➤ The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners - Chapter 2: Retribution, the review of a survival game with zombies 🕹

After the semi-failure of Meta Quest 2, the survival horror based on the brand conceived by Robert Kirkman returns in excellent form to PlayStation VR 2.

A bit like what happens with the zombies themselves too. The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners - Chapter 2: Retribution is almost literally resurrected from the grave to enjoy, in PC y PlayStation VR 2, a second chance. While the monsters that inhabit the world born from the brilliant mind of Rober Kirkman are nevertheless moved by a primordial instinct and, in general, do not look good, the Skydance Interactive production took the opportunity to redo their makeup, give themselves a new tone and justify the wait for a sequel that had the duty of demonstrating the full potential of virtual reality.

After all, we are still talking about one. ex-exclusive Meta Quest 2, a platform on which the game debuted in December 2022 in a not exactly enviable form. Raw graphics, A.I. an opponent that is too limited, errors and failures of various kinds, a series of problems surely due to the limitations of the chosen hardware, but also a symptom of a vaguely schizophrenic design.

Now that the game has been given an extra life, we were able to play it again on PlayStation VR 2, enjoying it in the way we should have from the beginning. In this our The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners Review – Chapter 2: RetributionIn fact, you will discover why it is a simply unmissable title if you are attracted to virtual reality and have an innate passion for zombies.

Few questions, lots of action

The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners - Chapter 2: Retribution, the review of a survival game with zombies — If you are familiar with the version for Meta Quest 2, a quick and superficial look will be enough to notice the graphical advances of this reissue of The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners - Chapter 2: Retribution

As the title suggests, The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners - Chapter 2: Retribution is intimately interconnected with the first chapter, a link established from the beginning of the adventure that, unsurprisingly, begins a second after the original's interruption. This means that, although the plot is not and does not want to be the main focus of the experience, as newbies you will inevitably feel disoriented at first. There is a kind of summary of the previous episode, suggestive from a directorial point of view and perfectly fused with the epic itself, but it is undeniable that, despite the welcome initial knowledge, some details and certain references will continue to be shrouded in a veil of mystery. . If, on the other hand, you are not a first-time fan, a few seconds will be enough to remember that you are in the shoes of the Unspecified Tourist, in a New Orleans obviously invaded by zombies, but above all disputed by different factions of survivors.

Compared to the prequel, you will have much fewer opportunities to influence the course of the plot through classic multiple choices, but more generally, unlike the original, the focus is much more on pure action, with the NPCs more focused on showing you the next stage of the journey, rather than enriching the game world with their charismatic and controversial presence.

The incipit itself, furthermore, leaves very little room for introspection and adaptation of the game mechanics. Once you have eliminated the previous summary and the optional tutorial, you will immediately find yourself in the eye of the storm, pursued by the first zombies who are already hungry for the protagonist's flesh.

The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners - Chapter 2: Retribution is also not a game suitable for those who are not used to virtual reality.. From accessibility to the ability to juggle the various controls, the level of familiarity required is high. To begin with, teleportation is not enabled, which forces the user to move the avatar only through free movements, a characteristic that in itself favors the appearance of the dreaded dizziness in people who are most sensitive to the phenomenon. To limit damage there is only one ally: vignetting, which limits peripheral vision during movement. For the rest, it will be only you, with (or against) virtual reality in all its potential, who on PlayStation VR 2 shows its muscles thanks to the cutting-edge features of Sony's headsets.

The bugs, the errors, but above all the poor definition that had mortified the version for Meta Quest 2 are a distant memory. It doesn't reach the magnificence of Horizon Call of the Mountain, nor that of Resident Evil Village to be honest, but it is undeniable that the PlayStation VR 2's OLED screen makes the most of it to render blacks and return an image that is as clean as ever.

The scenarios, as well as the polygonal models, which show a faint but characteristic cell shading, are full of details and contribute to a graphic representation Overall, absolutely satisfactory and in line with the standards required for new generation hardware. The improvement work, from this point of view, is absolutely commendable, a sign that the developers wanted to give their best after the half-step made with the original publication.

The magic of the night

The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners - Chapter 2: Retribution, we said, is however a game based mainly on action. Leaving aside the poorly designed plot, although praising the excellent graphics, it is undeniable that Skydance Interactive's creature gives its best precisely when we delve into the merits of the game. game.

As is tradition in this type of experience, the game makes extensive use of exploding commands. gyroscope and accelerometry of the two Senses. The equipment can be checked by literally grabbing the backpack that is placed on the shoulders. The torch adheres well to the torso and you have to pick it up and shake it from time to time to recharge it. Knives, clubs and blunt objects must be placed to the side and each gesture must be imitated to crush, skewer, sever zombie limbs and brains. The same weapons must be reloaded by performing a precise sequence of gestures.

At first you are almost surprised by the enormous variety of movements that can be performed with arms, shoulders and hands, but as soon as you become familiar enough, a double magic begins. On the one hand, it is appreciated real intuition of each command, as well as the high degree of immersion that each of them helps to create. On the other hand, we realize how relying on gestures, rather than pressing buttons, provides the experience we A sign of unpredictability and insecurity., which increases the terror that arises in the most hectic situations. Pressed by a horde, for example, under pressure and in the grip of uncontrolled adrenaline, everything becomes more difficult to manage and even reloading the rifle becomes a complicated operation, exactly as it would happen in reality.

The excellent control system is offset by a Derived but functional level design.. In fact, most of the settings you can explore are taken directly from the prequel, with little new in terms of settings that can be explored for the first time. Once again, therefore, it will be a matter of exploring some neighborhoods of New Orleans in search of resources, as well as places to reach to complete the assigned objectives.

You will always have to move with caution, choosing your battles carefully, aware that the withdrawal It is often the best weapon at your disposal. However, if it is not too difficult to disappear with the zombies, when you have to face humans the burden of secrecy In the game the economy increases considerably, especially when you find yourself with few bullets in your inventory. In these phases the A.I. The enemy is not particularly bright, it is true, but having to face adversaries that are too bright, given the already numerous difficulties inherent to virtual reality, would have made the experience unnecessarily frustrating.

Finally, to give a pinch of newness to The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners - Chapter 2: Retribution, sections set at night. As in Dying Light, going out at night results in a greater number of enemies, but also richer and more valuable loot. The choice is entirely up to the player, most of the time, but it goes without saying that when you are forced to explore at night, you will experience the most intense and terrifying moments of the entire adventure.

Conclusions

Tested version PlayStation 5 digital delivery Steam, PlayStation Store Price 39.99 € Holygamerz.com 8.0 Readers (5) 8.1 your vote

With dozens of hours required to reach the end credits, The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners - Chapter 2: Retribution proved to be an entertaining and long-lasting first-person action game that graphically lived up to expectations. After the semi-failure of Meta Quest 2, due among other things to a disproportionate number of bugs and technical failures, the guys at Skydance Interactive managed to correct the objective, providing fans of the brand, but in general zombie lovers . video games, a virtually unmissable virtual reality title. The recycling of a good part of the scenarios will bother many and it is undeniable that a few more new areas would surely have benefited the experience. Additionally, additional accessibility options would have made the software easily digestible to a broader segment of the public. However, renouncing any compression, The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners - Chapter 2: Retribution, thanks above all to a precise and very attractive control scheme, today constitutes one of the best experiences available on PlayStation VR 2 and, what It is more important, in general, for virtual reality. Practically unmissable for fans of horror and The Walking Dead.