The Walking Dead Saints & Sinners Retribution seems fun yet underwhelming from expectations, so will it be a flop or a hit? Find out right here.
Skydance Interactive is bringing more exciting yet deadly experiences in their VR game The Walking Dead Saints & Sinners Retribution Chapter 2. The game title was first introduced back in 2020 and is now going to take the survival action mechanics and zombie-killing experience to another level.
The new Walking Dead offers AAA-class FPS action, making it a strong competitor against the other VR games in its class. Still, there is some lack of performance as Chapter 2 doesn’t seem much improved from its original 2020 title regarding gameplay and storyline.
In this article, The CPU Guide will share a detailed overview of the game The Walking Dead Saints & Sinners Retribution by discussing the gameplay, story plot, and interactive VR experience. We will also discuss what could’ve been better in the game to improve it overall as a competitive VR game. I will elaborate on each element to discuss the negatives and positives of the game.
Story Plot
First, start with the following storyline in the new Saints & Sinners Chapter 2. The Retribution is set right in the middle of New Orleans, which makes it a sequel to the first chapter of The Walking Dead Saints & Sinners. In this new addition, new fully armor-equipped enemies in town run after you with brain-dead bodies.
I’ll try not to spoil things for you by saying that the aim of this game is clear, you are supposed to save your life without any choices except fight to survive. Besides that, we are supposed to save those who can’t find a place to hide in the zombie apocalypse. The storyline continues directly from the first game, making it pretty much the same in progress and end. However, the endings could’ve been more climatic than pushing us to various locations to kill zombies.
Gameplay Experience
The Walking Dead Saints & Sinners Chapter 2 is more like a copy-paste version of Chapter 1 regarding the game mechanics. The physical realism seems pretty much the same, which I was expecting to improve or at least change from its older version. However, it wasn’t bad and seemed fun for a VR game.
Immersive Realism
The feel of handling a weighted weapon, the scavenging aspect of exploration, and the good old inventory system have returned. What I liked the most was the immersive experience of holding the weapons with their variable weights. It is crazy to feel that heavier weapons require some effort. So, if you try to swing a double-handed weapon single-handedly, you won’t be able to do much damage. It feels pretty realistic for a survival-action VR game which I really appreciate.
Unrecognized Kills
If we talk about the zombies, my favorites were walkers, as they were easy to kill individually but challenging as a group when they all swarm on you simultaneously. The killing experience was realistic yet simple enough as you can grab a walker and stab him directly in the head for an instant kill.
However, I often noticed that the game didn’t count the kill after I stabbed the walker with a lethal hit in the head. At first, I thought it was a glitch, but it’s genius. The thing is that you have to stab the knife deep enough so the zombie can die. Otherwise, they’ll keep coming at you after a slight fall.
Broken Human Enemies
The game also features AI-based human enemies, which seem relatively improved than the first game. Still, there are some flaws in them. I noticed that human enemies often didn’t give any reaction to environmental causes, such as door openings or closing effects. To make it even worse, sometimes they didn’t notice an item being thrown.
It seems like they are deaf over time. It doesn’t feel like an immersive experience, but it made my scavenger hunt easier in New Orleans. I would say the same for the final boss fight, which seemed straightforward and not so special.
Limited Environment
The Walking Dead Saints & Sinners Chapter 2 has brought a new range of weapons and some of our favorite classics from the old game. We got the chainsaw, shotgun, and dual pistols from some of the new weapon’s inventory. However, there isn’t much space to explore around with these weapons.
The game has introduced only a few new areas to explore, which seems pretty disappointing. It only took me a few hours to recognize places as they gave me a Deja Vu like I’ve been there before. Some new areas in Chapter 2 seem shorter than in the original game. And to put a cherry on top, I experienced frame drops in certain areas that were bearable but not okay for the gaming experience.
Graphics and Sounds
Extending the environment factor, I would say The Walking Dead Saints & Sinners Chapter 2 nailed it with the immersive and realistic audio experience. If we talk about the sound’s effects, it feels like you’re actually in the game with the sound of glass cracking and zombies moaning from a distance. It’s a highly interactive and immersive experience, adding a sense of chilling horror to the VR. The voice acting also seems on point, which really brought the cast characters to life.
Frame Drops
However, if we talk about the visuals, things seem to get more and more disappointing. At various events, I experienced performance dips with heavy frame drops. Especially when a lot of activity is happening on the screen, like Quest 2, whenever multiple enemies attack you simultaneously, you might experience a significant drop in frame rates.
Poor Texture
The Chapter 2 Retribution went poorly with the texture details as I find most objects and enemies more blurry or muddy than the original The Walking Dead Saints & Sinners. I think they rushed into the development phase as the original performed pretty well with the graphics compared to this sequel.
Will The Walking Dead Saints & Sinners Chapter 2 Retribution be a Hit or a Flop?
The Walking Dead Saints & Sinners Chapter 2 Retribution seems pretty much the same as its previous game, which launched in 2020, and not much has improved in the sequel. The gameplay feels the same, too, but I don’t think it isn’t good since it’s pretty immersive.
Overall, The Walking Dead Saints & Sinners Chapter 2 Retribution will be a solid hit like its previous version for carrying identical features. However, I would say that the game could use some attention to detail and performance improvements to enhance the experience.
What Can Be Improved in Walking Dead Saints & Sinners Retribution?
I feel like the frame drops and lack of game optimization experienced during the Quest 2 can be experienced throughout the game when there is a lot of activity on the screen. It seems like there are some hardware limitations for the optimization.
On the other hand, we got the muddy textures, which is an absolute bummer as the original The Walking Dead Saints & Sinners pretty much nailed it. So, we expect a better one in the sequel. Besides that, I feel it’s a job well done where the graphics team was in a hurry.
Final Words
The Walking Dead Saints & Sinners Chapter 2 has my vote for being an immersive and interactive VR game. Even though it copied pretty much the same concept from its original game, it still offers quality gameplay. The addition of new weapons has motivated me to kill. The exploration seems limited but fun with the scary sound effects and interactive stealth scavenging. The franchise needs something new to keep the fans entertained and some polishing to do to the Chapter 2 Retribution.
