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Review: The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners – Chapter 2: Retribution

The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners has returned for the next installment of the game, and it certainly deserved one. With the first game being so popular, it certainly makes sense that Skydance Interactive continued the series. But, does Chapter Two still feel as good and hold up to the original?

Release Date: March 21st 2024
Developer: Skydance Interactive
Publisher: Skydance Interactive
Price: US $39.99 / CA $53.49 / €39,99 / £32.99
Reviewed On:PlayStation VR2
* Access Provided For Review *

Survive The Axeman

Starting three months after the events of Saints & Sinners, you step back into the shoes of the Tourist and are aiding a group of survivors obtain the blueprints to the Hotel E’Claire. After this you learn that the Old Town has been hit by a disaster and Reclaimed have been killed off. Now you are being hunted by the seemingly unstoppable Axeman and facing the Tower’s latest push for total dominance. But, can you discover what connects these new treats before it’s too late?

More Of The Same

As mentioned above the game continues on from the first game, and playing Chapter Two without playing the first might feel a little odd – I was in good stead as I re-played Saints & Sinners with the PSVR2 updates first. The game does start off with an introductory cutscene which plays out in dioramas around you in the boat-ride scenario like the first. But, doesn’t really give you the full overview, so new players might feel a little lost at parts. If you have played the first game Chapter Two is more of the same and will feel very familiar to people returning. With the game following the same cycle with very little changes. Which is great because everything worked so well in the original that making a large amount of changes could ruin that experience.

This means the combat is exactly the same and this was what I wanted to return the most, as this was the strongest element of the original. So, returning is the physics based system that gives each weapon its own weight, be the guns or most importantly the melee weapons – so two handed melee weapons will not do as much damage if you swing them with one hand. This level of immersion in the combat is where the game excels and gives it that visceral feeling it creates so well. Even with this in mind, the feeling of stabbing the walkers in the heads with shivs or hitting them with cleaver and them getting stuck, and the struggle to pull them out, it still doesn’t feel old and highlights how well the system has been designed. The team have added some new weapons that weren’t in the original to give it fresh feeling – with the Chainsaw being my favorite, slicing through the walkers feels so satisfying.

They have carried over the survival elements, which resonates with the show and the fact you are fighting to survive. Meaning while you are on your set missions you need to scavenge scrap to turn to materials for crafting what you need to survive from meds, food, weapons and ammo. These are also used to upgrade your crafting tables, which means you wont be able to craft some items from the get go. This also means managing the inventory in your backpack, as you need to make sure you are carrying weapons, ammo, quest items and also materials you might need the most. With you needing to also make sure you have what you need to survive against not only the walkers but, the other human factions littered throughout New Orleans.

Speaking about things being the same, the map will also be very familiar to returning players, with only a couple of new areas being added on to the map – personally I would have liked to see The Tourist move on to new territories. As with the rest, the time progression works the same, sleeping and travelling with move on the time of the day. As the days progress there will be less items to loot and the amount of walkers will increase, which makes sense as the factions will be collecting materials and more and more will be falling to the walkers. They have made a nice change in this area, which allows you to travel at night time, which brings more danger but also more reward.

Stylised New Orleans

Following on from the upgrade to first game, the visuals are inline with the PCVR version of the game. With Chapter Two looking a little better than the first, as this has been designed for the ground up on PSVR2 and not just pushed as an update. The presentation has stayed the same with that Telltale games design aesthetic but, having its own look and style. The lighting once again is fantastic, and the displays allows everything to look even better with the OLED pure blacks mixed with the colors offered by the HDR being pefect for this visual style.

The audio sees no changes, but the world building in the first make it feel like being in the Walking Dead universe perfectly it didn’t need changing. Mixing the environmental sounds with the groans of the undead and the warring factions as they battle over the areas. Adding to world building sounds excellent voice acting for every character you interact with or come across on your way around the areas of New Orleans.

Comfort

The Verdict

The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners – Chapter 2: Retribution carries on from perfectly from where the first game left off, which is not a bad thing as it is a fantastic game. However, this brings a few issues with it, despite a quick re-cap of what happened in the first it will leave people who decided just to start at Chapter Two a little confused. Then for people who played the first , Chapter Two is going to feel more like a DLC than what is being charged as a full scale game, due to the limited additions made. With this in mind though, it is a solid addition to the Saints & Sinners storyline and, the team at Skydance Interactive have done a fantastic job of bringing The Walking Dead world to life through the gameplay. visual style and the use of audio. With the overall package coming together to build the immersion you need in Virtual Reality.