The Best Oculus Quest 2 Games to start 2022

Maybe you got an Oculus Quest 2 (or rather Meta Quest 2) for Christmas. Maybe you’ve had one in a while and want to dust it off and get into some new experiences in Virtual Reality. Either way we’ve got you covered with a list of the best VR games to buy here at the start of 2022.

Onward

Do you like Counter Strike: Global Offensive? Maybe you like Squad or Arma 3 any other variety of milsim shooters that are out there right now. Well if you like shooters and you like your gameplay to be slow and low then look no further. Onward has a very low time to kill as well as slow player movement. All of this encourages a slow pace and well thought out tactics. There are a variety of different weapons and a couple of game modes for 5v5 matches. It is primarily a multiplayer game, though there is a singleplayer component.

Contractors

Where Onward is the slow paced shooter, Contractors is for those who like their modern military shooter to be a little more fast paced. Think of Contractors as Call Of Duty VR. A recent update added combat sliding the game to even further reinforce fast and frenetic gameplay. There is a longer time to kill than Onward and each player moves much faster, encouraging using movement and quick sprays of bullets to overcome opponents. Match sizes vary from 5v5 to 8v8 or even five player modes versus AI like the Survival game mode.

Blade and Sorcery: Nomad

Blade and Sorcery has finally come to the Quest 2. What is there to say that has not already been said? If you want to bash opponents with medieval weapons then this is the game for you. Especially if you want to do so in slow motion, while jumping over their heads. Oh, and that’s not to mention the magic at your fingertips. Currently Blade and Sorcery: Nomad is a little lacking in content. A limited “Dungeons” mode does offer some semblance of progression oriented gameplay, mostly it’s just a sandbox, for now.

Gorn

Say you like bashing enemies with medieval weapons, but you also like a bit of comedy on the side? Well say no more because Gorn has you covered. Each opponent has comically large arms and chests to accompany smaller legs and heads. In Gorn you can bash or slice your way through a variety of levels using different weapons, each culminating in a different boss fight. All to eventually defeat the warlord who keeps you there and be free of the Arena. Though even then there is an endless fight mode to enjoy and see how many enemies you can kill before falling yourself.

Eternal Starlight

This one won’t be for everyone except for those few who really like both strategy games and VR. As we’ve covered here Eternal Starlight is really the only RTS option on the Oculus Quest 2/Meta Quest 2 at the moment. Its roguelike aspects are an odd design choice and the gameplay doesn’t do anything different or better than other RTS games. The look into a few of the things VR could add, such as a spectacular view of the battle, could be interesting to those who are already fond of the genre.

Medal Of Honor: Above and Beyond

Do you like World War 2? Do you like shooters? Well here you go. World War 2 shooters were a big craze back in the day, and we still see a decent number of them coming out for the PC. However there are slim pickings for WW2 shooters on the Quest 2. The best for sure is Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond. Now you can take part in many of the most exciting scenes of World War 2 in VR, and use many of the weapons as well. Drive a tank, bomb a factory, and so much more. There’s even the assault of Omaha Beach, a classic set-piece for WW2 shooters. Not to mention the multiplayer, which supports up to 8 people in a lobby, and is pretty fun.

Beat Saber

Beat Saber is a game you either love or feel nothing for. It is Guitar Hero for the Oculus Quest 2/Meta Quest 2. Try the demo just to see if you like it. As far as VR games go Beat Saber is the most enduring popular. It would be insane not to include it in any list of the best Virtual Reality games on any platform. It’s all about chopping blocks to the rhythm of music, but there’s something about it that keeps people coming back over and over again.

Thrill of the Fight

Like boxing? Or maybe just the idea of boxing without all of the head trauma? Look no further. As far as boxing simulators go Thrill of the Fight has no equal. Except for maybe Thrill of the Fight 2… whenever that comes out. In Thrill of the Fight go toe to toe with a number of opponents each utilizing different strategies, strengths, and weaknesses to try and knock you out first. Master the art of throwing the perfect hook to another person’s jawline. Or, if the idea of VR fitness intrigues you, fight round after round until you’re too tired to continue. Thrill of the Fight is VR’s most intense workout. Since it’s on the Quest, there are no wires to get in your way either.

