Last month Survios launched its much-anticipated zombie survival title The Walking Dead Onslaught for PC VR and PlayStation VR headsets. To celebrate the release VRFocus has another awesome competition where one lucky reader has a chance to win both the videogame and a bunch of merchandise.
The Walking Dead Onslaught is a collaboration between Survios and AMC, bringing the popular TV show to life in virtual reality (VR) with some of the show’s famous faces. If you’re a fan of AMC’s TV show then the storyline will be of interest as its set between season 8 and 9.
The main campaign follows Daryl Dixon, where you embody the character famous for his crossbow. In between missions you need to rebuild the Alexandria Safe Zone and help the community by going on supply runs, upgrading your weapons and killing a lot of walkers.
For this competition is dishing up a sizable selection of merch, all of it going to one lucky winner. You can see what’s on offer below. This will be shipped by Survios directly to the winner, worldwide.
The Walking Dead Season 8 Blu-ray
The Walking Dead Season 9 Blu-ray
The Walking Dead Onslaught Steelbook case (Includes a code for the platform of your choice)
The Walking Dead Onslaught Art book
The Walking Dead Onslaught T-shirt
The Walking Dead Onslaught Microfiber cloth
The Walking Dead Onslaught Postcard
Developer letter
So onto the competition. There are multiple ways to enter the giveaway with the standard prize draw entry rules applying: Follow us (or already be following us) on Twitter or alternatively, visit our Facebook page or YouTube channel to get an entry for each. The competition will be open until 11.59 pm GMT on Monday 2nd November 2020. The draw will be made shortly thereafter. After which VRFocus will contact the winner to get platform and address details. Best of luck.
In a massive update post, the developer outlines what it’s calling the Combat Rebalance Patch, which makes “significant changes” to the game’s combat system and zombie behavior.
One of the biggest issues at launch was the relative weakness of most firearms and other ranged weapons. The default starting knife was an instant one-hit kill if you stabbed the brain and didn’t even require much force, whereas guns would require multiple shots. There is no durability system in Onslaught, so there was little reason not to use the basic knife 90% of the time. That’s been changed quite dramatically.
According to the update, “all ranged weapons” now allow one-hit kills to the brain at close range, but less damage obviously to the jaw, neck, and below. There is also now damage drop off depending on distance, which can be improved at the workbench. Additionally, “all melee weapons have had their damage values tweaked” so that less damage is dealt to the non-brain areas of the head. Blades also get stuck in skulls requiring more force to pull them out and dead walkers will no longer automatically slip off onto the ground.
Other highlights include increased walker perception and aggression, higher damage from walkers, larger groups of walkers, and more. Progression is also eased so you’re not grinding for resources as much, plus a litany of other changes. You can read the full patch notes right here.
This still doesn’t address some of our key concerns from the review, such as the red misty fog indicated the “horde” approaching or the quality of other areas, but it’s a great start on quick notice less than a month after release.
Let us know what you think of these changes down in the comments below!
One of the major virtual reality (VR) releases in September was Survios’ The Walking Dead Onslaught, taking fans inside AMC’s TV show. However, the launch didn’t quite live up to expectations, with gamers unhappy with the combat – especially where the knife was concerned. Addressing those concerns, Survios has now released the Combat Rebalance Patch.
Details released show that Survios has tackled all aspects of the combat in The Walking Dead Onslaught, both ranged and melee, as well as adjusting the walkers’ aggression and difficulty. One of the biggest gripes was how easy the gameplay was, with hordes of walkers easily taken down, removing any sort of tense atmosphere.
For a basic overview, when it comes to ranged combat all the weapons can now perform one-hit kills to the brain at close range, larger guns have better simulated weight; ammo is scarcer, there’s fall-off damage over distance (improved via upgrades); pistol whipping damage has been increased, and the “Copper Tips” upgrade has better penetration values.
On the melee side, damage values have been slightly adjusted so less is caused from the jaw downwards. Sharp melee weapons can now become lodged inside a walkers skull, becoming harder to remove – high quality weapons like the Katana and Battle Axe will have the least resistance. Player movement is restricted whilst impaling a zombie, blunt melee damage has been reduced; Knuckle Knife re-tuned for blunt damage “two-hit punch to the head, one-hit when upgraded,” and tweaks to the simulated weight again.
As for other improvements, these include:
“Walker perception and aggression has been increased.”
“Walkers now deal significantly more damage when biting.”
“Armored Walkers and Spiked Walkers are now more difficult to kill.”
“There is more Food in the early game to allow for smoother level progression.”
“Added an option for Left-hand Dominant players who use Smooth Locomotion to swap the Movement and Turning inputs with each other.”
“Choked or impaled Walker corpses have increased simulated weight, but no longer automatically fall to the floor.”
Oculus Quest – “Virtual Desktop has released Update 1.16.2, which includes compatibility for The Walking Dead Onslaught.”
Valve Index – “published an alternative controller scheme which allows players to interact with the environment, grab pickups, and choke walkers using the Index’s grip sensor”
That does sound like it should address plenty of gameplay concerns to make the title a far more rounded (and terrifying) experience. For further updates on The Walking Dead Onslaught, keep reading VRFocus.
