Saints & Sinners Virtually Revives Walkers
The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners (S&S for short) from Skydance Interactive injected some much needed life back into the zombie genre by taking them into VR. S&S is a high polished VR experience with intuitive controls, a deep crafting system, a decent length campaign, gameplay mechanics and progression tooled to tighten up the tension. All this and an awesome map/journal! Taken collectively these elements coalesce to provide a lightning strike sized energy boost to the fading zombie genre.
1.) Map/Journal
Yes, you’re seeing that right. I put the map/journal at the top. It’s simple. It’s easy accessible. It contains all the info you need. And the big thing – the map updates your position real time. No more fumbling around – opening your map, taking bearings, closing the map, taking a few steps in what you think is the right direction, and then reopening the map to verify only to see you’ve gone the wrong way. With S&S you open the map, take a few steps, and your position is updated on the map real time. What a time saver! This needs to become standard in all games.
2.) Presentation
S&S has chosen a visual style that very much in line with that used in the Tell Tale games. Environments are depicted in a stylized, realistic manner while characters are done in a much more stylized way. This approach works very well as the visuals are light on texturing which is always taxing for PSVR. Text is clear and easy to read.
3.) UI -Tracking
All the major UI elements are handled wonderfully through the use of the Move controllers. Need Inventory? Reach over your left shoulder to get the backpack. Need a weapon? Reach for holstered weapon on side by your waist. Need your flashlight? Reach to your left shoulder. Need your journal? Reach to your right shoulder. All the gestures work and track seamlessly. The level of immersion this gives really helps immerse you in the world without breaking the illusion.
Click on through to PAGE 2 for more reasons…