The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Review: Nostalgic Horror For a Few Hours

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre video game brings an even more sadistic side of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre series to light. Based on a true story, play as Leatherface, his Family, or their victim’s in a race to kill or escape. In this review, we will dive into some of the definitive elements of this 2023 asymmetrical horror online game experience and see if it lives up to its name.

Introduction: Meet the Family and their Victims

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre has many similarities to the popular horror survival game Dead by Daylight, but solely features characters and themes from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre story. You get to play as the following villain characters: Leatherface, The Cook, Hitchhiker, Jonny, and Sissy. You can also play as the following victim characters: Ana Flores, Julie Crawford, Leland McKinney, Sonny Williams, and Connie Taylor. As a villain your goal is simple, kill the victims and prevent them from escaping from the Family’s compound. As a victim your goals is to hide from, avoid, and escape the family at all cost. Overall it’s a very entertaining online experience, although in its beginning stages the game is a bit redundant with its share of bugs.

Gameplay: True to its Roots

There is no actual “story” to this Texas Chainsaw Massacre as far as the game is concerned. It is an online asymmetrical horror survival game, meaning your only tasks are either kill or escape, there’s really not much more to it than that. This, however, does not mean that the game is lacking in quality, despite the fact that the quantity of things you have available to do is fairly low. In conjunction with the actual franchise, you play as either one of the members of the Family or the victims they harvest and feed to Grandpa, the ultimate killer.

As any of the family members your goal is to kill the victims located around the compound. There are five playable villains, each with their own unique abilities and skills used to keep the family secret. Finding and harvesting blood around the compound allows you to boost Grandpa’s ability help to find victims. Once Grandpa is strong enough, the Family hunts down and kills each victim until no one is left. On the victim side of things, it’s pretty similar as far as abilities and skills go. Your goal as a victim however is obviously the opposite of the Family’s. Using skills like lockpicking, sneaking, and even physical defense make your way around the compound, avoiding death, and finding your way out of the Family’s grasp.

As far as a survival horror game goes, I’d say Texas Chainsaw Massacre sits up there with some of the best in the gameplay aspect. There isn’t too much to it, but it makes for a great few matches of cat and mouse in your downtime. Throw in the nostalgic horror of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise and you got yourself a pretty decent game.

Graphics: An enjoyable Gore-fest

The graphics in Texas Chainsaw Massacre are extremely exceptional for the type of game that it is. The colors don’t pop too much to help add to the horror aspect. The shadows are dark, really dark. The blood and gore aspect is phenomenal, and the characters look great. The Family compound depiction in this game is perfect. The farmhouse vibes are legit and add a layer of terror once you realize there is a human butcher shop in the basement. Everything from the movement of a terrifying Leatherface chainsaw dance, to the panics sprint to escape of a victim who finally made their way out, are done with care and precision.

I especially love the night and day aspect of the game. To change it up a bit, the developers made sure to have each game played at different times of the day. This really helps to illuminate the textures of the game’s design, or further increase the terror factor in the dead of night. In fact, I think it is safe to say that the graphics are the best feature of this 2023 title. I have always been a fan of some good gore-y kills in a video game, and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre definitely lives up to my expectations in that department.

Replay Value: Not really there for me… yet

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre video game is definitely not a bad game, but it lacks in replay value. At least for me personally. It is quite literally the same exact match over and over again. With only one map, a handful of character options, and only time of day variants to change up the aesthetic, it really only entertaining for a few hours at a time.

My opinion is if you are a fan of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre like I am, you’ll definitely enjoy it for a little. If you’re a fan of games like Dead By Daylight (I’m not) then it may be much more up your alley. If you’re a fan of both of those series, then this just might be the greatest game ever created. I’ll leave that up to your personal interpretations. For me I would say the replay value of this game is, at best, middle of the road. It’s good for a few matches here and there, if I’m in the mood for this type of gaming.

Conclusion: It’s fun to be the Bad Guys

At $40, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre is obviously not a “full game” by any means. It is fun, it is definitely a good grab for horror fans, and it has its charms. Being on the newer side, only being released in August, it has plenty of time for added content and bug fixes so I’ll be a bit more open-minded in my final score.

Overall I would give this game a very solid 7 out of 10 with plenty of potential to become an even more solid 8 or 9. Adding more gameplay options and possibly different areas to play would definitely elevate this experience. If you’re a fan of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise I would recommend giving this game a try, just don’t get your hopes up for anything too interactive or story driven.

The Texas Chainsaw massacre is an asymmetrical horror game developed by Sumo Digital. It released on August 18th for the PlayStation 5 and other systems.