The Texas Chainsaw Massacre The asymmetrical survival horror game is smartly mapped and atmospheric, but it’s not scary. It’s a shame, because right down to the birdsong singing in the game’s terracotta vision of Texas (as developer Gun CEO Wes Keltner told me earlier this summer), Texas is a faithful rendition of the 1974 film. It’s an admirable living shrine to one of cinema’s most indelible films. horror classics, However by devoting himself so entirely to his sources, Texas loses to be an engaging game.

It at least tries to stand out in its story, which acts as a sort of prequel to the slasher series.

“April 1973. Tragedy and despair have struck central Texas”, the scrolling burnt gold text informs you when you load the game, just as the rolling gold text establishes the premise of Texas the film. “A young student named Maria Flores has apparently disappeared […] But any grief or sadness caused by Maria’s disappearance would pale in comparison to the agony and despair [her friends’ search party] soon find out.

In my, about, an hour of gameplay (many more hours were spent unnecessarily refreshing Quick Match the week before the game was officially released on August 18th – there are no bot games, and it was difficult to fill 3v4 matches with only crits) this story is barely relevant.

Texas Chainsawasymmetry, dissected

You can enter it in two ways, either by playing one of the four Victims (there are five character options in total) or one of the three cannibalistic family members (with five other options to choose). Each character has their own unique qualities, defensive and offensive abilities. Of Victims, I liked Donny Osmond-looking-at-ass Leland‘s full hair and brute strength, and family I enjoyed sissythe ability to craft and release plant-based poisons on his victims, a trickier way to kill compared to the franchise villain Leatherface’s showy skin mask and growling chainsaw.

When victims meet in-game, or family members meet victims, they automatically play dialogue that reveals more storytelling. By accidentally encountering players in the dark, sweaty basements where each match begins, I learned which characters were dating and how little they knew about their grim predicament. Victims also talk to each other in a somewhat didactic way, assuming “this looks promising” and “shit, we need to be more careful”, when they hit a wall.

But, with an average match lasting around five minutes, I never felt like there was enough time to worry about the under layers of what was going on. Match time would undoubtedly improve if all players had a more intimate knowledge of every aspect of the game. three cards (all replicas of the film set) to allow for a more effective strategy, but since Texas only offers an hour of dry video clips in tutorial form, it’s impossible to get significantly familiar with the gameplay before actually committing to it.

So, in five minutes, you’re stuck with the game’s simplest premise. The victims are responsible for getting the hell out of the Slaughter family farm, and the family members must take down.

Whereas, from their position of power, the family members needn’t worry too much about Quicktime-adjacent mini-games (although completing one is necessary to speed up the double-flame chainsaw of Leatherface), these events determine almost every victim’s actions aside from running and punching.

For example, writhing from the meat hook – an obstacle which, by the way, permanently injures victims; no amount of healing liquid you swallow will reverse your state of deterioration, although it will prevent the blood trails from forming behind you like a strange snail – you slowly press a button on your keyboard or controller until until a half-circle meter is filled.

The same goes for acquiring tools from locked boxes or opening prying crawl spaces. You need to fill the meter patiently, otherwise the object you are interacting with will make too much noise, indicated by frenzied red flashes forming around it. The noise potentially alerts family members to your location (obviously), but it also calls family withered grandfather come out of its eternal slumber.

When awake, and especially when family members pour large amounts of animal and victim blood down his throat to fortify him, Grandpa acts as a family buff by bringing out the kill locations and unlocking additional abilities. Victims can, however, temporarily incapacitate it with scavenged bone pieces to knock it down.

blood is not enough

Fans of particularly tactical multiplayer will undoubtedly enjoy all Texas‘ the moving parts, but as a passionate Texas the film is nauseating, appalling, inexplicable terror, I am disappointed. While all of the 1974 game facsimiles were thrilling the first time I saw them, after a dozen games the premise feels too narrow. I’ve seen carcasses lying around the family property too often to shock me, and I’ve heard Leatherface, a match-required character, let his gun roar too many times to be phased by the sound.

THE gender defining the movie works, in part, because it’s self-contained — it doesn’t create expectations of generativity the way an online game does — but also because its story, the violence in the name of generational violence, is fucking awesome. frightening. It’s visceral; you can understand it, even if you may not want to. Texas the game seems caught between embracing its own unsettling narrative and adoring the film from afar, keeping its reproduction intact through brief and predictable gameplay.

It doesn’t work for me. Texas Chainsaw is not necessarily a film that I appreciate for the quality of its characters or its settings, but for its willingness to openly carve out greed and selfishness and leave it on the table like chicken liver.

It’s hard to make that happen in crossplay-enabled multiplayer when an Xbox username like xFartSupreme1989 pops up in voice chat and interrupts your melancholy. While the game can still be tense and surprisingly beautiful, I’ve played it on both PC and PS5 and enjoyed watching the marmalade-colored sunsets of both, then gasped when I noticed that a family member was looking at me too.

I only hope future added content and skilled players will help Texas become, gruesome as that is, a bit more fun. To die and be reborn under a scorching, neon sun is a rare opportunity; since the safety of my console, I would like to take advantage of it.