The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners - Chapter 2: Retribution
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| The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners - Chapter 2: Retribution | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| VR/AR | Virtual Reality |
| Developer | Skydance Interactive |
| Publisher | Skydance Interactive (Steam now lists Skydance Games and Paramount Games) |
| Platform | Meta Quest, Pico, PlayStation VR2, SteamVR |
| Device | Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest Pro, Pico 4, PlayStation VR2 |
| Operating System | Windows, PlayStation 5 |
| Type | Game |
| Genre | Survival horror, Action, Adventure |
| Input Device | Tracked Motion Controllers |
| Play Area | Seated, Standing, Room-scale |
| Game Mode | Single-player |
| Release Date | Meta Quest 2: 1 December 2022; PlayStation VR2 and Steam: 21 March 2023 |
| Price | US$39.99 at launch (Quest Store, December 2022) |
| App Store | Steam, Meta Quest Store, PlayStation Store, PICO Store |
The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners - Chapter 2: Retribution is a virtual reality survival horror game developed by Skydance Interactive and set in the universe of Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead. It is a standalone sequel to The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners (2020) and continues the story of the player character, the Tourist, in post-apocalyptic New Orleans.[1][2] The game released on Meta Quest 2 on 1 December 2022, and Epic Games reported a Pico 4 release in the same month. Versions for PlayStation VR2 and PC VR through Steam followed on 21 March 2023.[3][4][5]
The sequel adds a new antagonist called the Axeman, a faction called the Exiles, new areas in the French Quarter, new weapons including a chainsaw, and a night mode in which every map can be explored after dark.[2][4] The Quest 2 version launched with serious bugs and performance problems.[6] IGN rated the later PlayStation VR2 version higher than the Quest 2 version, and Metacritic lists the PlayStation 5 version at 72 out of 100.[7][8][9]
Gameplay
The game is played in first person with tracked motion controllers. As in the first game, combat is physics-based: the player swings, stabs and shoots with a growing collection of improvised and conventional weapons, takes missions from characters and factions around New Orleans, and decides whether to help or hinder the people they meet.[2] According to the store description, the Tourist is "hunted by the seemingly unstoppable Axeman" while the Tower, the authoritarian faction from the first game, makes a new push for control of the city.[2] Epic Games' interview with the studio places the sequel three months after the events of the original.[4]
New weapons and equipment
Skydance's announcement for PlayStation listed a chainsaw, a submachine gun, a sawed-off shotgun and silencers among the new weapons.[10] A laser sight attachment can be fitted to most firearms, and the chainsaw is started by pulling its cord and is held with both hands.[11] Peter Akemann, co-founder and chief technologist of Skydance Interactive, described a new generalized damage model that lets players cut walkers apart from any angle, and said the chainsaw's haptic feedback conveys engine vibration, low fuel and each stage of a cut.[4]
Crafting was expanded with more recipes and materials and a new set of crafting tables.[11] In IGN's review, the two new upgradeable crafting stations bring the total to five.[12] Thrown flares give the player temporary control over lighting and can distract walkers.[4] A new trader, Sonny's Pawn Shop, is run by what UploadVR called a "fast-talking wheeler and dealer".[11]
Night mode
Skydance built a nighttime version of every level in the game, both old and new. Akemann said the walker AI follows light-based perception rules, so the player can hide in darkness or be exposed by light, and that the bells that ring during the day do not ring at night, so night trips are not time-limited.[4] Push Square noted that the player can now visit two destinations each in-game day, with the second trip taking place at twilight, when walkers are harder to avoid but rare materials are plentiful.[13] IGN reported that walkers are far more numerous and move faster at night, and that night-exclusive missions are available from a group of survivors called the Exile Trade Network. A UV mode on the flashlight reveals crafting materials that can only be found at night.[12]
Exiles and world
The Exiles are a new faction of survivors who were rejected by the Tower and refuse to join the Reclaimed. The player can take on their tasks for rewards or take their resources by force.[2] The game has 12 locations, three of them new; most of the others are areas from the original campaign.[14] Skydance said save data can be transferred across the Meta, PC and PlayStation VR2 versions.[8] From March 2023, players could also transfer Chapter 1 save data from the Meta, PC and PlayStation versions to a copy of Chapter 2 on any of those platforms, with PICO support for that feature promised for later in 2023.[15]
Development
Skydance Interactive announced the game on 24 January 2022 as a standalone new chapter that players could start without the first game, after supporting the original with two major updates, the wave-based mode The Trial and The Aftershocks.[1] Meta's first look in April 2022 described a story in which "the bill has come due" on the player's past actions, and the first trailer was shown during Meta's Quest Gaming Showcase that month.[16][17] On 2 June 2022 Skydance confirmed versions for the original PlayStation VR, planned for late 2022, and for PlayStation VR2 in 2023.[10] The Quest 2 release date was announced at Meta Connect on 11 October 2022.[17]
