The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners – Chapter 2 Retribution PC VR Review

The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners – Chapter 2 Retribution was developed and published by Skydance Interactive, Skybound Entertainment and Skydance Productions and is available on PSVR, PSVR2 Meta Quest 2 and Steam.

The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners – Chapter 2 Retribution places players back in the shoes of The Tourist, a man who has made quite the name for himself in Nola. After the events of the first game, The Tower faction is out for blood and more vicious than ever, they want revenge and will kill you on site no matter what, but zombies and factions aren’t the only danger you’ll face. An axe-wielding man seeks revenge for his wife’s death, he is pretty fixated on destroying just about anyone he feels is involved, including you. Once the clock strikes, that’s it you better run. The story focuses on exiles who are ex-members of the Reclaimed and Tower who are tired of Momma’s reign over Nola, they will hire you to deal with Mama by doing all sorts of quests to take back New Orleans. The missions have a fair bit of variety and keep it interesting.

The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners – Chapter 2 Retribution introduces an array of new weapons, locations and things to do, the new areas are fleshed out with lots to discover and older areas from the first game have been affected by actions taken in that chapter You can also carry your save game over to get the items you made and the upgrades, though there are new tables with some pretty fun crafting bits like a chainsaw or gloves wrapped in chains, punching zombies has never been so fun! Overall it does feel like a massive expansion on the first one, but one that makes complete sense, it has built on what made the first one so good and expanded on the world that we left behind in the first game. The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners – Chapter 2 Retributions gameplay is the same as the first but now with more added options, so if you played the first, you should understand the game from the get-go, and luckily it doesn’t start you over again with no upgrades or items, it does take some over so you’re not left without, because you’re going to need firepower. The game can be quite intense, a lot more than the first game, I found myself fighting a lot more zombies and survivors which is a good thing, however, if you are new to it and struggling, the first game might be worth it to train you up and it’s quite a fun experience the still holds up very well. Below is a video on the wave-by-wave mode that I made on the first game just in case you are wondering what it is like.

The VR components in the original Saints and Sinners and 2 have always been for me one of the ultimate experiences of VR. In the game, you truly feel the weight of all the weapons when taking down zombies, the way that some of the weaker enemies need a little more force and the better weapons go through the zombies more easily. It’s a game that takes a little effort to be a real zombie slayer but luckily for those who want to sit down and enjoy a more relaxed version, there are options to tailor the experience to more of what you’d like your playthrough to be. I will admit I am no good with the bow and arrow though, no matter how many times I try I fail hard, just give me a double barrel shotgun and we’re good to go!

The game’s graphics have improved, and the lightning in Nola and its new locations is just incredible, you can see the light reflect on everything, it is just amazing with what they have done to make it look so good. I’m surprised by how well it runs at the time of play. When the game was released I did have some crashing issues I’m not entirely sure what was causing them but the game has been fixed now and the game runs perfectly even on wireless mode with 50MB download speed and 12 upload works well. The new locations also look fleshed out in the style of New Orleans, especially Bourbon Street and the Hospital at the Tower were my favourite locations, the design of them both really adds to the tension when you’re running down the corridors of the undead in the hospital. The new weapons while really fun to use also look so detailed, I have this weird thing where I’ll put the item right in my face and explore every little nook and cranny of it because of the 3D details on them, and The Walking Dead is up there with its weapon design. The audio design is really great as well, from hearing all of the zombies moaning in the street, and the Towers bells they have set up to attract zombies, it all adds to the perfectly tense atmosphere.

Verdict

If you loved the first, you will love this one it picks up where you left off and introduces a myriad of new items, crafting gear, and locations to keep it fresh. If you haven’t played the first game I recommend it as a sort of tutorial to train you up for the sequel, as it is so much more intense and you’re missing out on a pretty fun story with choices that affect the game. I’ve had a blast with it and it has seemingly been fixed now with no crashes. I loved everything about the game and recommend it for a fun Virtual Reality experience.

8/10