Developer: Sumo Digital
Publisher: Gun Media
Platforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Tested on: PC
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre – Review
Ever since the conception of Dead by Daylight, asymmetrical horror games have been on the rise. Some clones have popped up, but not all of them are successful. Today, however, we’re looking at The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. As the name implies, this game is based on the popular movies that go by the same title. Developer Sumo Digital and publisher Gun Interactive clearly poured their love for the franchise into making this an authentic experience, where victims and serial killers are pitted together in short but intense matches full of fun gameplay. And they’ve included just enough fresh material to not feel like a rip-off of other titles in the genre.
Story
There’s not much of a plot to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, though the story that is there is basically the exact same as the movie. A group of teenage friends find themselves captured by a raving mad family of cannibals while on a road trip. Only teamwork will allow them to escape, while the family members hunt the victims and murder them one by one. The most notorious member of this family is the chainsaw-wielding creep known as Leatherface, though almost all the characters and locations from the game are actually faithful adaptations of their movie counterparts.
Graphics
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre looks pretty good, with graphics that are what we’ve come to expect for this type of game. There are only three maps, but each is available in a daytime or nighttime variant. Since the lighting effects are done really well, this makes the already very detailed environments look even more unique. The character designs are also nicely adapted from the movie franchise, down to the developers mimicking specific movements from the characters in the game’s animations. Overall, nothing to complain about here.
Sound
You can further see the absolute adoration the makers of this game hold for the franchise in the sound design. The soundtrack is a great twist on the original movies. The chase music is sure to make your heart start racing. The sound effects are nicely thought out, with ambient noises such as farm animals and Leatherface mumbling to himself included in the game to keep victims on edge. They even got a real chainsaw of the same brand as the one used in the movies to record those noises. There aren’t a ton of voice lines in the game, but the original actors even came to reprise their roles.
Gameplay
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is a multiplayer asymmetrical horror game where each match is played with exactly seven players. Four players play the victims, whose goal is to escape the map while evading the killers. To do this, they have to open doors or electrical fences by completing small tasks such as finding a battery or picking a lock. In essence, it’s mainly a lot of quick-time events like similar games in the genre. Victims can evade the killer by hiding or stunning them temporarily, though it’s still a harsh battle for survival. The other three players take the roles of the family. They have to find and kill the victims before they can escape. Attacking victims takes stamina, but once their health is depleted, they are removed from the game with no way of coming back. The killers also have Grandpa in their team, a static NPC. If Grandpa is fed enough blood that is found around the map, he will scream and temporarily make the outline of the victims visible. However, Grandpa can be attacked by the victims to make this perk unusable.
To give gameplay more depth, every victim and family member has some unique abilities. When you complete a match you get experience points, regardless of whether you won or not. This experience can level different stats for the characters and unlock those mentioned abilities. This allows each player to make their own build for each separate character, which is a fun touch and allows for more diverse matches. The different abilities also make it so teamwork becomes integral in this game. Playing it with friends or strangers who are willing to mic is the way to go. Every single player has to really carry their weight or be willing to communicate, or the match quickly becomes frustrating as you all run around not helping each other out. The blend of seven players and the fact that Grandpa is an integral part of the game sets The Texas Chain Saw Massacre apart from similar titles.
Beyond that, the game is challenging in an enjoyable way and can easily entertain for a few hours. There were some technical issues at first, though the developers are still updating as we speak and a lot of bugs were already solved. The amount of characters makes up for the fact that there are only three maps, and more will probably be added in the future as well.
Conclusion
This game is great for anybody who enjoys multiplayer asymmetrical horror titles since it blends familiar gameplay with new elements. However, it’s also an ode to the franchise that shows great love for the source material. For that reason alone, some fans will probably be able to overlook some technical flaws and the lack of more maps.
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