What are some The Texas Chain Saw Massacre tips for success? We’ve spent countless hours in the horror game to bring you precious advice that will save you plenty of time, health, and lives. Not only will you avoid making the same mistakes we did, you instantly have an advantage over your opponents by being the smartest person on the battlefield.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre brings the classic movie to the asymmetrical horror genre. Yes, you can already play as Bubba in Dead by Daylight, but now you can play as Cook or Hitchhiker too as you stalk around stunning maps as part of the family. These maps feature iconic locations from the 1974 movie, and – as we highlight in our Texas Chain Saw Massacre review – the game design is a beautiful, faithful homage to a classic. Whether you play as one of the family or one of their brand-new victims in the horror game, here are some top beginner tips for going into The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
Tips for playing as a victim
Watch out for chickens to avoid being spotted
There are lots of traps and triggers around the house that give away your location if you’re not careful, like shutting a door too hard or running into hanging bones. These are usually pretty obvious and most are easily avoidable. Chickens, though, are another problem altogether.
Caged chickens are scattered around the maps, indoors and out, and they start clucking loudly if you get too close to them. The trouble is that they’re not as obvious as other alarms, and are usually close to gates or useful items. Be on the lookout as you’re sneaking around the sunflower field or car graveyard.
Carry multiple unlock tools for outside gates
This one took us a while to pick up on, but you should consider carrying two unlock tools with you to ensure you always have a spare. You must have an unlock tool to escape the basement, but there are other doors, gates, and exits that require one as well.
With two slots in your inventory, you might want to fill one with medicine or a weapon, but neither of those are as crucial as an unlock tool. By having both inventory slots filled with an unlock tool – and, handily, you can collect two from the same toolbox – you’re ready to go if you find a clear escape route. You can escape a family member without a bone shard, and you have time to find medicine when your health gets low, so the unlock tool is the only crucial item to carry at all times. If you still think you’d rather be able to defend yourself though, read our guide on how to fight back.
Learn to use multiple characters
This tip applies to both victims and killers, as no character can appear in the same match twice. This is a fairly unique mechanic for the genre, and presumably has something to do with every character having their own ability which all work together seamlessly. However, this does mean that you can’t ‘main’ your favorite character as someone else might beat you to them, so you need to be able to use multiple characters, just in case.
Make sure you know how to use every ability
Each victim has their own unique ability, and it’s important to know what that is as you learn each character’s playstyle. Since each character can only appear in each lobby once, you can’t rely on a main character, so make sure you try out every ability.
So far, most players seem to be in agreement that Connie’s lockpick ability is the best, allowing her to unlock doors and gates in no time. However, play around with this as it has a long cool down and it might be worth taking your time to unlock a basement door if it means having your ability ready to go at an exit.
Don’t let grandpa rat you out to the family
You’ll get used to this one fairly quickly, but it’s more an end-game warning than anything. As you progress through the match, pop ups appear warning you to keep still to avoid detection. Hide somewhere and don’t move for the duration of Grandpa’s howl or your location is revealed to all members of the family.
The biggest thing to keep in mind is which level Grandpa is at. Grandpa hits max level after level four, and there’s nowhere to hide. At max level, your location is revealed automatically and repeatedly, whether you remain still or not. While this is completely out of your control, just be aware of it, and try and get out as soon as possible. Teamwork really helps here too, as it’s harder to escape once you’re the last victim standing. Finally, if you’re at this stage, don’t stop running. Since your location is revealed even when you’re still, stealth goes out the window.
Watch your health
One of the more realistic aspects of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is the fact that you are bleeding out from the moment the match starts, and can’t ever fully heal. There are two bars to keep an eye on in your victim HUD: the heart and the health bar (three, including the white stamina bar). Take a hit to the health bar, and you can use medicine to raise your health back up. However, your heart status is always decreasing until you eventually collapse. You get the chance to recuperate once, but twice and you’re out – even if you’ve never even crossed paths with a killer.
Tips for playing as part of the family
Feed grandpa and give victims nowhere to hide
At first, feeding Grandpa might feel like a waste of valuable time when you could be out there slashing throats. Actually, though, getting Grandpa leveled up as quickly as possible can be completely game changing. The head of the family drinks blood, and each time his level increases, he temporarily reveals the location of moving victims. The victims receive an alert warning them to stay still, so it’s rarely useful. However, get him to max level and everything changes.
At level five, which is fairly achievable if you kill one or two victims and collect blood from around the map, there’s no longer anywhere for victims to hide. Their location is revealed to you repeatedly, regardless of whether they’re still or moving. Once you’re down to the last remaining teens, there’s pretty much no way they’re getting out with Grandpa maxed out.
Turn on the generator to slow victims’ escape
Playing as one of the family members, particularly Hitchhiker, one of the most valuable things you can do is turn on the car battery and generator. As Hitchhiker or Sissy, it’s worth using your ability to trap them, too. Both currents electrify nearby cattle grids which stand in the way of victims and survival.
They also need to unlock the gate in front of it, but if you haven’t turned on the power, that’s their easiest and fastest exit and you’ll lose your prey in no time. By turning them on, not only do victims have to turn them off and get back to the gate, but you are notified when they do so, so you can go and stop them in their tracks.
Close open exits
Don’t panic if an exit gets opened, or even if a victim gets out… it’s not over ‘til it’s over. All Texas Chain Saw Massacre exits can be closed back up once they’ve been opened. Since victims have to complete a few tasks before they can escape, and those usually aren’t close together, you have plenty of time to reverse their actions – which is infuriating as a survivor. For example, when a victim opens the pressure valve exit, they have to get from the water pump to the correct gate, giving you plenty of time to turn it back off again before they get there.
But what about if someone does escape? Well, sure, there’s nothing you can do about that, they’re out of there. However, that doesn’t mean you have to let everyone else follow suit. Victims are alerted when a companion gets out, so they know there’s an exit waiting for them. Either guard that exit or close it back up, and they’re back at square one – while bleeding out and a teammate short.
Learn to use Leatherface himself
At the moment, most players seem to be favoring Sissy as the best killer thanks to her ability to reveal victims, follow victims, and kill them quickly. As with victims though, no killer can appear in a match twice, so there’s no point in relying on her in case someone gets there first. What’s more, Leatherface must appear in every match, so while it’s a good idea to get to know every killer in one way or another, learning to use Leatherface himself will work in your favor at some point.
Hopefully, these tips will lead you to success in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, whether you’re playing as a killer or victim. As we play more of the multiplayer game, rest assured any other tips we pick up will be added above. In the meantime, take a look at how The Texas Chain Saw Massacre crossplay works, and how the game won’t end up like Friday the 13th, as the creators reassured PCGamesN in an exclusive interview.