The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is one of cinema’s most influential slasher films. Controversial at the time of release, the film is nevertheless praised for its social commentary and for establishing many common horror movie genre tropes. While the franchise’s most recent film may not have turned heads, the publisher of Friday the 13th: The Game is still moving ahead with its upcoming game based on the 1973 classic.
Gun Media announced The Texas Chainsaw Massacre during the 2021 Game Awards last December. An asymmetrical multiplayer game like Friday the 13th, it received a new gameplay trailer during the Extended Xbox Showcase on Tuesday. Despite being less than a minute long, it gives fans some idea of what they can expect when the game launches next year.
Like Friday the 13th: The Game and Behaviour Interactive’s Dead by Daylight, players take the role of either the killer or potential Victims. In the case of Gun’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, this includes the iconic Leatherface and other members of his cannibalistic Family. The latest trailer shows some examples of how players will do this, with Victim players sneaking, running, and hiding as they navigate the rooms and tunnels of the farm. The Family gives chase, searching hiding places and laying ambushes as they close in for the kill.
The trailer also shows how both sides can interact with the environment. This includes turning lights on or off, locking doors, or slashing through them as Leatherface. One clip shows a character flipping the switch on an electric box, which is likely part of one of the puzzles that Victims must solve before they can escape. Players can even try jumping out of windows in an emergency, though the trailer shows that such desperate measures might not always be enough to evade a killer in hot pursuit.
Based on what the developers have shown off so far, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre game follows the same basic format as Guns’ Friday the 13th. The Victims are trapped in an isolated location inspired by the film and must work together to escape. However, one potential wrinkle comes from the fact that The Texas Chainsaw Massacre follows a whole family of killers instead of just one. Multiple members of the Sawyer Family, called the Slaughter Family in-game, appear in the trailer. However, it is unclear if or how they might interact with each other.
The one versus everyone dynamic worked great for Friday the 13th and Dead by Daylight. However, Gun Media may decide to do something different for its next game. Hopefully, fans will get a better look sometime between now and when The Texas Chainsaw Massacre releases next year.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre releases in 2023 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
