The Texas Chain Saw Massacre gives gamers the rush of being a killer, as well as the dread of being stalked by one – all without the fear of being incarcerated or, you know, dying.
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Having already bestowed upon us the fantastic Friday the 13th: The Game back in 2017, Gun Interactive’s latest adaption of a classic slasher is based on the 1974 movie of the same name.
In fact, it plays as a bit of prequel to original film, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
Story & Characters
When Maria Flores goes missing near the rural Texas town of Newt, Maria’s sister Ana and her friends investigate. Unfortunately, their investigation leads them to the Slaughter family, who proceed to capture them.
This is where every match begins in the game.
You can choose to be on one of two teams.
As a ‘Victim’, you can play as Ana or one of her four friends, all with different skills and weaknesses, but with the goal of escaping the clutches of the Slaughter family.
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You start off in a labyrinth of a basement, and must find tools that will get you past locked doors and the like to set you on the path to freedom.
You can sneak attack or wrestle with members of the ‘Family’, but they will most likely overpower you. The strongest weapon a Victim possesses is stealth. Slipping past the baddies is usually your best bet.
On the other side, you can choose to play as the ‘Family’. The most recognisable character in this lot would be everybody’s favourite chainsaw butcher; Leatherface.
Leatherface has been specially motion captured by horror royalty Kane Hodder, most famous for playing Jason Voorhees in some of the later Friday the 13th films – it’s all on show.
The big boy is the brute of the bunch, opting for straight cutting suckas with his chainsaw.
Then you’ve got his brothers, The Cook who has super hearing and the Hitchhiker, who is a master trapper. Straight out of Tobe Hooper’s original Texas Chain Saw flick, reprising his role as the latter, is Edwin Neal.
A nice touch for fans of the film.
There two all new characters. Johnny can hunt down Victims with his tracking ability. And Sissy spits poison at Victims or tools they could touch to make it mighty hard for them.
The obvious objective of the family is to not let the Victims leave. This can be difficult as there are four different ways to escape each level, and only three Family members in any game. So, it’s impossible to cover each exit at all times.
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There is also many, many hiding spots for the Victims to stay out of sight. Luckily the Family have a secret weapon in Grandpa.
If you feed him enough blood, he’ll let out a scream that reveals where any Victim on the move is nearby, highlighting them in a convenient yellow outline.
This is where things can get a bit tricky though, especially if you’re playing a match in daylight.
Graphics & Gameplay
I have to commend the lighting work that’s gone into The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Straight out of the film is that scorching Texas sunlight. You can practically feel the heat and smell the rotten flesh strewn around the maps sizzling.
In turn, there is a lot of yellow in each daylight level. When using Grandpa’s super sonar ability, that yellow highlight can get lost among all the dirt and flowers. Chasing that elusive last Victim standing, this can get annoying.
Saying that, this is no problem at night. Yellow stands out a treat in the black. Where the daylight levels can feel blinding, the dark is dark.
Shadows are full on blackness, and a perfect place to hide if you’re playing as a Victim. I had one match where I was hiding in a dark corner, while all three members of The Family were IN THE ROOM WITH ME. It was absolutely terrifying, but I managed to slip out of the room without them noticing.
Straight into Sissy’s razorblade, but still.
Things can get a bit frustrating when chasing, or being chased. Some commands feel like they take forever to complete, such as climbing a ladder or trying to thread through a gap in a wall or fence.
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This does add to the tension of it all, but when you’ve got a Victim almost within your clutches, bloodlust peaking out of control, and your character meanders through a simple action – that’s controller-throwing levels of frustration.
Sound Design
Sound is king in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
As a Victim, you need to use your ears to survive. Listen carefully, it might be the only way to know if it’s safe to peek around that corner or to emerge from your hiding spot.
I love this, you are constantly on edge. They make you feel like you’re right in a horror movie.
On the other side of things, Family member The Cook has a useful ability where he can stop and use his hyper hearing to pinpoint where a Victim is, kind of like a lesser Grandpa.
Or you could opt to go loud with Leatherface. Just the sound of him starting his chainsaw and revving it is enough to send Victims into a panic, flushing them out of their hiding places.
Trust me, it’s one of the most horrifying things you’ll ever hear in a video game.
Technical Difficulties
Performance wise, the game runs pretty smoothly. It was only here or there that I noticed anything worth mentioning.
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Once in particular, while playing as Leatherface, a Victim shifted out of my grasp down a ladder. But instead of descending, he was going through the climbing motion stuck at the top of the ladder. While looking amusing, I thought to myself ‘here’s an easy kill.’ But alas, my chainsaw only sifted through him as if he wasn’t there.
Joining a match is usually no problem, but actually staying in it without getting kicked is.
There were a few times where I’d been killed early in the match, but stuck it out observing the surviving members in my team fare much better than I. Only to be disconnected from the match at the last minute, in turn losing what miniscule, yet valuable, experience points I was owed.
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The same happened when playing with the Family. I had a particularly good run, knocking off a few of those pesky Victims, a treasure trove of experience coming my way, only to be kicked at the last minute. Fortune lost.
This is super frustrating, considering these aren’t short matches. You’re constantly stressing about getting dropped from the server, especially when you’re having a good round.
The other reason for getting kicked is a bit more common – there must be seven players to start a match; three Family members and four Victims. Most of the time, the matches fill up pretty quickly.
You’re given five minutes for enough players to enter the lobby, but if a role isn’t filled all players are taken back to the title screen.
Why can’t you just stick around until the right number of players are found?
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This happened to me many times, we were just one player short of a full game. But once that time ran out, we’ve got to start the whole process again. Sometimes to wait the full five minutes, only to be kicked again.
Surely with the one million players enjoying the game over the launch weekend, there was one other player that was looking for a match to play.
Also, you can’t start a match unless somebody has chosen Leatherface as their character. And if he isn’t selected, the game kicks the entire lobby.
Why?
If the three players that are choosing to play as the Family don’t want to be Leatherface, they shouldn’t have to be Leatherface!
Although the chainsaw wielding maniac is the reason most people are aware of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise, and I’m sure most people would want to use him, I don’t think we should be made to play as him.
The only reason I can think of, is each match starts with the same cutscene: Leatherface putting a victim on a meat hook and cutting them up with his chainsaw.
I dunno, have a different cutscene?
Hopefully this is addressed in future updates of the game.
Final Thoughts
This game is awesome. Besides my minor gripes (that I’ve kind of ranted about) Gun Media and Sumo Digital have absolutely nailed the look and feel of that original 1974 movie.
It does have a ceiling, only being able to play in multiplayer. I’d love to see a single player mode introduced as the game grows. Can you imagine playing as Ana Flores in a cinematic version of this story? It could be incredible.
I’m not much of a multiplayer gamer myself, but this one certainly has my attention and kept me coming back for more.
If you’re a fan of the original film, you must play The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
