Welcome back! Today I’ll be talking about the (somewhat) new Texas Chainsaw Massacre game. Now, to preface this, I have to say that I don’t get scared with horror games. I don’t know what it is, but they just don’t scare me anymore. But this game? Oh. My. God. I was scared out of my mind. 

Now, for those of you who aren’t aware, Gun Interactive, who also made Friday the 13th: The Game, released the game on August 18, 2023. Funnily enough, hit games Starfield and Baldur’s Gate 3 came out around the same time. More coming on those soon 😉

Now, you may be wondering, how would this game work? 

Great question, my dear reader. See, it’s quite like Dead by Daylight. If you don’t know what Dead by Daylight is like, I’ll give you a quick rundown. There are four survivors and one killer in Dead by Daylight. The survivor’s job is to repair five generators and then skedaddle on out of there. The killer, on the other hand, has to hunt down these survivors and sacrifice them to the entity. The entity is a npc that you never see directly and it’s an all powerful god that took everyone there. 

Bam, summery done. Now onto the real reason you’re here.

The game takes place just a few months before the events of the first TCM (Texas Chainsaw Massacre) movie. Maria Flores goes missing after taking a trip to photograph some flowers. She makes her way onto the property of the killers and ends up dying. Her sister, Ana, ends up bringing a group of her friends to investigate because the police can’t do much.

Well, I’m sure you can figure out the rest.

There are five members of the family, or “killers” as I’ll refer to them as. There can only be three in one round, though, so make sure to choose wisely. 

Here’s a quick rundown of everyone and their abilities.

Johnny Slaughter: Pretty boy over here is a brand-new addition to the TCM lore. He’s never been seen in a movie, but who knows? He might show up in one eventually. Johnny can immediately barge through latched doors. He also has an ability called Hunt that lets him track the movements of victims while searching for their footprints.

Sissy: Oh, Sissy. I love her, she’s amazing. As another new addition, Sissy has yet to appear in any of the movies. Sissy has an ability called Bane that leaves trails of poison to either slow down the victims or to lace their useful items.

Drayton “The Cook” Sawyer: Ah, Drayton. Angry old man vibes. He’s been in at least two of the movies. Idk if he’s been in any others cause I’ve only seen the first two. The cook’s special ability is called Seek. Seek lets The Cook pinpoint noisy victims and highlight them.

Hitchhiker: Hitchhiker, also known as Nubbins Sawyer, is in the first movie only. I mean, his corpse is in the second, but I don’t know if that counts. He’s a little silly and a little goofy, mostly because he liked robbing graves. His special ability is Trap. I’m sure the name is enough of a hint, but I’ll explain anyway. Trap lets Nubbins set a trap on the ground that captures and injures any victim who steps in it

Leatherface: Oh, Leatherface. My sweet little man. My boy is, obviously, in every movie. It wouldn’t be a TCM movie without our big, chainsaw wielding hunk, now would it? His ability is called Maim. It lets him use his chainsaw to inflict horrible wounds on victims as well as destroy any doors or obstacles in his way.

And that’s everything! For the killers, at least. I mean, there are a bunch of perks, but I can explain those another day if you guys want. 

Your job as “part of the family” is to hunt and prevent the survivors from escaping. No one can know that y’all are cannibals, remember?

You even have Grandpa, a wheelchair bound old man who drinks blood.

Fun!

Grandpa sits somewhere in the house and you have to wait for him to wake up. When he’s awake, just feed him a little blood to activate his power, Yell. This yell reveals victims who are moving nearby. 

To power him up, you have to feed him blood. For every 100 blood you give him, he powers up a tier. 

The tiers go as follows:

Tier 1- Reveal ability unlocked

Tier 2 and 3- Cooldown reduced

Tier 4- Reveals auras of victims in the shadows

Tier 5- Reveals all auras

Fun, right?

I guess we should talk about the victims now, huh? 

There are five victims currently in game. It’s pretty likely that they’ll add more, though. Five gets boring fast.

Now, to get into their perks. I’m warning you now that I know next to nothing about these people because none of them were in the movies, so I’m just gonna tell y’all about the perks.

Ana Flores: Ana’s ability is called “Pain is Nothing.” This ability reduces damage taken from falls or attacks and grants immunity from the effects of Sissy’s poison while active. 

Julie Crawford: Ultimate Escape lets Julie be immune to The Cook and Johnny’s tracking abilities. It also greatly reduces the amount of stamina used from running. 

Connie Taylor: With Focused, Connie can unlock doors almost immediately while everyone else has a process that they have to go through that takes precious seconds. This ability, though, negatively impacts her stamina and Family proximity warning.

Leland McKinney: Leland is a team player with his ability, Life Saver. Life Saver lets him knock down and stun a family member, which he can use to save himself or a friend. It can’t be used on Leatherface, which might just be a bug.

Sonny Williams: Sonny’s ability, Heightened Sense, lets him detect noises made by anyone nearby. He can pinpoint their locations and track them. 

Victims, sadly, don’t get an NPC like Grandpa to help them out. Sad 🙁

Instead, the victims start out in the basement, where they have to try and get out and upstairs so that they can escape. Getting upstairs can be difficult, especially if you’re alone. 

I advise sticking with people so that you can watch each other’s backs. You can also divide and conquer if you feel that’s easier.

This game genuinely scared the crap out of me when I first played, which is always a good sign. I’ve become so desensitized to horror games that I start to expect things, but this was a fresh start for me.

If you want to play, I know that it’s on the Xbox game pass for you to download. For my people who aren’t on Xbox, you can buy it on the PlayStation store for about 40 dollars. Same for PC players. Y’all can buy it off steam for 40 bucks.

Well, thanks for logging on, but now I’ve gotta log off. I’ll see you all later!

Have a game that you’d like to see me cover? Comment down below or email me at [email protected].