The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners

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Survive the walkers of a flooded New Orleans in virtual reality.

Platforms: PC, VR, PlayStation
Price: Paid
Rated: Very Positive on Steam (86% of 10,110 reviews); 4.6 stars from 22,000 ratings on the Meta Quest Store
Length: 15 hours or more
Players: 1
Controls: Played in VR with motion controllers.
Made by: Skydance Interactive
Released: 2020

What frightens In VR, walkers grab at you from arm's length and you must physically push a blade through a skull to stop them; gunshots and noise bring hordes, and at nightfall the dead flood the streets of a ruined New Orleans.
Content: gore, dismemberment, strong language, violence against people.

The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners is a VR survival game set in the flooded ruins of New Orleans. You scavenge, craft and take missions from rival factions while walkers close in, fighting them hand to hand with physics-based weapons you hold and swing yourself.

About The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners

Saints & Sinners was made by Skydance Interactive and released in January 2020 for PC VR and the Oculus headsets, then for PlayStation VR later that year. It is set in The Walking Dead's world but tells its own story: you are the Tourist, come to a half-drowned New Orleans in search of a rumoured secret while two factions fight over what is left of the city.

From a hub in an old graveyard you travel out to districts of the city by day to scavenge, craft weapons and food at your bench and take jobs from the survivors you meet. Every weapon is a physical object: you grab a walker by the head, push a knife into its skull and pull it back out, and a blade that sticks in bone costs you time. Guns are loud and every shot draws more of the dead.

The horror is in that closeness. Walkers stumble out from behind doors and grab at you, your stamina drains with every swing, and when the bells ring the streets fill with a horde that is better escaped than fought. You can hide among the dead by smearing yourself with walker guts, and you face choices about the living that change who trusts you.

It suits VR players who want a long, physical survival game more than a short scare. A sequel, Chapter 2: Retribution, continues the story.

How to play The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners

Start in the graveyard hub and pick a district to travel to on the bus.
Scavenge buildings for materials, food and medicine, using your backpack and belt slots.
Fight walkers by grabbing and stabbing them in the head; guns are loud and draw more.
Return to the hub before the bells ring and the horde comes out.
Craft and upgrade weapons and gear at the workbenches.
Take missions from the survivors and factions and decide whom to help.

Screenshots

The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners screenshot: firing a revolver into a crowd of walkers at night while stabbing one in the head

The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners screenshot: a crude blade embedded in a walker's head at sunset in a ruined lot

Tips

Kill walkers with headshots from melee weapons; save ammunition for emergencies.
Watch your stamina bar; swinging wildly leaves you exhausted in a crowd.
Leave before the bells ring: the horde that follows is not meant to be beaten.
Smear walker guts on yourself to walk among the dead unseen for a time.
Break down junk at the hub for crafting materials.