Pistol Whip

So maybe you might like a rhythm game, but don’t like Beat Saber. Well Pistol Whip could be what you’re looking for. It is a game also set to a beat, but instead of slicing advancing blocks, you shoot your way through waves of enemies. Pistol Whip has received several major updates and content additions since its release, which has included new weapons like the revolver and shotgun. Not to mention new maps and even a couple of story driven campaigns. Turn up the difficulty high enough and it can be a workout too as you try to dodge incoming bullets and fire back simultaneously.

The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners

No list of the best VR games can be completed with The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners. As far as VR games go this is the one that most takes advantage of the fact that it is in VR. Fight or sneak by humans and zombies alike as you try to find “The Reserve” a National Guard bunker somewhere in the flooded ruins of New Orleans. Scavenge for resources to craft what you will need to survive. Witness and take part in the conflict between the Tower and the Reclaimed. If you like zombies this is a must have game, and even if you don’t there are few if any other titles on the Meta Quest/Oculus Quest 2 that feel as immersive.

Blaston

Blaston is a very unique idea for a VR game. Two players, each standing a short distance away from each other, blast away with various slow moving weapons in order to deplete their opponents health pool before their own. It sounds like a simple premise, but there is a surprising amount of strategy and depth to it. With very quick match times to other players it is a game that’s easy to jump into for a few quick matches, or binge for hours until your battery dies or your legs give out. Contorting and jumping to avoid enemy fire is fun and very active.

Resident Evil 4 VR

We’ve saved the best for last, best port of a PC game at least. Resident Evil 4 VR is everything you would want for a PC game port to VR. Solid controls, little to no bugs, same gameplay feel and experience. All expanded by being in Virtual Reality. It’s easier to line up shots on los Ganados when using your actual hands to aim. All of the spooky creatures and settings are much more enjoyable when they capture your entire vision. Resident Evil 4 is a classic that invented a whole new genre. Resident Evil 4 VR is an expert reimagining of it in Virtual Reality. There is a ton of content here for a VR game, and wow does it keep you coming back.

That’s all for us. While other games were in consideration for this list, only the very best in their class or the most unique made it to the final cut. Though maybe there’s something we haven’t heard about. Do you know of a game that should be on this list? Leave a comment.

Can RTS Work in VR? - Eternal Starlight Review

Eternal Starlight attempts to fill a very strange niche, in fact a couple of strange niches. It is an RTS, or Real Time Strategy Game, and at the same time is a roguelike. Both genres, while having long histories on traditional gaming platforms, are rare in Virtual Reality. What examples do exist are also mostly on PCVR. For those that desire an option on the Oculus Quest there is really only Eternal Starlight and Skyworld: Kingdom Brawl. The latter is more of a Clash Royale in VR than a strategy game. So that leaves just Eternal Starlight for the Quest 2.

A video version of this article can be found here on Youtube.

Homeworld in VR?

Eternal Starlight is sort of a Homeworld in Virtual Reality. For those who don’t know, Homeworld was an RTS game published in the late 90s that became a big hit, and remains a cult classic for aficionados of the genre. The big draw of Homeworld was its full use of three dimensions in its tactical combat, which was very fitting as it took place entirely in outer space. Coupled with a compelling space opera story, it had the potential to redefine the genre. Unfortunately, it did not.

That is what makes Eternal Starlight so interesting. It takes some of the same concepts that made Homeworld great and utilizes them in Virtual Reality. Each dimension of space is fully utilized. Ships can move upwards, downwards, and side to side in order to gain a better firing angle or positional advantage on an opponent. Just as in Homeworld there are ample asteroids and space debris to utilize in order to hide or block firing angles. The environment is, at least in theory, as much a part of the battle as the ships in the arena.

Let’s back up for a second, to truly recognize this comparison, and to determine if this use of three dimensional space in a VR RTS makes for viable and interesting gameplay, we need to know a little more about Eternal Starlight.

Eternal Starlight - An Overview

As mentioned before Eternal Starlight is a VR RTS Roguelike. That is a rare thing in VR, a platform that lends itself to first person experiences. VR is the ultimate form of first person. The player’s arms are virtual arms, their virtual body is their actual body. No other medium allows for interaction that is so close to real life. However, an RTS is so impersonal, so divorced from the sort of physical interaction that makes Virtual Reality immersive. Still, Virtual Reality certainly brings some upsides.

