The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners is one of the best VR titles to exist at this time. It has a few design blemishes, but the immersive world and fear-inducing environments make Saints & Sinners one of the most tense and thrilling games on the PS4.
The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners
Developers: Skydance Interactive
Price: $40
Platforms: PSVR (reviewed), PC
MonsterVine was provided with a PSVR code for review
I’m a fan of The Walking Dead comic series and the TellTale games, but the thought of visiting the chillingly empty world of the comics through VR was never really something I imagined I would enjoy. Saints & Sinners proved me wrong, as it managed to make the depressing world of The Walking Dead into an unrelenting and surprisingly involved VR survival game that fans of horror in general will love.
You play as “The Tourist”, a slightly customizable and voice-acted avatar who finds themself in New Orleans during the zombie apocalypse. Spurred on by your elderly friend Henri, you find yourself navigating the corpse-infested streets while being thrown between two factions of a civil war over the remaining resources of New Orleans. There are lots of harsh choices to be made throughout the narrative, as well as numerous side-stories that can be quite emotionally-gripping by themselves. The overall story is familiar for those acquainted with zombie-media, but the VR-aspect of Saints & Sinners makes it feel much more personal.
The biggest appeal of Saints & Sinners has to be the gameplay, which is ridiculously detailed in every regard. You hold one button on your left PSVR Move Controller to walk, or double-tap it to run. That same button on the right controller lets you crouch, while the surrounding buttons turn your character around– especially handy for seated-play. I highly recommend standing-play though, as it feels far more involved and “real” if you’re standing in the middle of a shambling zombie horde while actually standing up. The Move controllers are so sensitive that it feels as though Skydance made this game specifically for PSVR, which is impressive to say the least.
“I constantly found new minor details in every facet of the game. It’s a long game too meaning there’s a lot of fun to be had for hours upon hours, especially if you’re a completionist.“
Everything from stabbing a zombie to reloading the individual bullets in your revolver is done with motion controls, which is the most immersive part of Saints & Sinners. If your stab wasn’t deep enough to pierce a walker’s brain, you have to force it further in, which is accompanied by controller vibration that is spine-tingling to say the least. You can grab corners or ledges to lean and climb around them, and you can position your other hand to steady gunshots or heavy-weapon attacks. I constantly found new minor details in every facet of the game. It’s a long game too meaning there’s a lot of fun to be had for hours upon hours, especially if you’re a completionist.
The crafting system in Saints & Sinners is incredibly detailed, and possibly one of the most addictive parts of the game. The streets of each level are littered with discarded food, pieces of wood, old shoes, and other such junk. You can pack away a set number of these objects to salvage into materials, which are used to craft weapons, stat upgrades, and items. You end up quickly learning about each item’s materials, and what’s worth grabbing. Each day that passes leads to an increase of walkers and a decrease in supplies, making every decision in both the narrative and gameplay feel detrimental– especially when you’re one Workable Metal short of upgrading a supply station that has a much-needed stat boost.
The greatest sense of fear comes from the encounters with humans, who are competent enough to shoot you back. There were countless moments where I found myself hunched behind a corner, nervously reloading bullets into my gun as they got closer and closer to my temporary hiding spot. It’s hard to take out more than one or two people at once, so groups or bases full of people can be an intense experience that revolves around stealthy maneuvering. It’s also genuinely discomforting to stab people in the head while making the gesture yourself, which adds an extra layer of apprehension to human encounters.
The game’s not perfect though, as it has a few problems in the way certain mechanics work. The game only saves when you sleep after a day’s work, which means you can lose a good chunk of progress when you quit or die in certain sections. Some NPCs will become aggressive towards you for holding a weapon when a zombie is right nearby, even if you’re in the middle of a conversation with them. Finally, medicine seems far too scarce. This makes sense in the narrative, but your maximum health can easily be downgraded by large portions, making it a struggle to battle against the increasingly difficult days as the game goes on.
Visually, Saints & Sinners is quite crisp, emulating the early artstyle of the comics (which I find to be much more appealing,) as well as the TellTale games. The voice-acting is excellent as well, with characters like Casey and Mama coming off as far more believable thanks to their performances, even hours before you ever see what they look like.
The Final Word
Saints & Sinners is one of the definitive PSVR experiences. It has a few small bumps in its design, but the immense detail and relentless sense of tension that the game flaunts make it a necessary experience for any horror game fans.
MonsterVine Review Score: 4.5 out of 5 – Great
