Developed by Skydance Interactive, The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners is a VR zombie shooter game that’s grown wildly popular. Like many games based on popular movies and comic books, The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners looks to live up to the hype and legacy of the originals.
But does it?
What’s It About?
New Orleans is rotting away. No, we’re not talking about making it through midnight on Fat Tuesday. We’re talking a gut-wrenching journey that tests your instincts and resourcefulness and honestly, the limits of your humanity.
The game offers eye popping visuals, immersive sound, and a constant threat level created by some intense zombie encounters.
The original AMC series reached the pinnacle of television popularity, which is even more impressive considering it overlapped the streaming revolution that tended to saturate the market. But even today, the series remains strong, which helps continually propel the game’s success.
Following years of enduring a zombie outbreak, New Orleans remains the unsafest of havens. The streets, including the infamous French Quarters, are overrun with “walkers.”
You arrive as a toursit with a mysterious agenda. You’re seeking a treasure which may or may not be real. It’s called “the reserve.” The reserve is a stockpile of supplies that could help swing momentum back towards the good remaining folks of the world. You know the journey will be perilous and may not pay off, but you’re still down to take on eerie cemeteries and a treacherous bayou.
As you make your way through the game, you’ll encounter new factions that may or may not be on your side. All factions are motivated by unique things and have allegiances to other factions and leaders which may not be obvious at first. But it all leads to the dramas.
You may side with a faction, you may not, but understand, your every decision has consequences that ripple through the story.
The mystery of The Reserve is always tightly bound to the story even when it’s not the core plot. There’s lots of moral dilemmas that force you into difficult choices which may haunt you for the remainder of the game. You’ll have to prioritize your own survival at any cost which may compromise your decency. Saints & Sinners is a journey of self-discovery where your choices determine the outcome.
Graphics
Oh, the horror.
Like, lots and lots of horror.
Saints & Sinners boasts a visual style that utilizes realism. Its post-apocalyptic New Orleans featuring crumbling buildings and flooded streets and overgrown buildings. There’s always a sense of complete dread. The game’s lighting casts long shadows that sometimes play tricks on you.
In terms of VR tech, Saints & Sinners is a good VR game, but not the absolute best. There’s a lack of attention to detail in some of the surroundings. But the game’s intensity in the horror genre carries it through all of that.
That said, the game’s lighting visuals are top notch. Harsh sunlight stroking through decayed buildings and ominous fog rolling over the bayou are just two examples of where the graphics are hype.
The action aspect of the graphics are pretty dope as well. Like, the impact of your swings or a blade piercing someone, its a truly powerful combat experience at the graphics level.
Conclusion
Saints & Sinners lives up to the AMC series hype, as well as the comics. While the graphics could be better, its storyline, lighting, and horror atmosphere make this one of the more immersive VR experiences out there. Its worth a play.