With the Asymmetrical Horror genre being a very unstable area of the gaming market, I wanted to let this review simmer for a little bit. This game comes among the recent closure of Video Horror Society, the relentlessly successful yet buggy performance of Dead by Daylight, the small, loyal player base for Propnight and Midnight Ghost Hunt, and the uncertain future of Carnival Hunt, Killer Klowns from Outer Space, and Evil Dead games.

With that in mind, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was almost certainly going to have a bumpy start along a path that is already difficult to traverse. How is the game doing so far? Well, let’s find out.

Texas Chain Saw Massacre was developed by Sumo Digital and published by Gun Interactive. Sumo Digital is new to the Asymmetrical Horror genre with much of their previous work focusing around various Sonic games and Sackboy: A Big Adventure. On the other hand, Gun Interactive is the equivalent of veterans for this genre, having previously released the soon-to-be-pulled Friday the 13th game that was developed by Illfonic back in May of 2017.

These two groups certainly seem like an odd pairing, but Sumo Digital has certainly stepped up to the plate and delivered a game that feels just as torturous and unforgiving as Friday the 13th was. While I am not entirely sure how much support Sumo Digital got from Gun Interactive, I imagine that it was quite a lot given the feel that this game has and the realistic art, sound, and game direction. 

In this game, you can play one of two sides: The Family or The Victims. The Family consists of five distinct killers and The Victims consist of five distinct young adults. The gameplay consists of three killers versus four victims with the only caveat being that one of the three chosen killers must be Leatherface. This caveat seems to be relatively simple as a lot of players starting out gravitated toward Leatherface. Strangely, it seems like that is no longer the case in most lobbies.

I can’t speak on the reason for that, but it shocked me considering that Leatherface is the face of the Texas Chain Saw Massacre franchise. He is also arguably one of the most recognizable killers to ever exist in the horror film genre. One explanation that I can think of as to why Leatherface isn’t used as much is due to the limitations that are put on his character. While he is the only killer who can instantly kill a victim, this requires precise timing that takes quite a bit of learning to get down perfectly.

On top of this, the other family members tend to be quieter and more flexible in terms of how they can adapt to the various situations that can occur in matches. Learning the mechanics of the game will be an uphill battle for most people. The developers didn’t provide a normal tutorial match that you can do against bots in order to test and train various game mechanics. Instead, you have a variety of videos to watch that break down every gameplay mechanic and goal.

I did not find these tutorial videos helpful in the slightest. The only way that I could learn was by hopping into games as both Family and Victim, learning as I went. It was rough with each side taking me about an hour to get the hang of most variables and objectives within the game. After that things were relatively easier for me to navigate.

In terms of mains, I mostly focused on playing as Sissy on the Family side and as Leland on the Victim side. Sissy is one the most agile of all the Family as she can fit into tight spaces and has a high level of blood harvesting. Fitting into tight spaces can allow for continuous chases of the Victims while the blood harvesting allowed me to gather so much blood that I could typically level up Grandpa on every feeding. Feeding Grandpa means that the Family can quickly gain new abilities that make finding the Victims easier, which is crucial.

Leland on the other hand was the closest thing that the survivors had to a tank in the game. While his lack of stealth meant that I was typically one of the first Victims to be discovered, it also meant that I could endure a lot more torment compared to the others. This allowed for a few crucial escapes and misdirects that would allow my teammates more time to get one of the exits open.

I never messed too much with Grandpa as a Victim because that was rather risky if I didn’t have the right tools to temporarily incapacitate him. However, if you land things right it could mean the difference between some of the Victims getting out or a full wipe.

Although free time is rare for me these days with the various jobs and responsibilities that I have, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is one of the games that I turn to in order to have a good time. There are things that the developers need to address in order for the game to succeed and there is a lack of pre-existing content that they can draw on.

However, I believe that this game has a chance to stick around longer than other Asymmetrical Horror games. Time will tell. If you are looking for some other horror games to spice up your spooky month, I would recommend checking out Taylor Bauer’s report on Before The Night right here.

A PC review copy of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was provided by Gun Interactive for this review.

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The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

39.99

8

Score

8.0/10

Pros

• Proximity Voice Chat
• Almost Complete Crossplay
• Good Mix of Characters
• Unique Leveling Up Mechanic

Cons

• Steep Learning Curve
• Minimal Tutorial