I am a huge horror film fan. I enjoy almost everything from the early 90s good-bad camp of Troll 2, recent classics like the Saw film franchise, all the way to genuinely horrific titles such as 1974’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Loosely based on the real story of infamous serial killer Ed Gein, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was a true spectacle featuring the diabolical Sawyer family, evil just for the sake of it living out in the boonies just trying to have a warm meal.
Enter 2023, where asymmetrical horror titles such as Friday The 13th: The Game, Evil Dead: The Game and Dead by Daylight have taken the industry by storm. Having players live out matches in the shoes of either killer or victim, in a large-form game of cat and mouse. Sumo Digital takes The Texas Chainsaw Massacre from 1974 and stuffs it into the asymmetrical horror genre with a flourish.
The game starts up simply enough, with a backstory detailing the Family (dropping the Sawyer moniker from the film) as deranged lunatics that simply want to feed themselves and their wheelchair-bound grandpa. Hats off to Sumo Digital here, as the intro gives almost no information and a ton of it in a very short period, while staying incredibly true to the classic film. It even has the classic rolling text at the beginning to detail what’s going on, complete with choppy sepia and artifact film effects common in the 70s, which just adds the charm of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre to the game.
During a match, players can choose to be a Victim or a Family member, in a game of three versus four, to either escape the compound or murder the victims for victory. There are five separate characters to choose from, with the Family having the classic Hitchhiker (taken almost directly from the film), The Cook, new additions Johnny and Sissy, and of course Leatherface.
“Sumo Digital takes The Texas Chainsaw Massacre from 1974 and stuffs it into the asymmetrical horror genre with a flourish.”
Each character has special abilities: Sissy can spray poisonous clouds to stun victims, Johnny can track bloody footprints, and Leatherface has a chainsaw that can destroy barricades and shortcuts for victims. On the flip side, there are five victims to choose from, with Leland able to body tackle smaller family members—although Leatherface eats these heh—and Connie can pick locks with the quickness.
There are five main stats for victims that determine their effectiveness and three for the Family. Stats like ‘Savagery’ determine physical damage output for Family members, and ‘Stealth’ allows victims to perform tasks more quietly. There are—groan—skill trees in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre as well, adding a building mechanic to characters and an experience system that lets players level their Victims and Family members to increase survivability or speed in setting traps.
But down to brass tacks, in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, it is either escape or become Grandpa food. There’s no question the game is at its best when you’re in the middle of a match. Hear me out, there is a huge balance issue in this asymmetrical horror title, the Family are unbeatable monsters of destruction, and Victims are already hurt and can barely run well. As a matter of fact, the Victims in-game hobble just like Sally does at the end of the 1974 film. These references are fantastic nods to the source material, and I am here for them.
“Victims almost become invisible when hiding in the grass or in shadows, which makes The Texas Chainsaw Massacre an incredible adrenaline trip on both sides of the spectrum.”
This notion of unstoppable horror chasing victims stays true to the grotesque aspect of the film. There was no two-sided affair in 1974, it was either die or you are Sally and Sumo Digital continues to grip the nature of the classic with an iron fist. This imbalance makes the game much better than if it were an even playing field, Horror is front and centre, and tasks become sweaty miserable affairs when you know you’re a sitting duck. It also helps that when playing a victim, the screen turns sepia-laden as a family member gets closer, which adds to the tension of the gameplay. A welcome addition.
Family members can turn on generators, break shortcuts, lay in wait to ambush, and kill victims in different ways while feeding Grandpa his vitamins (the blood of victims). The old grandpa, while he USED to be the best at killing (I’m sure he could kill 60 in 5 minutes) can ping victim locations on the screen, letting the killers stalk more effectively. Feeding gramps reduces the cool down, and victims can only stay completely still to avoid detection.
The Victims can latch doors, slam doors to stun the Family, use abilities, and pick up useful items to help them escape. There are key items victims can use to make it easier, such as fixing a fuse box or turning off a generator to escape. Interacting with the environment is key for survival, turning off lights in the house makes it easy to hide, and believe me, hiding is effective. Victims almost become invisible when hiding in the grass or in shadows, which makes The Texas Chainsaw Massacre an incredible adrenaline trip on both sides of the spectrum.
“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a well-written love letter to the 1974 film.”
There are some flaws with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Everything feels incredibly repetitive, and the three maps available (the slaughterhouse, the Family house, and the gas station) all feel like more of the same. This can become stale after a couple of rounds, and it feels like you’re just doing the same thing over and over.
Players who have played the game for hours can throttle newcomers, and it can feel demoralizing. This can help deter new players from continuing to play. There are noticeable frame rate drops in tense areas also, which can either help a victim escape or a Family member kill, but these feel incredibly unfair and are not the fault of the player. This may be a me problem, but the executions by Family members also feel bland. Leatherface was present in Mortal Kombat X, and he had Fatalities that would make this title’s executions quiver in its boots. I just wish there was more gore on the menu.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a well-written love letter to the 1974 film. By placing the emphasis of the title on the horror aspect, a match can have a player go through the full spectrum of human emotion in a moment’s time, which is true hair-raising entertainment. But the repetitiveness of matches, the framerate issues, and general lack of gore present in the films make the title fall short of greatness. While The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a stellar monument to the 1974 film, it feels like it falls just short of being a memorable dish.
