When The Texas Chainsaw Massacre first graced the big screen in 1974, audiences were horrified. To date, there were no big bad guys on the screen in the horror genre, save for Norman Bates from the 1960 Hitchcock classic, Psycho. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) is a disturbingly macabre masterpiece that went on to spawn many sequels to varying degrees of quality. The Sawyer/Slaughter family, and Leatherface in particular, would garner much adoration from horror fans the world over for their wicked ways. When news broke out that The Texas Chain Saw Massacre would be getting a new video game adaptation, hype levels went skyrocketing.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre would receive a stellar reveal trailer that set the tone for what was to come. Not since the days of the Atari 2600 have we seen a video game adaptation of the horror classic. Leatherface would go on to see the light of day once more in 2015's Mortal Kombat X as a DLC fighter. He would join the likes of fellow horror juggernauts such as Alien, Predator, and Jason Voorhees. Rest assured, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is leaps and bounds from its primitive Atari brethren. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was developed by Sumo Digital, who are perhaps best known for developing the Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing series and, more recently, Sackboy: A Big Adventure as part of PlayStation 5’s launch lineup.

Sumo Digital does not have many solely developed titles under their belt, with reviews ranked anywhere from moderate to well-received. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was published by Gun Interactive, who are best known for publishing Friday the 13th: The Game. Like Friday the 13th: The Game, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre follows in the footsteps of the increasingly popular asymmetrical horror game genre. Horror movies are such a popular genre of movie that it's no wonder its format of the cat and the mouse translates so well for multiplayer gaming. Deep Silver’s 2016 release, Dead by Daylight, is still alive and well with massive updates and popular DLC characters from various horror movie properties, such as A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, and even The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is an asymmetrical multiplayer horror game where you can terrorize the victims as the Slaughter family or make your escape from the lunacy as the victims. If you are a fan of the movies, you are in for one hell of a treat. Longtime fans will quickly point out the text crawl, akin to the very first The Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie. The eerie narration is back to describe the events of this game, complete with its own story that does not explicitly follow the events of the first film. Before even hopping into matchmaking, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre sets the mood perfectly, with the solemn narration leading you into the menus with the Slaughter’s household looming in the distance. The sound design is impeccable, complete with the industrial noise predicated by the 1974 original film.

You are presented with three options for matchmaking. You can search exclusively for matches as the Slaughter family, the victims, or quick play to get into a match faster to be landed in a game as either or side. As the Slaughter family, you can play as five different characters. Three of the members are lifted straight from the first film and replicated perfectly down to the last detail. Leatherface, Nubbins Sawyer aka "The Hitchhiker" or Drayton “The Cook” Sawyer. The build of Leatherface replicates that masterfully of the late Gunner Hansen, who portrayed the character in the 1974 original film. Horror icon Kane Hodder, who is best known for playing Jason Voorhees in various Friday the 13th films, performed the choreography for Leatherface. Edwin Neal, who portrayed The Hitchhiker in the film, reprises his role all these years later and is a genuine sight to behold.

Every detail is shown down to the large birthmark, erratic behavior, and accessories.” The Cook” matches the mannerisms and appearance as portrayed by the late Jim Siedow. The team at Gun Interactive made sure to give him his trusty broomstick! Johnny and Sissy are two new members of the Slaughter family, developed exclusively for the game. Each of them comes with their own unique play style. Now, most people are going to want to play as Leatherface and is totally understandable; however, Gun Interactive made sure that each character was a blast to play as. Each character has gimmicks that make them interesting and different to set themselves apart from one another. For instance, while Leatherface might be slow, he is a bruiser with his trusty chainsaw, whereas The Hitchhiker is nimble and can fit through tight spots that characters like Johnny and The Cook cannot.

