A sprawling and decaying metropolis, the City of Columbia is an alternate New York City. Named after the original personification of America, “Columbia” once stood as a symbol of national pride, the crown jewel of its nation’s achievements. Now it is the slowly rotting heart of an empire, full of crime, political corruption, religious zealots, and class struggle. Presiding over this powder keg is Mayor Preston Kane… or is it his biggest donor Alexander Galt, the world’s richest man? Perhaps it is the Rev. Billie Joy, leader of The Lord’s Army, whose congregation will vote however he instructs. Or maybe it’s the Whitechapel Mob, and their infrastructure of black market businesses that have placed their operatives all over the city— or their new adversary, The Jackals, who have taken over the outer boroughs with vicious precision. And what of the city’s homeless and poor, uniting in ever growing numbers behind the words of the cult leader Father Seraphim Damascus? Or could it be Elise Van Hove and her Black Dahlias who have risen from the masses to seek real justice where Columbia’s Police will not? Perhaps they all run the city. Perhaps none of them really do. But out of this mix of power and greed has emerged a killer, a Butcher, who claims to herald the coming of Columbia’s end.

A sprawling and decaying metropolis, the City of Columbia is an alternate New York City. Named after the original personification of America, “Columbia” once stood as a symbol of national pride, the crown jewel of its nation’s achievements. Now it is the slowly rotting heart of an empire, full of crime, political corruption, religious zealots, and class struggle. Presiding over this powder keg is Mayor Preston Kane… or is it his biggest donor Alexander Galt, the world’s richest man? Perhaps it is the Rev. Billie Joy, leader of The Lord’s Army, whose congregation will vote however he instructs. Or maybe it’s the Whitechapel Mob, and their infrastructure of black market businesses that have placed their operatives all over the city— or their new adversary, The Jackals, who have taken over the outer boroughs with vicious precision. And what of the city’s homeless and poor, uniting in ever growing numbers behind the words of the cult leader Father Seraphim Damascus? Or could it be Elise Van Hove and her Black Dahlias who have risen from the masses to seek real justice where Columbia’s Police will not? Perhaps they all run the city. Perhaps none of them really do. But out of this mix of power and greed has emerged a killer, a Butcher, who claims to herald the coming of Columbia’s end.

A sprawling and decaying metropolis, the City of Columbia is an alternate New York City. Named after the original personification of America, “Columbia” once stood as a symbol of national pride, the crown jewel of its nation’s achievements. Now it is the slowly rotting heart of an empire, full of crime, political corruption, religious zealots, and class struggle. Presiding over this powder keg is Mayor Preston Kane… or is it his biggest donor Alexander Galt, the world’s richest man? Perhaps it is the Rev. Billie Joy, leader of The Lord’s Army, whose congregation will vote however he instructs. Or maybe it’s the Whitechapel Mob, and their infrastructure of black market businesses that have placed their operatives all over the city— or their new adversary, The Jackals, who have taken over the outer boroughs with vicious precision. And what of the city’s homeless and poor, uniting in ever growing numbers behind the words of the cult leader Father Seraphim Damascus? Or could it be Elise Van Hove and her Black Dahlias who have risen from the masses to seek real justice where Columbia’s Police will not? Perhaps they all run the city. Perhaps none of them really do. But out of this mix of power and greed has emerged a killer, a Butcher, who claims to herald the coming of Columbia’s end.