When I entered Skybound Interactive’s press room at Gamescom, the builders on workers requested how acquainted I used to be with VR video games. I apparently claimed that whereas I’d by no means performed The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners, I might don’t have any bother selecting up Chapter 2. I say “apparently” as a result of I quickly swallowed these phrases sooner than a zombie chowing down on some scrumptious brains.

It’s not The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners – Chapter 2: Retribution that’s accountable for my incompetence. On the opposite, the most recent installment of the shooter is an expertly designed VR sport full of a number of the most advanced interactions I’ve ever skilled within the medium. Instead, my very own hubris was my downfall, as I believed I used to be skilled sufficient to hurry into fight with no plan. If my demo taught me something, it’s that I wouldn’t final two minutes in an actual zombie apocalypse.

Preparation is the whole lot

The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners – Chapter 2: Retribution ratchets up the size and depth of the primary sport in some key methods. For one, it takes place in a extra sprawling world as gamers are positioned in New Orleans’ French Quarter. The sport guarantees to provide gamers extra freedom to discover the town and sort out targets within the order they see match.

But don’t ask me how that a part of the sport performs out. I couldn’t let you know.

The demo gave me a seemingly simple activity. I’d simply need to infiltrate a constructing guarded by unfriendly people and zombies alike and find a hidden speakeasy. I’m undecided what was imagined to occur after that as a result of I died 1,000,000 deaths earlier than actually transferring the plot alongside.

While it might appear to be I’d be salty about that, I really consider it’s a testomony to the sport. I went into the demo assuming I may wing it, however The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners – Chapter 2: Retribution is a sport about preparation. Before setting out into the French Quarter, you need to be sure to have a survival plan so as. That means realizing the place each instrument in your physique is, rigorously assigning weapons to every of your holsters primarily based on the scenario you’re about to run into, and having the ability to reload and not using a second thought. The sport rewards gamers who’ve a real-life zombie apocalypse plan sketched out of their heads. I believed I used to be a type of folks, but it surely seems I’m a horrible prepper.

I don’t assume you may blame me, although, when Retribution consists of so many enjoyable toys to boost hell with. For occasion, I got here throughout a bow and arrow mendacity in a decent hallway. After equipping a laser sight to it, a developer knowledgeable me that I didn’t simply have entry to common arrows however explosive ones too. He was about to say that I ought to in all probability wait to make use of them when there’s extra open house, however earlier than he may end that sentence, I shot one at a zombie level clean, killing us each. You can’t inform me I can shoot an exploding arrow utilizing the tactile nature of VR after which anticipate me to behave responsibly, proper?

That identical conundrum got here up after I grabbed this chapter’s signature weapon: a chainsaw. Cooler heads would let you know that you simply may need to take a second to study the way it works. The large weapon requires that you simply deal with it with two fingers such as you would an actual chainsaw. It has a rip wire that must be pulled to show it on, an motion that basically wants some observe earlier than letting it rip. You can wager your fairly little head that I didn’t take that recommendation and began juggling it round as I gleefully tried to noticed zombies in half and get some candy haptic suggestions for doing so.

In all of these encounters, I died like a buffoon. It wasn’t till I really stopped and met the sport on its phrases that I began to outlive. In one second, I crawled via an air duct and located some zombies clustered collectively on the opposite aspect. Instead of leaping down and going full Leroy Jenkins, I outfitted my explosive arrow and shot it on the pack. I waited as extra zombies tumbled into the room from the flooring above, one other new characteristic in Retribution. I steadied myself and fired off three excellent headshots in a row, making the room protected to traverse.

That second made it clear that Skydance Interactive is about to ship a considerate shooter constructed for precise VR professionals who benefit from the tech for its immersion, not its on the spot tactile gratification. Those who study the ropes and take the time to execute a plan will grasp Retribution’s devastating new instruments as they discover a bigger swath of New Orleans.

Or, you could be like me and fully miss a vital mission briefing since you’re too busy making an attempt to push bottles off a bar with the tip of your katana. Guess which one among us is getting fed to the zombies first when push involves shove?

The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners – Chapter 2: Retribution is scheduled to launch in late 2022.

Editors’ Recommendations