The Texas Chain Saw Massacre review – asymmetric horror where servers are the biggest enemy

There are a lot of things you can do in eight minutes. Make a brew. Reply to a couple of emails. Pop to the loo. Eight minutes is a surprisingly long time, actually, and I know this because I’ve lost of eight-minute segments over the last couple of weeks as I sat in front of my PC, trying to play The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre reviewDeveloper: Sumo DigitalPublisher: Gun InteractivePlatform: Played on PCAvailability: Out now on PC (Steam), PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S (Game Pass)

I feel a little mean kicking off a review by whinging about matchmaking, but when populating a lobby is so important – no, make that – to your experience, I feel I’d be doing you a disservice by opening with anything else. Because ultimately, it doesn’t matter how good this game is –and it is very good! – if you can’t bloody play it.

Texas Chain Saw Massacre is, at least, exactly what it says on the tin. An asymmetric horror cast from the same mould as genre leader Dead by Daylight, four victims fight to escape the clutches of Leatherface by lockpicking doors to get out of the basement, steathily navigating the exterior environs by avoiding its traps and antagonists, and escaping to the road. The twist here, however, is that our chainsaw-touting maniac is not alone; yes, it’s still asymmetric, but Leatherface is accompanied by two Family members, which makes it 4v3. And it absolutely works.

Because as much as we love stomping around as the Big Bad in Dead by Daylight, playing the Killer is essentially a pretty lonely experience. Not so in Texas Chain Saw Massacre, though. Here, Family members can chase down their quarry together, working as a sickening tag team to power up their detection system – more on that in a sec – corral Victims into traps, and working together to catch their prey. The Victims’ job is to escape – the Family’s job is to ensure that they never do.