Publisher Gun Interactive and developer Sumo Nottingham have announced that the asymmetrical horror game The Texas Chain Saw Massacre will launch for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC via Steam on August 18. It will be available on day one on Game Pass, as revealed in a trailer released today.
The pair also announced that a technical test will be held on May 25 to gather feedback from players to make final polishes before its worldwide launch. This test will give players an early taste of the game’s combat and locations. Based on the iconic horror film, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre puts players in control of some of the most notorious characters in the horror genre. Sumo Nottingham said it did not just recreate locations and characters, the team also created a whole time and place in Texas, where the game takes place as its name implies.
As an asymmetrical horror title,The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’s formula should be familiar to fans of games like Dead by Daylight, wherein players either take the role of a psycho-maniac killer or one of several survivors to keep themselves alive as long as possible. In the game, players will step into the shoes of Leatherface, whose aim is to eliminate all survivors using his chainsaw. However, the survivors will utilize their surroundings to stand against Leatherface and escape with their lives. The development team assured prospective players that the game will be as true to its source material as possible, saying, “Authenticity is a vital part of what we do here at Gun. But that authenticity runs deeper than just Hero Art.”
There are five victims in total, each having a unique ability and attribute to help them survive. Character stats are divided into five main categories — Toughness, Endurance, Strength, Proficiency, and Stealth. Each attribute has its own merits, requiring players to adapt their gameplay style against Leatherface. For instance, toughness helps players to be able to sustain more damage while endurance will provide the stamina to run longer than other victims. Strength can alter the stun effect duration for actions, while proficiency can make it easier for you to pick locks. Lastly, stealth influences the victim’s ability to perform actions silently.
Killers also have attributes divided into categories, such as savagery, harvesting, and endurance, all of which work together to make the killer inescapable. Similar to the victims’ attribute, endurance affects the stamina drain and recharge rate, while harvesting changes the amount of blood the killer gains when interacting with victims. Savagery, on the other hand, affects the amount of damage the killer deals with melee attacks.
