The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Review – A Gloriously Grim Time

In 1974, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre modified scary films endlessly, establishing the chainsaw-wielding Leatherface and his cannibalistic kin as among the most iconic killers within the historical past of horror cinema. Almost 4 many years later, Gun Interactive’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre permits gamers to step into the blood-soaked footwear of Texas’ most notorious Household and the newest batch of hapless teenagers and twenty-somethings they’ve invited over for dinner.

Pitting two groups towards each other in a terrifying sport of hide-and-seek, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is an addictive and spine-chilling expertise that comes neatly wrapped in a patchwork parcel of pores and skin and bone. Whereas an absence of selection in its visible fashion and degree design retains it from reaching its full potential, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre greater than makes up for it by greasing the asymmetrical survival horror multiplayer style’s inflexible gameplay system with some much-needed contemporary blood.

A Recreation Primarily based on True Occasions – The Story

Set in 1973, the story of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre builds itself across the vanishing of a school pupil named Maria Flores, who out of the blue went lacking close to Newt, Texas. After the official investigation goes chilly, Maria’s youthful sister Ana and 4 of Maria’s closest buddies take it upon themselves to look into Maria’s disappearance. Sadly, their investigation leads them to the house of the Slaughter Household, who drag the would-be sleuths kicking and screaming right into a world of horror and despair past their wildest nightmares.

Some Issues Simply Need to Be Finished – The Gameplay

As a team-based survival horror sport, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is split into two kinds based mostly on the sport’s playable factions; the Victims and the Household. As one among 4 Victims, you begin each spherical certain and overwhelmed within the basement of one of many many remoted properties owned by the Slaughters. When you’ve escaped your bonds, you’ll have to make use of your wits to assemble the supplies it’s good to unlock one of many 4 exits barring your escape from the Slaughter residence earlier than you bleed out or get caught by one among… them.

Because the 4 Victims scramble to flee, they’ll must deal with three members of the Household that will likely be looking them down, which units The Texas Chainsaw Massacre aside from the quite a few one vs. many asymmetrical survival horror multiplayer video games on the market. Every of those three-person groups should at all times have a Leatherface, who spawns within the basement able to dismember any teenagers he comes throughout along with his trusty chainsaw. The two different members of the Slaughter Household begin aboveground, the place they’ll work in the direction of escape-proofing the property and apply their particular model of violent homicide to any Victims who handle to flee the basement with their extremities intact.

Do You Like Head Cheese? – The Development

Like most different asymmetrical survival horror video games, every of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s core solid has strengths and weaknesses that the participant can study to grasp and work round. Every sport’s 5 Victims and Relations have abilities that may be upgraded via a surprisingly-deep character customization system. By investing in a particular character’s ability tree with expertise factors earned by taking part in the sport, gamers can unlock particular perks and skills that make staying alive or looking prey simpler. With correct communication and taking part in, either side can type groups that complement every member’s robust fits whereas masking their shortcomings. This ensures that each Victims and the Household have an equal shot at victory.

We Acquired Some Good Barbeque – The Visuals

As proven by their work on the tragically short-lived Friday the thirteenth, the devs over at Gun Interactive know tips on how to adapt the aesthetic of a long-running horror franchise right into a online game. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is drenched head-to-toe within the gritty and grounded ambiance that made the unique movie and its sequels so haunting. From lonely homes embellished with human stays to crumbling farms suffering from rust-coated instruments, each playable space in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a love letter to its supply materials that pulls you into the sport’s horrific world head-first.

Sadly, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s loyalty to the visible fashion of its namesake franchise can also be one of many sport’s few weaknesses. Whereas the maps are as stunning as they’re scary, they undergo from a extreme lack of variety. Though the areas themselves are well-designed and observe a strict three-tiered construction, making it simple to memorize vital landmarks, the dearth of selection did begin to put on on me as I leaped via the window one claustrophobic inside setpiece onto one other barren patch of desert shrubland.

Vroom-Vroom – The Audio

This consideration to element additionally carries over into the sound design. Whether or not it’s the heart-stopping rev of Leatherface’s chainsaw to the terrified whispers that escape the Victims’ mouths as they attempt to consolation themselves and one another, each sound in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre matches the awful tone of its supply materials. In a second that may keep on with me if I stay to 100, I shivered as a mild sound of a breeze blowing via the overgrown patch of weeds shielding me from the sight of the Slaughter’s resident hippie Sissy tickled my eardrums.

Sound additionally capabilities as one of many sport’s most vital gameplay mechanics. All the things you do in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre makes noise; as you would possibly guess, figuring out what these sounds imply is crucial to victory. Fortunately, the high-audio high quality made it simple for me to study which sounds had been innocent and which advised me that I used to be about to be on the receiving finish of a pointy instrument.

A Sledgehammer’s Higher – The Efficiency

Whereas the graphics and audio of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre need to be praised, I did encounter a couple of efficiency points whereas my fellow reviewers and I had been chasing one another round. The framerate, whereas stable for essentially the most half, tended to stall like an overheated chainsaw when a number of Relations and Victims had been gathered in the identical place. This slowdown generally led to failed button inputs that stored me from escaping a Member of the family or catching a sufferer as they sprinted previous me towards a newly-opened path to freedom.

The Last Verdict

Regardless of its faults, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a incredible fusion of horror and enjoyable. The presence of a number of killers and the sheer number of abilities every playable character can study encourages gamers to experiment with new playstyles and techniques with out making them really feel like they’re being pressured to take action. On prime of that, the sport additionally manages to carry out the uncommon feat of embracing the seems to be and really feel of its supply materials with out utilizing it as a crutch. With a wholesome mixture of mechanical depth and terrifying spectacle, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a must-play expertise for horror followers.

– This text was up to date on August 14th, 2023

About The Writer

Drew Kopp has been a author at Assault of the Fanboy for 3 months and has coated Sons of the Forest, Pokemon, and developments within the leisure trade. He has a Bachelor’s in Inventive Writing and loves writing about indie video games and movie star gossip. When he is not writing, he may be discovered studying fantasy books or rocking out as Bard in Dungeons & Dragons.