Akemann said principal development began in July 2021 and lasted 14 months. The game was built with Unreal Engine, which Skydance has used since Unreal Engine 3. In an interview published by Epic Games, Akemann said the sequel was made by "a small team" with little time, while the studio maintained the game on every platform from Quest 2 to PS VR2. He credited the engine's scalability system and its separate mobile and console rendering pipelines for cross-platform development. The maximum number of characters on screen was raised from eight to 10, because Chapter 1 had been locked to original Quest limits (Akemann said PC and console builds handle 20 or more), and a system based on Unreal's significance system lets many more walkers exist while only the most relevant ones are fully processed.[4]
The Quest 2 version launched with crashes, invisible walkers and other bugs. A patch released in mid-December 2022 addressed stability, functional glitches and visual fidelity. Dan Prigg, Skydance Interactive's head of studio, said that "making games, especially ambitious VR games, can lead to unforeseen challenges."[6] UploadVR reported in January 2023 that many problems remained after that patch. The PC VR version, previously planned for February 2023, was moved to launch alongside the PlayStation VR2 version on 21 March 2023.[8]
Release
The game launched on the Quest Store for Quest 2 and Meta Quest Pro at US$39.99. A US$9.99 Payback Edition upgrade added two weapon recipes, The Blessing and Fat Tuesday, along with collectibles, and a US$59.99 bundle combined the base games of Chapter 1 and Chapter 2.[3] The PICO store lists the game as compatible with the PICO 4, PICO 4 Pro and PICO Neo3 headsets, for standing or sitting play.[18] In January 2023, Maximum Games and Tesura Games announced a physical Payback Edition for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 with a release date of 25 April 2023.[19]
| Platform | Release date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Meta Quest 2 and Meta Quest Pro (Quest Store) | 1 December 2022 | US$39.99 at launch[3] |
| Pico 4 and other PICO headsets | December 2022 | Month given by Epic Games[4][18] |
| PlayStation VR2 (PlayStation 5) | 21 March 2023 | Supports seated, standing and room-scale play[5] |
| PC VR (Steam, SteamVR) | 21 March 2023 | Delayed from February 2023[8][2] |
| PlayStation VR (PlayStation 4) | No date verified | Planned for late 2022, then for 2023;[10][20] the PlayStation Store lists a PS4 Payback Edition[21] |
On PlayStation 5 the game requires PlayStation VR2. Sony's product page cites more detailed visuals in the new levels and 3D audio on that headset.[5] The PC version requires a SteamVR headset. Steam lists minimum requirements of Windows 10, 16 GB of RAM and an NVIDIA RTX 2060 graphics card, and recommends an RTX 2080. The game supports nine languages, with full audio in English.[2] As of October 2026, Steam lists the game at US$9.99. The US PlayStation Store lists the Payback Edition at US$9.99 and a Ch 1 & 2 Deluxe Edition with both games at US$39.99.[2][21]
Reception
On Metacritic, the PlayStation 5 version has a score of 72 out of 100 from 23 critic reviews, which the site classifies as "mixed or average".[9] OpenCritic lists a Top Critic Average of 77 and a 73% critics-recommend rate from 22 reviews.[7]
| Publication | Platform | Score |
|---|---|---|
| IGN | Meta Quest 2 | 6/10[7] |
| IGN | PlayStation VR2 | 7/10[7] |
| Push Square | PlayStation VR2 | 8/10[7] |
| UploadVR | Meta Quest 2 | No score[14] |
Reviews of the Quest 2 launch version focused on its technical state. IGN's Gabriel Moss wrote that the game "shifts the series' balance from survival horror to action with skill, but its story is weaker and its technical demands are beyond what the Meta Quest 2 can handle". He reported repeated crashes and frame-rate drops, and he praised the new night mode and weapons.[12] In UploadVR's review, Pete Austin praised the physics-based combat and the story choices. He criticized crashes, geometry glitches, the slow base walking speed and the reuse of earlier areas, writing that the game felt more like "two or three DLC chapters" than a new experience.[14]
The PlayStation VR2 version was received more positively. Moss gave it 7/10 and wrote that it was "still unacceptably janky on PlayStation VR2, but major improvements make it worth the hassle this time out". He credited the headset's HDR OLED panels for the darkness of the night missions and noted major performance and graphical improvements and larger walker hordes. He still lost a save to a quest that stopped tracking progress.[22] Push Square's Christian Kobza scored it 8/10. He praised the gunplay with the PS VR2 controllers' adaptive triggers and haptics, as well as the night excursions. He called the plot "too trivial to provide much motivation" and concluded that the game was not quite a full sequel.[13]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "'The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners' Adventure to Continue in Standalone Game 'Chapter 2: Retribution'". Skydance. Skydance Media. 2022-01-24. https://skydance.com/news/the-walking-dead-saints-sinners-adventure-to-continue-in-standalone-game-chapter-2-retribution/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 "The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners - Chapter 2: Retribution on Steam". Steam. Valve. