. Did I mention that it looks amazing?- -And it feels even better when you're the one literally painting the town red (or white, if you're into that). Again, don't buy the game if you get frustrated from a challenge, unless you are comfortable using the free WIMP-mode DLC; which I personally don't judge you for, but the game will.
• 

  r/djent moderator

  Jul 15, 2017

  Remember when you were like 11-12 and you scoured the internet for freeware/abandonware/etcware games to play on your parent's aging computer, and you happened to stumble upon a classic like Abuse, Soldat, etc.? This game is like that, when you found a completely free, fun, loud, gory action sidescrolling shooter game, and I mean that in the best way possible. It has the polish of a modern indie game while retaining the barebones focus of a truly old school independent group of programmers. Give it a shot, if you loved that era of freeware and such (Home of the Underdogs anyone) then you'll appreciate this just a little more.
• 

  E.R

  Oct 14, 2017

  Brutally relentless and unapologetically difficult. A lot of games fail to be both fun and hard but this one has mastered both. It isn't so annoying having to start the levels from the beginning because it's extremely fun blitzing through the same area again and again, and the satisfaction is overwhelming when you master a level. I hope this sells well, it deserves it.
• 

  Reventius

  Nov 23, 2017

  A 2D Doom-like game is never a bad thing. Reminds me a lot of the old multiplayer shooter Soldat.
• 

  BlaXpirit

  Nov 27, 2017

  One thing's for sure, this is a memorable game. The gory mess depicted in faithful pixel art and the industrial soundtrack with its relentless beats gave me goosebumps. The gameplay also delivers on everything you'd expect from a 2D shooter. The weapons are well-designed, and you need the full arsenal to get through the game. Enemies behave naturally. The exploration aspect is there in form of secrets. The speedrunning is there, and the extreme difficulty levels as well. ★★★★★★★★★☆
• 

  Jumper5050!

  Nov 12, 2019

  Really Love This Game! I Like The Gore And How Hard It Is And It Has A Level Editor And EVERYTHING! I 100% Say Its One Of The Best Games I Have Played!
• 

  mercilessrobot

  Jul 27, 2020

  From the folks that just released Carrion. This game is fast, gory, and very fluid. It's no surprise that Carrion is so good for anyone that had already played Butcher. It really is like a brutal side scrolling DOOM. Another highly recommended game. It is fast to play through but you will want to do another run as soon as you finish. Great stuff.