The overall objective in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is to make sure no victim survives, but It's not as easy as just killing them. Grandpa, as seen in his original appearance front the 1974 classic, is also here and acts as a scout for the Slaughter family. Just like in the movie, Grandpa is hungry and not for meat but for blood! Each family member has a vial that they must fill with blood from the various buckets scattered around the map. Once you feed Grandpa enough to level up, he will alert the family to a victims' location, so long as they are moving around or making noise when he lets out his scream. You must keep Grandpa fed so that the bonuses he provides stay intact, such as reduced cooldown times for your abilities, for one. Each family member can also set a unique Grandpa ability, such as Animal Farm, which increases a chicken’s detection radius.

Each map in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre has four exits total for victims to make their daring escape. There is a fuse box exit, road exit, rear gate exit, and a valve exit. As a family member, you also want to make sure that all the access to the exits are shut off. There are electric grids that are always live and ready to zap the victims to ensure they can’t escape the premises until they shut them off. The family is powerful and brutal but does not feel overpowered. Each has their setback, never to feel unfair to the victims; there of five of them in total. The story goes that a missing University of Texas student, Maria Flores, was kidnapped by the Slaughter family. In a report, her vehicle was last seen on the side of the road. Maria’s younger sister, Ana, sets out with a group of her friends to track down her missing sister.

Each victim has been tortured and bound, waiting to be turned into chop meat by the Slaughter family. As a victim, you must get yourself out before you become dinner! Adding insult to injury, Leatherface spawns in the basement with you every time. Each character has their own play style as well. Leland is your bruiser type with the best offensive capabilities of all the survivors. His ability allows you to tackle any unsuspecting family member besides Leatherface, giving you, or a fellow victim, a chance to escape their evil clutches. Sonny acts as a scout and can listen in for loud noises, giving you or close-by victims notions of a nearby threat. He is also quick on his feet due to his smaller stature. Connie excels at picking locks quickly, which can be the difference between life and death, with a family member on your heels. Ana can activate her ability to reduce damage taken from falling down the well, jumping out windows or slashes from the family.

Julie is the sporty type, so naturally, her ability allows her reduced stamina to drain while sprinting and can become untraceable by the family. Every victim in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was made exclusively for the game and is a welcome addition, much like Johnny and Sissy. There are many ways to survive the nightmare, so put your best thinking cap on as you use stealth and other tactics to your advantage. Playing as both the victims and the family is incredibly fun. It is highly recommended to bring a party with you as it is made for such entertaining play sessions. At launch, there are three maps, with two returning from the original film and one exclusive to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. The Sawyer home and gas station are here and recreated gorgeously, down to every grizzly detail.

The Slaughterhouse was exclusively developed for the game but seemed to take inspiration from the 1974 film as The Slaughterhouse is talked about and briefly shown in it. As briefly mentioned, the sound design is impeccable. For this review, I played with headphones on and added an extra layer of tension, as I can hear Leatherface grunting and revving his chainsaw in the distance. Gun Interactive affectionately recreated the dread, shock, and terror that is The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). The graphics are especially stunning, as this was played on an Xbox Series X. The only real gripe right now is a lack of content. At $39.99 and no single-player content, that could be a rough asking price.

The game has a huge following as of this writing and has already broken one million active players, which is insane for a horror movie-based title such as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. There is no doubt in my mind that this game will continue to succeed as long as the team can provide steady updates in the lifespan of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. There are many more movies to cover for future updates, and it could be certain that the goal is to capitalize on that for downloadable content in the future. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 has a lot of fun sets and characters to use, such as the fan-favorite psychopath Chop Top, as played by Bill Moseley.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre will certainly be in the history books for faithful adaptations. It is an immensely fun experience with some unlockable content as well. When you reach a certain overall level, you can unlock concept art and behind the scenes set photos from the original movie, along with other goodies. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre gets every bloody detail just right, and the game is fairly balanced. Time will tell if we will get downloadable content if they can secure the rights for using the Chainsaw movies characters and locales, as there are many to draw from. Rev up that chainsaw, bring along some friends, and get ready for a horrifically fun experience just in time for the Halloween season.
 

Michael Nicolosi (@ChipmunksMikey)
Editor, NoobFeed