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1947500/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Ian Hamilton (2022-12-01). "The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners - Chapter 2: Retribution Launches On Quest". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/the-walking-dead-2-quest-launch/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 Brian Crecente (2023-02-21). "The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners 2 continues to raise the VR bar". Unreal Engine. Epic Games. https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/developer-interviews/the-walking-dead-saints-sinners-2-continues-to-raise-the-vr-bar. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners - Chapter 2: Retribution". PlayStation. Sony Interactive Entertainment. https://www.playstation.com/en-us/games/the-walking-dead-saints-and-sinners-chapter-2-retribution/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Ian Hamilton (2022-12-14). "Saints & Sinners: Chapter 2 Patched To Address Major Bugs". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/saints-sinners-chapter-2-patch/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 "The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners - Chapter 2: Retribution Reviews". OpenCritic. https://opencritic.com/game/14116/the-walking-dead-saints-sinners-chapter-2-retribution. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Harry Baker (2023-01-23). "Saints & Sinners: Chapter 2 Launches March 21 On PSVR 2 & PC VR". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/saints-sinners-chapter-2-psvr-2-release-march/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 "The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners - Chapter 2: Retribution critic reviews". Metacritic. https://www.metacritic.com/game/the-walking-dead-saints-and-sinners-chapter-2/critic-reviews/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Alexander Eden (2022-06-02). "The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners - Chapter 2: Retribution announced for PS VR and PS VR2". PlayStation Blog. Sony Interactive Entertainment. https://blog.playstation.com/2022/06/02/the-walking-dead-saints-sinners-chapter-2-retribution-announced-for-ps-vr-and-ps-vr2/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Harry Baker (2022-08-23). "WATCH: New Saints & Sinners: Chapter 2 Gameplay Footage & Details Revealed". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/new-saints-sinners-gameplay-details/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Gabriel Moss (2022-12-15). "The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners Chapter II - Retribution Review". IGN. https://www.ign.com/articles/the-walking-dead-saints-and-sinners-chapter-ii-retribution-review. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Christian Kobza (2023-03-20). "The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners - Chapter 2: Retribution Review (PS5 / PSVR2)". Push Square. https://www.pushsquare.com/reviews/psvr2/the-walking-dead-saints-and-sinners-chapter-2-retribution. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Pete Austin (2022-12-24). "The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners - Chapter 2 Review: Shambling Past Launch". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/saints-sinners-chapter-2-review-quest/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ Harry Baker (2023-03-22). "Saints & Sinners Chapter 2 Is Now On PSVR 2 & PC VR". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/saints-sinners-chapter-2-retribution-now-available-on-psvr-2-pc-vr/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ "First Look at 'The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners - Chapter 2: Retribution'". Meta. Meta Platforms. 2022-04-20. https://www.meta.com/blog/first-look-at-the-walking-dead-saints-and-sinners-chapter-2-retribution/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Harry Baker (2022-10-11). "The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners Chapter 2 Releases December 1 On Quest 2". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/the-walking-dead-chapter-2-release-date/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 "The Walking Dead: S&S - Chapter 2: Retribution". PICO Store. PICO. https://store-global.picoxr.com/global/detail/1/7168897529164087301. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ "The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners Ch. 2: Retribution VR prepares its physical release". Tesura Games. 2023-01-05. https://en.tesuragames.com/the-walking-dead-saints-sinners-ch-2-retribution-vr-prepares-its-physical-release/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ Ian Hamilton (2022-11-29). "PSVR 2 & Steam Release Dates For The Walking Dead Saints & Sinners Chapter 2: Retribution". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/walking-dead-saints-sinners-psvr-2-steam/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 "The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners - Chapter 2: Retribution". PlayStation Store. Sony Interactive Entertainment. https://store.playstation.com/en-us/concept/10005089/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ Gabriel Moss (2023-03-23). "The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners - Chapter 2: Retribution PS VR2 Review". IGN. https://www.ign.com/articles/the-walking-dead-saints-sinners-chapter-2-retribution-ps-vr2-review. Retrieved 2026-10-04.