In Eternal Starlight you get a beter view of the battlefield than in any other RTS game. RTS camera controls are pretty standard, the camera can be panned, it can be zoomed, but it always a 2D display of 3D objects. In VR you can look around as though you are a giant head on the battlefield, craning your neck easily to capture any angle you desire. Rather than move a mouse you grab space and move yourself around with your hand. It feels kind of like climbing a ladder. Two hands are moved towards or away from each other to zoom in or out. Sort of like would be done on a Phone or Tablet.

These are map controls that are the same as they are on a computer screen, but the movement of the map is so much more intense. It feels as though you are there, floating through space. It is a simple translation of old RTS camera movement to a new medium.

It works and it adds that new dimension of up-close intensity and immersive spectacle that VR always does, but it doesn’t add much. It’s cool, and it is a novelty. Craning your neck around to see a laser beam slice into an enemy ship is great, but it doesn’t add anything to the actual gameplay experience other than a nicer view. Nothing here utilizes VR specifically to affect the gameplay, just how that gameplay is observed. It is merely a fun way to reuse an old system with a new view and new control inputs.

The rest of the game is inconsequential to VR. New ships can be rewarded through missions or bought for a high price. There is a great modular equipment and upgrade system that allows the player to increase the strength of each individual ship and specialize its role with weapons systems, special ability items, and upgrade modules.

Roguelike For No Reason

That brings up the roguelike aspect of the game. This game seems as though it was designed to be a linear experience with permadeath added afterward to encourage replayability. If the player’s flagship is destroyed then game over, start again from scratch. There is some light progression, completing missions gives a slightly more upgraded flagship on following runs, or options for different types of starting flagships. They do make subsequent runs easier, but what makes this game a bad roguelike is how punishing it can be of small mistakes.

Barely winning a battle with the final enemy ship can still lead to a game over when that ship explodes and destroys the player’s flagship. A really good run can have a single mission which goes badly and cannot be replayed. Maybe a couple of units were in the wrong place, and then were destroyed. Maybe that unit was fully upgraded and cost many thousands of resources, locking the player out of harder missions for possibly the rest of the game as they struggle to catch back up.

Resources can be hard to acquire, because if a ship is damaged resources must be spent to repair it, a sizeable amount of them. A balance can be achieved where the player accumulates more resources than they consume, but it is a hard balance to strike. As a new player it can be easy to feel as though there is no progression and every mission is a net loss. Even with the ability to pause the game at will and issue commands it can be overwhelming. New players should start on “Easy” mode if they want to make any meaningful progress.

Eternal Starlight is not helped by how difficult it is to control units. The VR interactions again are not new, but novel in their Virtual form. Trigger selects units, or can be used to drag them to a specific location. The problem is that they don’t seem to listen. Even telling a unit to attack an enemy can be unhelpful. For instance a ship designed to use long range artillery might very well decide to close with the enemy ship to use its short range weapons rather than bombard it from afar as intended. Turning off the AI can help this, but it does not help how unresponsive they are. Just trying to tell a unit to turn, for the love of god TURN, so that the enemy is in the firing arc of its weapons is extremely frustrating. Only using special weapons such as a Fusion Beam makes the ships move into firing position with any kind of alacrity. For a game so reliant on use of terrain and precise maneuvering to outfox the enemy this is a serious handicap. Starting from the beginning once more because units did not respond to orders as they should is not a good feeling.

Even without the VR aspect, combining a roguelike and an RTS is an uncommon combination, and should have been handled with more care. Possibly the ability to redo missions, at least for a limited number of times, might have made this game feel less unfair. As it stands the roguelike aspect of the game does not mesh well with the Strategy aspect of the game. It feels punishing to try new and interesting ship combinations, because if they don’t work then the player has to start all over again. While there is a skirmish mode for experimentation, the overall effect of the roguelike aspect of the game is frustrating. This is especially true for those who don’t want to sink many hours in a single game completion. It does get easier over time as the player learns how to make powerful ships that can simply tank and dish out a lot of damage, but this takes so long that it might drive many players away early on.

