The Best VR Game I’ve Played So Far ‘The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners Retribution’

I’m so glad I played The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners - Chapter 2 Retribution (long name that, isn’t it?) at Gamescom last week. Although I do want to, I don’t currently own any VR gear, meaning that except for the odd go on Beat Saber, I haven’t dabbled much in virtual reality games. Fun though they may be, personally, I’ve thought of VR titles as being a fun gimmick that lose their charm after a few hours of play. I’m sure I’m not alone in that perception. However, playing the 30 minute demo of Saints and Sinners Chapter 2 has completely changed my mind. 

I tentatively put the Meta Quest 2 on my head and secure the hand straps as some devs from Skydance Interactive take me through the basic controls. “From having people do the demo today, we’ve realised that it’s maybe a bit too difficult, especially for new players”, they tell me as a zombie bundles towards me in game. It’s pretty intuitive, though at first I wasn’t following through enough with knife attacks. “Think of it as a real thing that you’re trying to attack”, I’m encouraged. The haptic feedback and vibrations on the controllers really make it feel like there’s resistance in front of you, so with a swing that would make any professional baseball player proud, I really go for it, almost falling over (in real life) in the process. That’s the tutorial over, time to jump into the main gameplay demo. 

The game follows on from the first chapter of Saints and Sinners, in a post-apocalyptic New Orleans. This time there’s a mysterious “Axeman”, who follows you throughout your journey and is more deadly than any walker or gung-ho human you may encounter. “He shouldn’t be a problem in the demo” the devs reassure me. Though there was a little too much emphasis on the “shouldn’t” for my liking. 

I’m amazed that you can interact with pretty much anything in the gorgeous looking environment. Before I know it, I’m running in circles holding a pump-action shotgun in one hand with a horde of zombies not far behind. Just a few minutes in, I’m still getting used to all the controls. “You probably should use both hands for the shotgun, there’s no way you’ll-” the Skydance employee stops mid-sentence as I blast off the head of one of the undead. The whole team in the room is hyping me up with quick remarks and cheers, it’s like I’m live on Twitch but the chat is in the room! I’m overrun and die not a moment after but I felt like an absolute badass for thirty seconds or so. 

It’s explained to me that almost every situation has multiple ways of progression. You can subtly sneak or go in all guns blazing, however of course, the latter will attract more zombies to your location. Even the NPCs, most of whom can give you quests, can be killed if you wish. I’m in the bar of an abandoned hotel now and a Vicar, who has clearly had way too many, is requesting I find an item for him. “Sure, I can do that for you” I thought as I whipped out my pistol and put him out of his misery. I’m not sure if that’s the best thing to do in this situation but the developer told me I could, so I did. 

I stumble upon a bow, with explosive arrows, and a chainsaw. Oh yes, it’s about to go down. Somehow I manage to turn the sound system on across the entire hotel, blasting music loud enough to wake the dead. I manage to take out a large group with some explosive arrows, a few pistol shots end some more. I’m trying to fire up the chainsaw by pulling the cord and holding a trigger at the same time, I manage to rip through a few walkers before ultimately being outnumbered. My heart is racing, adrenaline pumping and I just want to do it all over again.

One of the guys in the room then played and took me through the last section of the demo, using all the tricks in the book and expertly dispatching hordes of zombies with a katana. The demo ends with the Axeman terrifyingly walking towards the protagonist in a dark corridor. I’d imagine with the headset on, it would be a chilling moment.

From this short demo, the game feels alive and packed full of action. There’s a decent story that makes me want to know more and the gameplay is so, so satisfying. Several action/adventure virtual reality games that I’ve tried in the past play like they’re simply showing off the tech, which don’t get me wrong, is super cool in itself. Saints and Sinners however, uses the technology and seamlessly integrates it into a video game, so you’re playing for the rich world and characters, not just to wave your hands around for the sake of it.

Like I said earlier in this article, I haven’t played many VR games, but The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners Retribution is by far the best I’ve tried. It may even persuade me to finally pick up a Meta Quest 2. A release date hasn’t been set yet, though this sequel will be available late 2022.