At this point most fighting games are from well established franchises. Guilty Gear, Blazblue, Street Fighter, King of Fighters, have been around for decades with countless characters to choose from. For many, this makes Them’s Fightin’ Herds modest seven character roster feel a bit light. While these characters make up for it by bringing a lot to the table, the upcoming season pass promises four new characters, with the first being Texas.
For anyone unfamiliar with Texas, he plays a sizable role at the beginning of the story, and is Arizona’s father. As a result, he has similar mannerisms, and attacks. However, just because they’re related, Texas stands out in a couple ways.
Texas starts by being the first grappler, and male playable character, in Them’s Fightin’ Herds. His whole play style is centered around knowing how to close the gap between your opponent, and is given several tools to do this. These include his cowbells having the potentially to pull characters towards him like Arizona, slamming the ground, and then plucking them out of the air, or just charging forward. Once you’re within his range there are various grabs, or combos you can perform to deal devastating damage to a foe.
While I wouldn’t consider him a particularly complicated, the challenge ultimately lies in knowing how to set up his attacks. A bad Texas player is just a big target, especially if you’re fighting a really good zoner, so you need to have a good idea of what your next three moves are going to be. Even if you don’t immediately push for the grab, some of his best normal combos rely on a few quick hits that either build to a massive heavy blow, or use a grab to reset the pain.
For these reasons I think Texas is a strong addition to the line up, and one newcomers, and seasoned fighting game players can enjoy. It’s nice to see a character that doesn’t immediately cater to the hardcore demographic, a choice that is becoming increasingly common in DLC characters. And, if you do find his play style confusing, the tutorial does a wonderful job of introducing his mechanics, details, and helping you understand the intended play style.