Most missions are always the same, though different ones appear each playthrough. Not every mission can be completed in one successful run, but most can. This, unfortunately, leaves out some important story elements when the final battle comes around. Speaking of the story, it’s alright. The aliens are all silly with one dimensional personalities like those in Star Control, which makes them suitably entertaining for a little while. There are some plotlines that feel important to resolve the first time, but not the third or fourth. The big enemy that is the focus of the game has some enigmatic master controlling their aggression. Enough story to tie the battles together in an interesting way, but not enough to be a draw on its own.

But What About RTSes In VR?

So Eternal Starlight has some problems, but what does this mean for the efficacy of VR as a medium for RTS or Strategy gaming in general? Eternal Starlight does show that utilizing 3D space ala Homeworld is one of the best and most impressive ways to utilize VR. For all the sameness of the control schemes it is much easier to direct ships to move up and down rather than simply side to side. That ability is directly due to this experience being in Virtual Reality. Zooming out far to see the battlefield is also much easier in Virtual Reality than in any other medium, though occasionally finding smaller ships like fighters against the backdrop of space can be difficult.

Those are mostly intrinsic qualities of the medium, and Eternal Starlight does little else with the fact that it is in VR. It would be about as good of a game if it was on a traditional flat screen. So if anyone out there is looking for proof that VR is a better medium for strategy, then you may have to wait for longer. Though all of this begs the question, what would make for a better RTS in VR?

Assuming that Eternal Starlight’s more mundane flaws could be fixed. The finicky movement, AI controlled ships being very unreliable, and the many problems with its roguelike format, what else could be done? Maybe if special abilities had to be flung towards their target like a hand grenade, or some other form of control that was more conducive to hand movements. Adding a “skillshot” element to the game might not be very strategy-esque, but games like League of Legends have already done wonders with the need to time and aim powerful abilities in order to land them.

Since the game already has an emphasis on using very few ships, what if one ship could be directly “helped” by blocking incoming fire with the players hand, or wound up like a clockwork toy in order to increase movement or reloading speed? Maybe it is the lack of direct interaction with the game world that is so a part of the RTS genre, which does not mesh with VR. A marrying of the two might be required. The trappings of an RTS game and controllable units, but with an added layer of direct player interaction and control which can utilize VR more fully. Units which are directly controllable have been implemented in RTS games before, and such a hybrid approach might be engaging in Virtual Reality as well.

Eternal Starlight is a spectacle for sure, and is very frustrating to begin with due to its roguelike format. It is just a shame that it does not show off anything new, and is rather a rehashing of the old in a new format. Though for an effort by an incredibly small team it is a decent experience. At the time of writing is is available on the Oculus Store for 19.99$ and Steam VR for 19.99$. It is a bit pricey for what it is. More than likely only those who are infatuated with the idea of what a VR RTS could be, or Strategy aficionados, should check this out. Unfortunately Eternal Starlight is not the future of RTS on VR, but it does offer a small glimpse of what that future could be.

The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners Factions - The Reclaimed

The waterlogged and zombie infested world of The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners is filled with living people. People fighting and struggling to survive even after a year of trying to live in a world where everything is upside down, even the cycle of life and death. In the city of New Orleans most of these people are part of one of two societies. That of the Tower, or that of the Reclaimed. Those lost souls that are left to fend for themselves and are considered doomed to become another member of the hordes of the dead which roam the city streets are called “Exiles”.

The Tower has already been covered here in a previous article. So let’s delve into the product of The Tower’s heavy handedness, and it’s worst enemy, The Reclaimed.

Rebels Without a Cause

The Reclaimed began with the exile of Jean-Baptiste for insubordination. He, being a ruthless person of great will, did not simply perish like so many others. JB, as he is also known, was not one of the weak who were kicked out for not pulling their weight, and not one of the strong who were willing to do anything just to remain in the Tower fold. After his exile he began raiding Tower supply lines and depots. Other exiles began to join him, and as the ranks of what would become known as The Reclaimed grew, Mama of The Tower took notice.

They sent messages, and threatened him to stop or suffer the consequences. Jean-Baptiste refused. So naturally The Tower began to send death squads to hunt him down and kill him. JB outfoxed them time after time, and left their bodies behind. One was someone who used to be a friend of his during his time in The Tower. Trip was his name. While Jean-Baptiste slept, Trip tried to sneak up and cut the rebel’s throat. He was not successful, and after besting Trip JB dragged his still living body to the Southern Bump, a highly trafficked exit from The Tower, and hung him upside down. Trip bled out there, with a note pinned to his chest saying “Keep ‘em coming.”

