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The Texas Chain Saw Massacre game release time, trailers, and more

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre game release date draws closer, so here’s the terrifying truth about the next asymmetrical game, including gameplay and story.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre release date confirmed, Steam demo incoming: A man in a horrifying mask, Leatherface from horror game Texas Chainsaw Massacre

When is the Texas Chain Saw Massacre game release time? It’s time to rev up those chainsaws or lace up your running shoes, the Texas Chain Saw Massacre release date has arrived, so read on as we tell you everything you need to know about the multiplayer game’s release details.

Asymmetrical horror games are booming right now, with the likes of Evil Dead the Game and Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed (not that you call that a horror) vying for Dead by Daylight’s asymmetrical multiplayer throne. Now, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre has it’s own killer multiplayer game made by the horror fanatics behind Friday the 13th. As you can read in our Texas Chain Saw Massacre review, it’s a true homage to the classic movie, and if you need some advice when the game’s release time arrives, our beginner’s tips to surviving or killing can lend a hand.

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Texas Chain Saw Massacre game release time

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is technically already here and ready for preload, but servers go live at Friday, August 18, 2023 at 7am PDT / 10am EDT / 3pm BST.

Based on our own hands-on time with the game, it’s a welcome twist on the multiplayer, asymmetrical horror genre – backing up Sumo’s own claims in an interview with PCGamesN. A team of survivors (or, as developer Gun prefers to call them, “victims”) faces a squad of killers in locations lovingly recreated from the terrifying 1974 movie. Made in collaboration with some of the film’s original creators, the game serves as a quasi-prequel to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie and aims for extreme fidelity to its classic source material.

Does Texas Chain Saw Massacre have crossplay?

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre will have crossplay matchmaking between Steam, Windows, Xbox Series X/S, and PlayStation 5 versions.

However, the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions can only play with others on the same console, as they’re not even compatible with the next-generation devices, so there are some limitations to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre crossplay.

Is Texas Chain Saw Massacre coming to Game Pass?

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre will be coming to Xbox Game Pass PC, console, and Ultimate on day one.

You’ll be able to jump straight into the shoes of a killer (or victim) along with everyone else with your Game Pass subscription.

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Texas Chain Saw Massacre gameplay

If you’re new to the asymmetrical genre, we’ll start with the basics first. If you’re a hardened vet, jump ahead to the next paragraph because you’ll know this bit. From the launch screen, you can choose to play as either a killer or a victim, and each of the lobby’s seven players is a real person. You and your teammates will then go head-to-head against the other team to either survive the night or slaughter the victims. We recommend playing at least a few matches of both to find which side you prefer to be on, and knowing the other side’s abilities will help you in your own methodical plays, whether as a killer or a victim.

Choosing to play as one of the family members, you must seek out the victims and kill them – simple as that. Each killer has their own unique ability. For example, Cook isn’t the best killer, and he’s quite slow but can listen closely for noise and seek out victim locations. Leatherface, meanwhile, is undoubtedly the best killer – well, since Grandpa is out of action. Speaking of the old guy, Grandpa makes a cameo in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and is one of the best bits about it. Sitting in his chair, Grandpa spawns somewhat randomly on the map, and the family must feed him blood to trigger his own ability, all while keeping an eye out for those pesky victims. Voice chat is key to success when playing as a part of the family.

Entering the game as a victim, you start in the basement, where you are tied up. Wiggle free and explore the area for the tools required for your escape. Unlock tools allow you to open doors and gates, bone scraps let you tackle any killers that get too close, and medicine bottles heal you up. Aside from Grandpa, one of the best things about this game is its realistic health system. If you’re injured, you can’t just magically patch yourself up – instead, you’re always bleeding out. Medicine simply slows the process. While monitoring your health (and the killers’ whereabouts), you must try and escape through one of four exits, either using the fuse box, water pump, generator, or car battery. Get out alive, or die trying.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre story

Naturally, the game is based on the classic 1974 film, so you might think you already know the game’s story. You’d be partly right, as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre features the movie’s family, including the Hitchhiker, Cook, and Bubba himself, faithfully recreated. However, the victims are an all-new cast of characters and two new killers, too.

Our story starts with a cut scene of the chase and subsequent death of Maria Flores, who – as the voice-over tells us – is a young university student who has disappeared, and her sister, Ana, has gone looking for her. Ana is one of the four playable victims, while Maria’s body, sadly, can be found in Bubba’s basement during gameplay.

The rest is as you’d expect from a Texas Chainsaw story – four teenagers are trapped in the family’s house and have to do everything they can to escape while three of the killers try to hunt them down – and, thus, we have The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre trailers

There aren’t many trailers showcasing The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but the unrated gameplay trailer further up this page gives you a pretty good idea of how terrifying it will be to survive the family. The voice lines from both Cook and Hitchhiker demonstrate how loyal the game is to the original film, and, yes, if you recognize that voice, Edwin Neal does reprise his role as the young Hitchhiker.

Other videos on the official Gun YouTube channel include the official soundtrack to slaughter, and The Old Slaughterhouse video above gives you a glimpse of the vast Slaughterhouse map – our favorite map from the tech test.

Watch the next one cautiously, as the Kills trailer shows off the kill animations by each of the five killers, including new characters Johnny and Sissy. The latter is quite beautiful, if you can call it that, as she cradles her victim’s face in her hands while singing to them softly, perhaps an insight into her personality.

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That is everything there is to know about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre game release date and all that comes with it, and we’ll be adding more information to our guides hub when the release time hits. In the meantime, some of our other favorite survival games might help with the wait, and if you really can’t wait to get impaled on a meat hook – weirdo – take a look at where Leatherface fits in our DBD killer tier list, as well as our Dead by Daylight codes, as that’s another game that takes a lot of inspiration from Texas Chainsaw.