The Walking Dead is such a big series that it was only natural that we would be seeing more video games coming out to do with the franchise. To name my favourites to date, I would have to go with the Telltale episodic series and The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners VR game. What I wasn’t expecting was to see another VR game coming out so soon after the last but this time having the iconic characters from the hit AMC series taking the front role in the overall story. Having a PlayStation VR, it’s nice to see more games becoming available as I feel that there isn’t a lot of games out there that I enjoy when playing on my VR. That being said, this new The Walking Dead game was everything I needed to get the VR headset off its stand, wipe the dust off and dive back into the world of The Walking Dead.
This game focuses on Alexandria after the war with the Saviors, everything is in shambles and for those who have survived its tougher now for them than it has ever been. You’ll be able to play as Rick, Michonne, Daryl and Carol as they risk everything to mend the broken society and start to rebuild for future generations. You’ll be put to the test every time you leave the safety of Alexandria while you search for weapons, food and materials to benefit the community and help rebuild after everything that has happened. Using the incredible power of VR, you’ll be able to Shoot, Sever and Decapitate all that stands in your way however there comes a time while out there where you’ll have to decide whether to stand and fight or just high tail it out. The games campaign story is an all-new and exclusive The Walking Dead story that follows Daryl Dixon after a supply run goes horribly wrong and find himself encountering a mysterious stranger in an unknown town, it follows your favourite characters that you know and love from the AMC series.
The game is very similar to Saints and Sinner control-wise but is very heavily influenced by the AMC series. You move by using the PlayStation Move controllers, this can be done in several ways but the one I found most comfortable using was just holding down the middle button to walk and double-tapping it to run, nice and easy. Setting up the PlayStation Camera was always a pain as I could never really find that sweet spot to get it right the first time, after a few tries I would get it but still have issues when swinging Knives and using big guns were the game would flag that I have left the gaming space and then all hell would break loose when a horde of Walkers start munching on me and pinning me down. I have always seemed to have these problems with VR games where leaving the gaming space is a problem, maybe it is due to how I set it up or it thinks that I don’t have a big enough gaming area but either way I feel like I have more than enough room to accommodate VR gaming so it bugs me when I leave the gaming area or mid-swing with the Katana I bug back to the stationary position while a walker bites my face off. However, once we are all set playing the game is so much fun and keeps me hooked, with it being a VR game I can only play it for like forty-five minutes before I have to take the headset off and go for a walk or take a breather because it gives me major motion sickness.
I feel like the PlayStation VR is better than the Oculus as I was able to play Onslaught for longer than I could Saints and Sinner in one sitting. The game has you play as Rick, Michonne, Daryl or Carol depending on whom you pick but Daryl is playable only through the campaign that can be accessed through the campfire in the main hub. While in the main hub you’ll find the community board, Scavenger map, your arsenal and the materials and community. Each one plays an important part in the progression of Alexandra and moving forward with the company, as chapters are locked off until you meet certain criteria. The Arsenal allows you to store all off the weapons that you have found during the campaign and scavenging missions, you are also able to create load-outs before each mission to make sure you are best equipped for the task at hand. These missions can be selected from the scavenger maps and each one offers a different type of scenario for you to try and overcome. My personal favourites are the ones where you have to scavenge for resources but at the same time are trying to outrun a massive horde of Walkers. These can go south really quickly but keep you on your feet, then we have the community board which give you community tasks to complete as well as messages from various survivors that join Alexandra. Last but not least, you have the material and community table. From here, you can build and manage various buildings in Alexandra, these buildings offer perks for yourself when you go out scavenging and can also be upgraded a few times depending on how many community members you have.
I find the hub area easy to navigate as well as simple but effective. I’m very pleased with how comfortable it is to play The Walking Dead Onslaught, the melee combat is fantastic and the gun combat is the best I have played in a VR game though it does come with its flaws, these being that if you leave the play area accidentally while swinging your melee weapon it bugs out and doesn’t hit the Walkers which is very frustrating and can become a big problem when there is a big crowd of Walkers and when you use the big firearms aiming with them is quite hard and can be more of a hassle than its worth. I find myself avoiding these weapons as I don’t have time to mess around when trying to kill hordes of Walkers. Switching weapons couldn’t be easier as you just need to hold the button down and hover over which one you want to use and it will switch it out. I feel that the VR does a good job at picking up your movement and there are very little moments where it feels like it isn’t picking up your actions. I feel that when you have to hold a weapon with two hands then the one Motion Controller gets lost because the other one is in the way and the camera can’t register it which is why I avoid these weapons during gameplay however I do try them out and have a play with them in the Arsenal as there is a shooting range for you to practise and use.
Graphically the game looks incredible, there are some grainy elements to the environments but overall, it’s immersive and makes you feel like you’re there. The attention to detail that has gone into the walkers and characters is fantastic and helps bring the whole world to life. I never thought I’d be able to sit around a campfire with Daryl or even slash at a Walker with Michonne and her iconic katana but all that Is possible with Onslaught. Survios have done a fantastic job at taking a series that we all know and love and putting their own unique story into it and creating such an enjoyable VR experience, one that seems to be very hard to do nowadays. The game does a good job at capturing the eerie feeling when you are out collecting resources, the snarls of the Walkers and the sound of the horde gaining on you is enough to make your hairs stand on end. The Voice acting is incredible and adds to the experience. There are a few of the AMC cast reprising their roles for the game but sadly not all of them.
In terms of replay value, you could play through the campaign as much as you like and also change the difficulty of the game which will offer you more hours of gameplay and of course a more horrifying experience. You can also go out on scavenger missions whenever you like to collect resources and supplies so there is always something to do. If however, you do complete the campaign fairly quickly, I suppose you could always just enjoy killing Walkers and collecting the trophies to get that sweet platinum.
Closing Statement
After Playing The Walking Dead Saints And Sinners, I was fully on board with more VR games set in The Walking Dead Universe, with Onslaught it seems to have taken everything that was good with Saints and Sinners and made them even more solid. Not only this, but they took all the problems that I had with Saints and Sinners and made them bearable and fun to use. These being the Firearm mechanics, I’m a huge fan of the AMC series and was very happy to play as some of the main characters from the series, the one character that I would have loved to play as was Negan but sadly he wasn’t a playable character in this game. Apart from the few bugs and glitches, I got when I seemed to leave the gaming area there wasn’t much, I could fault with this game. It did have repetitive elements but ultimately still kept me wanting more. If you own a VR then this game is a must as it has everything to make an outstanding experience but not only that the Exclusive story is brilliant and makes you feel as though it was actually part of the canon universe. If you’re a fan of The Walking Dead and love VR then you’d be silly to give this game a miss, it allows you to dive into the universe without having to know a full lot about the overall story which is good as it welcomes new people to the series. With an asking price of £24.99 or £32.99 for the deluxe edition, it is a steal and worth every single penny. For these reasons, I’m giving The Walking Dead Onslaught a well-deserved score of 7/10.
The Walking Dead Onslaught is available on PS4 and PC, this review is based on the PS4 version of the game and costs £24.99.
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