With that the people of The Tower began to fear Jean-Baptiste, and more exiles who hated The Tower and its ever growing heavy-handedness and totalitarian practices joined him. The more The Tower exiled and killed, the more fled to the ranks of The Reclaimed. Skirmishes erupted all over the city of New Orleans. The Reclaimed ambushed Tower patrols and supply runs, killing many and hanging their bodies upside down just as JB had done to Trip. Mama and Georgia retaliated, but could not destroy the rebels. As Mama secluded herself and Georgia grew to greater leadership, then the reprisals became bloodier and crueler. The Reclaimed answered in kind, leading to the conflict over The Reserve that dominates The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners.

The Reclaimed are the opposite of The Tower. While Tower policy focuses on extreme organization and the preservation of authority and order at any cost, The Reclaimed are basically anarchists. They are loosely organized at best, and receive little to no instruction from their de facto leader Jean-Baptiste, except through the form of his philosophical rants broadcast on the radio. While they are fierce they are more insurgents than a society.

The Reclaimed and The Tourist

The Reclaimed are not as hostile to The Tourist as The Tower are. While The Tower hold bases all around New Orleans, and will not shoot unless The Tourist attempts to enter. The Reclaimed can practically be seen as allies for most of the game. Where The Tourist must attack Tower strongholds in order to acquire parts or caches critical to finding The Reserve, often Reclaimed patrols will also attack those same strongholds. Unlike The Tower the Reclaimed never shoot The Tourist simply for occupying the same space as them. Of course they will retaliate if threatened or attacked, but who wouldn’t? It would be foolish to fight The Reclaimed for most of the game, because they pose no threat and do not bar the way to any resources or loot.

The Reclaimed are few in number compared to The Tower, and the results of their attacks can be seen in the upside down corpses dressed in Tower blue. As the game progresses this is seen more and more in buildings that were once Tower strongholds. The Reclaimed slowly reclaim New Orleans, and you help them in that by fighting The Tower. Though in the Aftershocks DLC all bets are off. The Reclaimed fight the player just as The Tower do, as they are just as desperate for the remnants of The Reserve scattered around New Orleans.

Conclusion

According to Jean-Baptiste himself The Reclaimed simply wish to “Live purposeful lives, reclaim the world and our humanity…” That is doubtful from the actions of The Reclaimed throughout the game, and Jean-Baptiste’s own. The Reclaimed live as The Tower do, simply without a single authority to hold them together. They scavenge New Orleans and fight The Tower over supplies. They do not start farms or schools, or reclaim any semblance of society or culture. They are simply rebels driven purely by hatred for the cruelty of The Tower that cast them out. If The Tower collapsed and ceased existing, then The Reclaimed would likely fight each other over resources or drift away into the flooded streets of New Orleans.

JB’s philosophy rings false, especially since his followers do not share it. He states a hatred for Survivalism and a dependence on doing whatever it takes to eke out a bare existence on the scraps of a world destroyed by the undead. It is clear in the actions of his followers that they do not share those views. They fight over The Reserve and, later, the Reserve caches, just as The Tower does. JB himself only lived through stealing Tower supplies. They are survivalists just as much as The Tower are, and the only thing binding them together is not a desire to reclaim or create, but to destroy. Since Jean-Baptiste does not have the control to direct The Reclaimed to a better path, then they will fail in time just as surely as The Tower will.

See our previous article on The Tower for the Stalinist police state that started this rebellion. For more on The Reclaimed, see what Jean-Baptiste has to say for himself on Youtube.

The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners is available on Steam for 39.99$. It is also available on the Oculus Store for 39.99$. This is one of the best Virtual Reality experiences out there right now, with extremely polished survival gameplay and a compelling story. Not to mention an unmatched melee combat system, focusing on piercing the skull of course, because zombies. If you like zombie games then this is one you should not miss. Even if you aren’t a huge zombie culture fan, this is a game that is well worth its price tag for even a single playthrough. There’s even an Arena Survival Mode, and more free updates.

