The Cast of Victims
When Maria Flores went missing, and local law enforcement seemed to stall out in their search, her younger sister Ana teamed up with some of Maria’s friends from college to pick up the trail. It’s time for you to meet our cast of Victims.
By now you’ve probably read up on the story of Maria Flores, the college student who disappeared while road tripping through the area surrounding Austin, photographing the Spring wildflowers. Her younger sister Ana, joined by some of Maria’s friends from college, embark on a search mission to find Maria. Maria is the catalyst, the search party is the cast. But creating such a cast of characters is not simply giving them a name and look. Not if you expect your players to attach to them in meaningful ways.
“When we sat down to think about the Victims in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, we had two things we kept circling back to - will people enjoy playing these characters as people, and do these characters make sense as a group that would be friends? The first question is really important; you've got to give them enough personality for players to latch on to while leaving room for them to identify with and inhabit these individuals. It means we dove as deep into thinking about them as we did the new Family members. The second answer is helped along by the first. We wanted a diverse group of friends that would - surface level - strongly correlate to differing playstyles. Thinking about those relationships (Who is better friends with who? Why are these two friends?) helped us to create a group that feels natural together, even if they're very different from one another.”
–Ismael Vicens, Executive Producer, Gun Interactive
Once you start building this diverse group of personalities, complete with their own backstories and identities, those aspects of their persona develop into how they feel in game, how they play, and their strengths and weaknesses. Let’s talk a little bit about these characters and who they really are.
Julie
Julie is a Southern California native and fits every bit of what that description might bring to mind. Sand, surf, and sport lifestyle. But whether or not her life to this point has prepared her for the stress and strain of the experience that requires an entirely different type of toughness remains to be seen. Will her physical abilities be enough to carry her through an absolute nightmare unlike any other?
Leland
While Leland might have wrestled in high school, college life is a long way from high school and his glory days of wrestling. Still, he is the toughest of the group, but what he has in strength he lacks elsewhere. A native Texan and bit of a tough guy, but still no match one on one against the likes of the Slaughter Family and therefore his capabilities benefit from teamwork with his peers.
Connie
Connie comes from a life on the farm, where she never shied away from the work that went along with it. While not quite what you’d imagine a tomboy to be, Connie relishes in being the type of person that will surprise you with her skills. She’s crafty, intelligent, and ingenuitive. A natural tinkerer, her skills are more surgical than strong arm.
Sonny
Sonny might have a slightly smaller frame, but he more than makes up for that with his intellect. The best student of the bunch is not only book smart, he’s quick on his feet and quick with his decisions. Perceptive and intuitive, exceptionally situationally aware, Sonny will need to rely on his intelligence if he’s to survive, and his friends would be equally wise to reap the benefits of his abilities.
Ana
And then there’s Ana. Ana is fiercely motivated and a natural leader. After losing her father, she and Maria help to take care of their mother, while trying to forge their own paths as well. Now with Maria missing, Ana is done sitting idly by while law enforcement stumbles along. Determination and sheer willpower are her strongest suits, and she’ll need every ounce of her resilience to endure.
“When you take care to build out the personalities of this group of diverse but connected people, all of whom are emotionally invested in the search for Maria and bringing their own unique experiences and strengths to the group, their in-game abilities start to form organically. You’ve put so much into who they are that you start to visualize how they are: How will they react? What would they do in this situation they find themselves in? From there, it really becomes a matter of design and iteration to take those attributes and traits from their backstories and into their ultimate role in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.”
–Ronnie Hobbs, Creative Director, Gun Interactive
While these stories are just scratching the surface, we hope you are starting to see where these personalities intersect and separate, where they can work as a force multiplier or balance equalizer. Knowing that we have five capable characters at your disposal for a four person team means syncing up with the other players around you to either double their efforts or balance their shortcomings. Cooperation is the strongest tool at their disposal, but single handedly they all are capable of putting up one hell of a fight, in their own unique and distinctive ways.
Keep an eye on the Community Hub and official channels for more of their stories, as well as the skills and attributes unique to Julie, Leland, Connie, Sonny, and of course, Ana. We look forward to sharing more in the future as we reveal further details on gameplay, metagame, and mechanics in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.