The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners - Chapter 2: Retribution is a remarkably long title, but I suppose it's fitting for a game that is growing in its size and scope the way this VR sequel is. The original Saints & Sinners defied expectations to become a revered game in the virtual reality space--and I'd argue simply a great zombie game for any platform.
Thus, the sequel has big shoes to fill, and though it seems content to fill them using a predictable escalation of features and a dramatic increase in its world size, it's what the team behind the game isn't saying about one of its core new features that has me most intrigued.
At a recent hands-off virtual preview event, I got my first in-depth look at the sequel to what is actually my favorite VR game. Everything I enjoyed about the first game--the sense of place in the world, the immersive combat and survival elements, the breadth of crafting options back at my base, and more--it all looks poised to return improved in the follow-up. Weapon crafting and salvaging now include several new kinds of guns, including an awesome-looking bow and arrow that allows for silent kills from a distance.
New sidearms, like a sawed-off shotgun and an SMG, bring more firepower to the game, as well, and a laser sight can be found and attached to seemingly any firearm to improve your crucial headshot-targeting capabilities. Skydance stressed, however, that the sequel won't be a power fantasy. Saints & Sinners is meant to remain a series where you'll make do with less than ideal supplies in unfriendly conditions.
The most dramatic of the game's new weapons is a chainsaw, which was demoed by the developer carving through walkers like he was an expert lumberjack before the world went to hell. If you think this may be a super-weapon in a locker of caveat-filled guns, it's not. Sure, it'll help you slice through a crowd in a hurry, but it relies on gas and certainly isn't quiet. As before, the noise you make will invite trouble--often more than you can handle.
The world is getting bigger, too, in more ways than one. Heading into New Orleans' French Quarter for the sequel means taller buildings and wider, iconic neighborhoods--both Mardi Gras attendees and Left 4 Dead 2 fans will find their own nostalgia rise to the surface. Levels can once again be returned to whenever you please, whether you're chasing the next story beat or just making a supply run. This freeform approach is one of my favorite parts of the first game, as it managed to give the game more of an open world feeling even as it was, in actuality, much smaller than your typical sandbox.
The sequel expands on this, too, with the introduction of night mode. Originally, nighttime only happened when you were at your safe haven, where you'd craft weapons, cook healing dishes, and upgrade your passive skills. In Saints & Sinners 2, you can elect to head out at night for new missions that unfold with added risk, including more undead. They're sensitive to light, so just like you'd worry about the sound you'd make in an alleyway or a kitchen, now you'll need to consider exploring in total darkness, or else accept that your flashlight may behave more like a flare to the walkers shambling through the streets.
More guns, a bigger world, and more ways to die are all about par for the course when it comes to making a video game sequel, I'd say, but Skydance teased what could be the game's best feature at the end of its presentation.
If you've seen the trailers, you may recall the towering "axeman." We now know his name to be Garrick, though being on a first-name basis doesn't imply a friendship. Standing tall like Jason Voorhees and cloaked in dark armor and a welder's mask, Garrick's slasher-like stature looks like it will intimidate nearly to the point of paralysis in VR. When I asked whether Garrick will behave sort of like Resident Evil 3's Nemesis--meaning he'd be an ever-present threat searching for the player during other missions--the developers shied away from answering.
To their credit, what they did say was that they don't want to spoil his place in the world or story. They also hinted that the game's subtitle, Retribution, is directly tied to his motives, so while he may or may not be a Nemesis-like enemy in the sequel, he's not going to be a welcome sight whenever he turns the corner like Leatherface stepping out of his kill room. He's out to get you, and he seems unstoppable.
I find the addition of Garrick to be an exciting wild card thrown into the game's already reactive levels. Fending off zombies and human enemies in shared spaces was a volatile Petri dish in the first game, creating emergent moments the likes of which I'd never seen in VR before. I think his involvement in the story could work even if he's not stomping around like Nemesis at all times, but I do get the sense that Skydance is hiding more about him, not just narratively, but mechanically, too. Whatever the truth about Garrick is, I'm equally excited and anxious to meet him in-person.
The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners - Chapter 2: Retribution is coming to major VR platforms including Meta Quest 2 and PSVR in 2022, and PSVR 2 when the platform launches in 2023. A full list of compatible headsets has yet to be revealed.