5 Great Resident Evil 4 VR Tips and Tricks

Resident Evil 4 VR is the latest big budget, big hype release on the Oculus Quest 2. Sorry SteamVR only users, but for now it’s only on the Quest. Whether you’re an old fan excited to see this genre-defining game on a new medium, or a newcomer looking to shoot some zombies and save some daughters, here’s the greatest Resident Evil 4 VR tips and tricks to help you out.

A video version of this article is available on Youtube.

The Resident Evil 4 VR Logo

Immersive Mode is More Versatile - Resident Evil 4 VR Tips and Tricks

When starting out in Resident Evil 4 VR you’re given the option between “Immersive Mode” and “Quick Select.” Whichever you end up preferring, know that you’re missing out if you don’t choose Immersive Mode. Out of all of these Resident Evil 4 VR tips and tricks, this is the most game changing. In quick select you can only use one hand to select weapons. In immersive mode you can use both hands at once. This can be extremely useful in a number of situations.

Holding your handgun in one hand and your knife in the other, keeping your unloaded shotgun in one hand while quickly pulling out your pistol with the other. There are a number of situations where Immersive Mode gives you more versatility in what you do with your hands.

A weapon in each hand in Resident Evil 4 VR

Stay on the Lookout For Loot - Resident Evil 4 VR Tips and Tricks

You’re going to need supplies to survive in Resident Evil 4 VR. More than you could possibly find just lying around in the open. Bullets, healing items, grenades, and money to buy new equipment and upgrades. More of each of these things can be found by breaking crates and barrels found in the world with your knife.

So this Resident Evil 4 VR tip is that good loot is often where you might expect to find it the least. Such as coins in crows nests or gems stuck in the ceiling. Another trick is to shoot the crows themselves wherever they congregate, as they always drop some treasure.

Any tip that gets you treasure is a good one in Resident Evil 4 VR

Knives Beat Bear Traps - Resident Evil 4 VR Tips and Tricks

From early on in the game a number of traps and devices will be left in your path. Bear Traps in particular can be disarmed in an unintuitive way by hitting them with your knife. Shooting also works, but who needs to waste a bullet? This wouldn’t be a great Resident Evil 4 VR tip if it involved wasting ammunition.

Knife > Bear Trap

Good Herbs Make For Good Health - Resident Evil 4 VR Tips and Tricks

As in any of the older Resident Evil games, there are herbs used to restore health. Keeping with tradition Resident Evil 4 has three herbs, green, red, and yellow. These can be used to restore your health, but also to increase your maximum health. Mixing green herbs with green herbs generally restores more health, but is less efficient than combining a green herb with a red herb. A green and red herb together will restore health completely.

An important Resident Evil 4 VR tip is to use these herbs as efficiently as possible. An addition of a yellow herb to any green herb will increase maximum health no matter how many green or red herbs are also mixed in. The next time you need healing make sure to use a yellow herb mixture to give you a little more survivability next time. Also mix red herbs and green herbs as much as possible.

Always mix your herbs in Resident Evil 4 VR

Invest in Your Inventory - Resident Evil 4 VR Tips and Tricks

There is a lot of stuff to be bought from the enigmatic trader that seems to always appear where he is most needed. The most important of these things are the upgraded Attache Cases. The attache case is basically your inventory container, and buying a larger one will grant more slots for carrying items.

Sooner or later your inventory will be full. You will not want it to be full, who knows if that next herb or grenade you pick up can be the difference between life and death later on? Resident Evil 4 VR requires a decent amount of frugality with resources. Sometimes there will be plenty of ammunition, and sometimes not. For the dry times you’ll want inventory space, and also to carry as many weapons as possible, so that you can use as many types of ammunition as possible.

Upgrade your inventory whenever you can, and when that isn’t enough combine herbs to save on slots. If all else fails, maybe sell some of your less useful items to the trader.

Always get the attache case ASAP in Resident Evil 4 VR

Those are all the Resident Evil 4 VR tips and tricks we’ve got for you. Resident Evil 4 VR by Armature Games is available on the Oculus Store for 39.99$. Good luck fighting Los Ganados.

The Walking Dead: Saints And Sinners Aftershocks Review

The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners has a pretty solid run time, especially for a VR title. Even after finding The Reserve and completing the main story there was fun to be had traipsing around New Orleans, destroying ever larger amounts of the undead and Tower and Reclaimed patrols and death squads. That fun did peter out without the shiny jewel of The Reserve to be a constant goal and compelling mystery. The Trial provided some brief relief, but it did not satisfy, it did not feel like playing the original game at all. For those left wanting more by then there is finally relief with Skydance Interactive’s release of the Aftershocks DLC.

