The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: Review – A Nostalgic Horror Experience

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is a new asymmetrical survival horror game developed by Sumo Digital and published by Gun Interactive. The game is originally based on the 1974 movie of the same name. If you have played any Asymmetrical Survival Horror game before then you would latch on to its mechanics pretty quickly but if you are a fan of the Retro movie and playing this type of game for the first time, you might have to spend some time to learn the game mechanics. This is our review of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre – Review

The premise of the game is simple, there are 4 Victims who are trying to escape from the 3 Family members who are hungry for their blood. The Victims will have to escape through the Basement area to reach the Ground Level area and so on to reach the Exterior area to make a possible escape. On the other hand, the Family will have to stop the Victims from escaping. They have the power to murder the Victims but Victims cannot kill the Family apart from stunning them only for a moment.

There are 3 maps in total, Family House, Slaughter House, and Gas Station. All 3 of the maps have 4 of the exact same Exits which is a bit odd as they can have done something map-specific exits. To escape via an exit, victims will have to perform certain actions respective to the exit which is interesting only during the first few games as later you would not find it that much interesting. Whereas, the Family has to stop the victims from completing the actions and escaping. They can do that through various abilities. For instance, Sissy can place poison traps, Cook can hear Victims from a distance, etc.

As it is a Multiplayer game, it is best to play it with a group of friends or with a mic in random matches to communicate. Communication can make this game a lot more fun and easier to make an escape as well as stop an escape. If you cannot communicate and don’t know what your teammates are doing then you are on your own. You would find items like meds, Unlock Tools, and items that will help you through the escape.

Apart from the basic asymmetrical horror game mechanics, it offers a Level Up System which grants players the ability to access the Skill Tree from where they can unlock new Abilities and Perks. Unlocking new Abilities and Perks can allow players to make a deadly build that will help them annihilate the Victims. All of the characters both from Family and Victims have a main ability but the perks are only for the Family characters which gives them a slight advantage.

The map design of the game does give a bit nostalgic vibe and any fan of the original movie would happily explore the whole map with a little terror on their face depending on whether they are playing Victim or Family. However, game performance is one of the main issues that almost every player experiences. The FPS drops drastically which makes the situation of the scenario unenjoyable. Even the execution cutscene has FPS drops in it. Another problem that most players face is disconnection from the game. During the match, one of the players would suddenly disconnect which affects the gameplay a lot.

Verdict – Score 7/10

Overall, the game is enjoyable, especially if you are playing with your group of friends at late night. It delivers the nostalgic vibe of escaping the infamous killer characters from the original movie. However, it would not be enjoyable for every player as some would feel the game is a bit too repetitive. To overcome the repetitiveness, players can choose to switch between the character types. Play a couple of matches as a Victim and then switch to Family to balance out the experience.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is now available on PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, XBOX Series X|S, XBOX One, and XBOX Game Pass.