(Final Update) Surviving the Sawrunner

This guide will help you outsmart the chainsaw wielding maniac who is known as the sawrunner. Updated in 2019 for no particular reason!

Guide Update

For no reason other than I felt like doing so, I have updated this guide for the 10 people that still play this game. Almost everything has been re-written, but the instructions are pretty much the same.

Oh, and I also made a straight forward, no commentary video so you can either read the guide or watch the encounters themselves to get a better understanding. Feel free to do both! Or neither!

About the sawrunner

A quick mention, this guide is recommended for subsequent playthroughs of Cry of Fear, not your first. If it is your first, I insist you experience the game as is with little outside help (but don't let me tell you what to do). That said, feel free to skim over this guide for quick help and info about the sections that sawrunner appears in.

Sawrunner himself is a terrifying foe, appearing at the most unpredictable of times and proving to be a nightmare to unprepared players. Running at incredible speeds, he...er, actually i'll stop myself there since he's about the same speed as Simon, the player. Not to downsize his role in the game of course, but if we look at him from a technical perspective, he isn't too much of a threat after coming to understand how he functions in Cry of Fear. Lets get down to business.

The general tip

Now it might seem a bit ridiculous, but all you gotta do is walk. Yep, just walk forward away from Sawrunner to the area you need to be in. With this newfound power, you could easily close the guide and get back to the game. Not that i'd hold it against you, maybe you want to get through as quickly as possible. Bear with me though, as while this invaluable tactic is foolproof for the first encounter, you'll need to know when to change it up a bit in the next ones. But don't worry, it's not as hard as it may sound.

So why walking? As I mentioned earlier, Sawrunner's speed is on par with the players default movement speed. That means simply looking ahead, holding forward, not sprinting and not crouching. Sawrunner does actually catch up to you, but the poor thing hasn't learned how to move and attack at the same time. This simply means he will stand still to swing his chainsaw at you, except you will already be out of attack range by the time he swings. Get the idea now? Regardless if that's a yes or no, try it out for yourself when you first meet him.

tl;dr walk

Video Walkthrough

Encounters

LEVEL SPOILERS AHEAD
-I've already stated this at the beginning, But if you happen to be playing Cry of Fear for the first time and have stumbled on to this guide, I highly recommend not reading ahead. The story wont be explicitly spoiled, but may be given away through the level structure-

Encounter 1: Chapter 3 "Roland Street Alley"

At some point while venturing through the Alleys of Roland Street, you will come across a heavily chained and taped up door, with a save point just before it laying on the ground. Continuing on will reveal that the sawrunner has been lying in wait for us, ambushing the player as they continue on a bit forward.
The game puts what seems like a decent distance between you and the sawrunner, but if you insist on sprinting, you will find that you run out of stamina before you are able to reach the end. So instead, just carry on walking forward towards the exit railing to end the encounter. There are a few dead ends to be wary off, but other than that there is no real threat.

Encounter 2: Chapter 4 "Maintenance tunnels"

During your trip towards the College, you will need to pass through some maintenance tunnels to progress. You will find two doors at some point, one boarded from the other side, and one that you need to enter to make it to the next street. Once again, a save point is located nearby just before you enter. After entering, you will be instantly ambushed by Sawrunner once again as he runs at you from your right, hopefully prompting you to make your way to the left through a short corridor and out the tunnel.
Once out, the chase is not over as Sawrunner is not stopped by a mere door. Instead, a gate will do the trick, so carry on moving forward until you see a section off to the right that you need to head in to (not the greatest description, apologies). When you see it, I would recommend sprinting towards it to put some distance between you and Sawrunner and flipping the switch to lock the gate down.

Encounter 3: Chapter 6 "Asylum Forest"

After the train-wreck forces you to venture through a forest, you will come across a lone doorknob in the middle of a field, dimly lit by a single lantern. You will know which area Sawrunner lurks in when Simon attempts to keep his nerve by breathing more audibly than usual. Make sure you have a free inventory space to pick up the doorknob, as Sawrunner will begin his approach as soon as you interact with it. The area is large , but be wary of some small trees that might block you. Next to the doorknob is an arrow pointing towards the direction of the house missing a doorknob. Sawrunner will come from that side and may catch you off guard.
The tricky part here is inserting the doorknob through the inventory screen quickly, since the game does not pause when viewing your inventory. Because of this, consider doing a few loops near the house until you're sure that you can access the screen fast enough, use the doorknob and enter the door. Once you are in, Sawrunner will de-spawn so if you happen to have left anything in the previous area, you can safely retrieve it.

Encounter 4: Chapter 7 "Kirkville Sewers"

The final single player encounter takes place near the end of the game. After exiting an underwater section of the sewer, you should come across a save point right next to the manhole you exited from. Once again, make sure you one spare slot in your inventory, as you will need to grab a key that lets you backtrack to a door, allowing you to exit the sewer.
As soon as you grab this key, sawrunner will break down the door in front of you and begin the chase. All you need to do is make your way back through the linear corridors and enter the manhole again. Entering it can be a bit odd, as you'll need to slow down and enter directly in the centre to avoid walking over it instead. But after you've achieved this, you'll have successfully outran the sawrunner in the single player campaign. Well done

Doctor mode encounters

This section will list the 3 encounters with sawrunner in doctor mode...yes thats right, he's decided to chase Doctor Purnell for a little while.

