Dead by Daylight has been the reigning champion of multiplayer survival horror for the last seven years. Games like Friday the 13th and Propnight have competed for the throne, but so far nothing has been able to outdo DbD. With the release of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, however, there’s a new contender for the title. Does TCM have what it takes to claim the multiplayer survival crown? Competition spurs innovation, so it’s healthy for the genre that another game is even making this kind of stir. TCM is a terrific experience, but there’s a good argument for why it will never dethrone the reigning king and its impressive roster of masked killers.
The Asymmetric Difference
TCM pits three killers against four victims, compared to Dead by Daylight‘s 1v4 scenario. Playing a killer in DbD is a lonely affair. Though elements like the map, spawn and totem RNG, and survivor items are out of your hands, your individual skill plays a massive role. If you fail to patrol the generators or botch too many Oni rushes, you’re going to lose. In TCM, the killer always has two partners, and there isn’t as much individual skill expression. Cook and Leatherface play differently, but they’re far more similar than Hag and Blight in DbD. Both of these factors mean that killers have less control over the game. For some, that’s a problem.
Some players prefer the comfort of allies and the chaos of comms. Unfortunately, having teammates as the killers comes with its own burdens. In TCM, your teammates might not hold up their end. The Cook might not communicate enemy positions. The Hitchhiker might spend all his time feeding Grandpa instead of chasing victims. There are a lot of ways to screw up, and nothing feels worse than losing because your teammate forgot to lock a door behind them. DbD survivors often bemoan the horrors of solo queue, and TCM shows players what the killer version of that looks like.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre Can’t Dethrone Dead by Daylight
The single largest point in Dead by Daylight‘s favor is its roster of licensed characters. Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, Pinhead, and the Xenomorph are all playable. Even Leatherface himself, the poster child of TCM, is there. The DLC that added these killers also added franchise-specific maps and survivors in many cases, bringing in even more lore and flavor from their respective worlds. From Stranger Things to Silent Hill, DbD includes some of the biggest pop culture franchises around. Mechanics, perk load-outs, and maps are always evolving because of this, keeping the game fresh.
TCM is bound by the limits of its license. Even though there are numerous films in the franchise, Gun Interactive only has rights to the original film so far. As far as we know, there are zero plans to open the license up further. That means no Myers, Krueger, Chucky, or Candyman, as one would expect of a titular adaptation of a movie. With every new franchise added to its roster, Dead by Daylight gains new life as fans of the original IP flood in, eager for a chance to play their favorite characters. With TCM, that simply can’t happen. None of this detracts from the brilliant multiplayer survival game that TCM is. It does, however, mean that Dead by Daylight isn’t giving up its throne anytime soon.
