Alternate history games represent an interesting niche withing gaming culture. While there are countless video games out there that take us to other galaxies and pit us against (or have us bed, we don’t judge) alien foes, alt-history games instead take set-in-stone Earth history and change something here, tweak something there, to create something wholly new and engaging. One uniquely interesting example of an alt-history game featured Jack the Ripper, the notorious London murderer  who killed at least five innocent women before fading disappearing into history.

Formerly in development by the late Visceral Games, ‘The Ripper’ spins the legend of Jack on its head, revealing that instead of praying on innocent women, he was instead slaying vampires masquerading as vampires of the night. As touchy as a subject as it easily could have been, Visceral was given the go ahead to work on the project, although it did not survive the shuttering of the studio by EA.

The game would not have been a black and white battle against evil, though. According to Polygon, Jack’s stay at the Bedlam asylum left his mental state questionable at best, and gamers would have seen him struggling against his PTSD and eventual descent into madness. The gameplay as such would have taken Jack’s mind into account, with transforming hallways and the ultimate question of, are these really monsters I’m killing? Or am I the monster? As interesting of an idea as it would have sounded at the time of its conception, other games have since then tread over similar ground, none more so than The Order: 1886 and Assassin’s Creed Syndicate. For better or worse, The Ripper will have to remain in the shadows.

So, thoughts on Visceral Games’ cancelled Jack the Ripper game? Would you have played it? Let us know in the comments section below, and as always, stay tuned to Don’t Feed the Gamers for all the latest gaming and entertainment news! Don’t forget to follow DFTG on Twitter for our 24/7 news feed!