Encounter 1:

Remember the first ambient chainsaw sound you hear when going in to the sewer basements? That sound foreshadows the chase event with Purnell. After exiting the sewers, you will be in the basement after climbing the ladder. Going up to set of stairs will cause sawrunner to flank you from the right and start chasing you in a deadly maze.

Encounter 2:

Remember again, where you first meet Purnell as Simon in single player? Well if you do, you may also remember our lovely insane doctor going through a door which he then locks. You will find yourself in a long corridor stretch where sawrunner will chase you for a second time. This encounter is considerably easier than the 1st one, since there are no dead ends.

Encounter 3:

ALSO remember how Simons first visit to the apartment complex brought him to a chained up door? That is the good doctor's escape point which, once you enter, brings you to the doctor mode conclusion. After finishing loading in to the hallway, Sawrunner will instantly appear to the left, prompting you to head right and escape. A set of bars blocks your escape, but you will be able to crawl under the bottom right of them. This section requires very precise timing and reactions, as it is essentially a run ender.

Notes

Sawrunner will appear in doctor mode and co op. In doctor mode, he will continue his job from singleplayer, to chase simon. In co op, he is fought as a boss and will appear in the forest area and the ronald street alleyways.

The camera item (complete the game in under 2 hours 30 minutes) can be used to freeze sawrunner like any other enemy, and stop him from chasing you

The 1st sawrunner encounter will have a M16 behind sawrunner when he breaks out. the M16 can be found later if the player does not want to risk picking it up.

A morphine syringe can be found in the 2nd encounter by going left when Simon is about to go to the switch. Since this can be found on the return journey, I would only get this in the encounter if you are quick or have the camera item.

Sawrunner confusion

Apparently, some people have been getting confused with the bosses that use chainsaws. This small section will help anyone who gets confused



SawRUNNER:

Sawrunner is the one i'm talking about in the guide. The theatre masks are his most distinguishing feature. His height is about the same as Simon and he can be identified by the long screams he makes when he chases you.



SawER:
Sawer is the 1st major boss that the player will fight. He is found in the sick apartments and will mark the end of the chapter 1 after his defeat. His main feature is the spikes sticking out of his head and body. He is much taller than Simon and is slightly slower than him. His most unique feature is the death scene he can trigger. If the player is too slow to dodge his attack, the game plays a unique animation of Simon being bisected. Neat



SawCRAZY:
Sawcrazy is found in co-op and will attack the police with 2 chainsaws. His main feature is his long bloody hair. He will continuosly swing his chainsaws randomly.
Yeah that's about it

Conclusion

I hope this guide helps you survive the enocounters with sawrunner. Feedback is appreciated and if your unsure of anything in this guide, ask in the comments section

[book simon]

@The Mere Concept of Applebee's this scream was scaring people into thinking he was there, but I think by now you would already know that.

[Hero]

yooo the m16 can be got just juke him and go back into the door he de-spawns and you can just cgrab it

[The Mere Concept of Applebee's]

Oh nvm, I heard his screaming but i guess he is gone

[The Mere Concept of Applebee's]

Quick question (Warning: Spoilers-ish) after getting the fuse at the college, how do you go back? Do I have to trap the runner in the gated area?

[RivviN]

The room he first spawns in actually has an M16! So for the first encounter i suggest you loop around him OR go trough the door right before the save.

[𝐻𝖔𝖗𝖗𝖔𝖗]

And what about this lovley lass from coop?
https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fvignette.wikia.nocookie.net%2Fcry-of-fear%2Fimages%2Fc%2Fcf%2F2013-07-06_00009.jpg%2Frevision%2Flatest%3Fcb%3D20130708064518&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcry-of-fear.wikia.com%2Fwiki%2FManhunt&docid=ItVmKgt0kE_exM&tbnid=hqUsf3mTL-b9rM%3A&vet=10ahUKEwif14KQuOfbAhUpP5oKHVRaB9sQMwgzKAIwAg..i&w=1024&h=768&bih=907&biw=1280&q=orag%20cry%20of%20fear%20coop&ved=0ahUKEwif14KQuOfbAhUpP5oKHVRaB9sQMwgzKAIwAg&iact=mrc&uact=8

[𝐻𝖔𝖗𝖗𝖔𝖗]

Spoilerz Ever tried using secret weapons? (Camera axe famas simons book of hell?

[𝐻𝖔𝖗𝖗𝖔𝖗]

Excuse me but sawrunner is killable...

[MeoWeoMeow]

When I saw him first time I ran like hell but regret it because I remember seeing an assualt rifle behind , how do I get that rifle? How do I go back there?

[bib]

" DO NOT ATTACK THIS LOVEABLE CREATURE!!! " lmao "loveable" and "deadly" "creature"