Those who have not stepped into The Tourist’s shoes for a while may wonder though, is this DLC worth reinstalling the game? Can more of the same be expected, or something a little different? Stick around to find out. (Light Spoilers, mostly content related)

Shootouts Traps and Loot Oh My!

The first thing that is very apparent when playing Aftershocks is the increase in human enemies. By the time the main game is finished it is assured that the player has a sizeable arsenal and a lot of, if not all of, the workbench upgrades. So the enemies are commensurate to the player’s ability. Where The Trial was a test of zombie fighting skill, Aftershocks is a test of gunfighting capability. There are many human enemies in Aftershocks, and not just a light sprinkling as before. Tower troopers and Reclaimed soldiers come in packs, almost entirely armed with heavy weapons such as shotguns and assault rifles, and wearing heavy armor. Gone are the days of fighting a few goons wearing blue shirts and wielding .30 revolvers. The Tower and The Reclaimed aren’t playing around anymore. So whenever one of those Military Cases is up for grabs be sure to bring some firepower.

For anyone who hated fighting other humans in the main game, this DLC might not be for you, though there are always stealth options. On the other hand anyone who found that the main game quickly skimped out on opportunities to have gunfights with your fellow man, then Aftershocks delivers. Especially as, even if not taken from The Reserve in the original ending, the ability to make assault rifles and ammunition for them is quickly unlocked.

Traps are also more formidable then before. No longer are there only simple barbed tripwires that only do a little damage if they touch the player’s body. The Reclaimed have become more devious than ever before, and have wired up propane canisters to blow. They don’t have tin cans hanging from them either. You need to spot the thin wire, or say goodbye to your legs.

Can you spot the tripwire?

Despite the dangers, the crates are SO worth the trouble. Each is packed to the brim with the highest tier loot. No joke. Boxes of loot of all colors, ammunition, the highest tier food items, the best medicines, even fully assembled high durability weapons. Items that previously could only be crafted. All this and more are the prizes at stake. What seemed like a high quality haul before now looks like so much random garbage. Prepare to be spoiled.

What About the Story Though?

The story starts off pretty tame. There is no talk of the leaders of the factions, or any new direction in their ideologies now that The Reserve is gone. As far as they are concerned it is still there, just spread about in many small pieces to fight over. The Tower does not collapse if you killed Georgia in the main game, and neither do The Reclaimed if JB kicked the bucket. No choices made before Aftershocks affect the DLC missions. The missions are simply… go get the crates. If you’re hungry for loot this may be enough, but any additional motivation is not found within the story.

Other than the standard “Get the cache before anyone else does” setup of the missions, it takes quite a few runs before any additional plot develops. The cache missions all vary slightly, and a couple of minor characters that come and go are introduced. Nobody of the caliber of May or Casey. All in all the story is very light, and all built up to a central mystery which is… not satisfying.

While fighting The Tower and The Reclaimed across the same old maps definitely feels like living in the world of The Walking Dead’s New Orleans, something is missing. There is no more discovery as there was playing the base game the first time. Everything is simply there as window dressing for the end game combat challenges. The Tower does not change. The Reclaimed do not change. New Orleans does not change, and neither does The Tourist through the player. There are no interesting choices to make as in the first game. There are simply gunfights and massive loot. Sure there is a mystery, but the final reveal of it at the end will have you wishing there was never a mystery at all, the ending is that bad. It seemed as though it was shoed in so that Aftershocks could have a clear way to say it is over. Just to make sure, the developers added a popup which basically says “Thanks for playing, it’s over.”

More to Come

Skydance has indicated that there will be more additions to The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners, so maybe the lackluster ending is building to something greater. As it stands if you want more interesting gameplay challenges in this game, then this DLC is definitely for you. If you wish to be satisfied by an interesting story with ideas to think about and moral choices to make, you won’t find it here. Hopefully Skydance’s next addition will be better in that department. Though, who can complain too much with so many things to shoot?

The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners is available on Steam for 39.99$. It is also available on the Oculus Store for 39.99$.