The Walking Dead Onslaught (2020) launched onto PSVR and PC headsets late last month to less than glowing reviews. Developers Survios aren’t giving up on the single player zombie shooter though, as the studio has released a new patch that aims to rebalance zombies, weapons, and the game’s combat system.
There’s a long list of changes (seen below) that are now live on all versions of the game. Survios says the patch was created to
“help players achieve our goal of walker-slaying fun.”
Since its September 29th launch, user reviews haven’t been super consistent across the board. At the time of this writing, The Walking Dead Onslaught is sitting [3/5] stars on the Oculus Store, a more positive [4/5] stars on the PlayStation Store, and undoubtedly the worst over on Steam at ‘Mostly Negative’ user reviews.
In our own review we gave it a [4/10] for being too grindy, and not presenting enough of a challenge when it comes to zombie-killing action. In short, the shambolic goons felt more like generic bullet sponges than identifiably different classes of zombies, and the one-way run and gun levels, although beautiful, felt like distractions to the game’s overall story, narrated by Daryl Dixon (reprised by Norman Reedus).
With the rebalance, Survios seems to be trying to reframe zombie encounters to be more deadly, and therefore more important obstacles to the main task of running and scrounging. Anyway, check out the full update list below, provided by Survios via Steam.
The Walking Dead Onslaught Combat Rebalance Patch
1) Significant Ranged Weapon Combat Overhaul
All ranged weapons have been tuned to allow for one-hit kills to the brain at close range; less damage is dealt to the jaw and significantly less damage is dealt to the neck and below.
Ranged weapons now have custom fall-off damage over distance, which can be improved via weapon upgrades (“Refined Powder”). This excludes the Lever Action Rifle, Revolver, and Crossbow.
Simulated weight on heavier / longer ranged weapons has been adjusted for better usability; this weight can be neutralized by stabilizing (two-handing) a weapon.
Ammo Pickups now grant less ammunition per weapon, increasing ammo scarcity.
All ranged weapons have had their maximum ammunition and upgraded ammunition capacities re-balanced to the new weapon damage values.
Ranged weapons brought into a Scavenger run as part of the player loadout now start with a single magazine’s worth of ammunition rather than the maximum for the weapon.
The ammo bonuses granted by The Forge have been increased from +40% at max level to +125% (+25% per upgrade).
Increased blunt melee damage on all ranged weapons (pistol whipping).
The “Copper Tips” upgrades for the Heavy Pistol, Lever Action Rifle, and Crossbow are now more effective; penetration values have been increased.
The Basic Pistol is now less accurate at range to compensate for its new one-hit kill capability.
2) Significant Melee Weapon Combat Overhaul
All melee weapons have had their damage values tweaked; less damage is dealt to the jaw and significantly less damage is dealt to the neck and below.
Sharp melee weapons (blades and axes) now stick inside of a Walker’s skull on kill and will resist easy removal; higher quality sharp melee weapons such as the Katana and Battle Axe have the least resistance of removal.
Dead Walkers no longer automatically detach from sharp melee weapons when impaled.
While impaling a Walker with a sharp melee weapon, player movement is restricted for as long as the weapon remains stuck in the Walker.
Additional simulated weight has been added to heavier / longer melee weapons; this weight can be neutralized by stabilizing (two-handing) a weapon.
Reduced blunt melee damage for sharp melee weapons when striking with the hilt or other non-sharp surfaces; the Crowbar, Battle Axe, and Shovel have retained higher damage for these blunt attacks.
The Knuckle Knife has been completely re-tuned to better emphasize blunt damage (two-hit punch to the head, one-hit when upgraded); the knife end is no longer an instant kill head strike but also does not stick in skulls on kill.
The “Impact” upgrades for the Hammer, Bat, and Battle Axe are now more effective; explosive damage values have been increased.
3) Walker Aggression and Difficulty Increased
Walker perception and aggression has been increased.
Walkers now deal significantly more damage when biting.
On Survivor and Veteran difficulty, Walkers now also deal initial grapple damage before biting starts.
Increased number of Walkers in Campaign Chapter 1.
Armored Walkers and Spiked Walkers are now more difficult to kill.
Spiked Walkers are now noticeably more deadly than other walkers.
4) Progression Has Been Eased
There is more Food in the early game to allow for smoother level progression.
Changed the first time user Scavenger site mission from Main Street Supply Run to Military Checkpoint Supply Evac.
Reduced the speed of the Scavenger Herd Wall when playing on Novice or Survivor difficulty.
5) Additional Changes
Added an option for Left-hand Dominant players who use Smooth Locomotion to swap the Movement and Turning inputs with each other.
Reversing grip on a bladed weapon will no longer cause a choked Walker to detach.
Choked or impaled Walker corpses have increased simulated weight, but no longer automatically fall to the floor.
Increased velocity when throwing Walker corpses..
Choked Walkers can now be brought closer to the player’s face.
The Walking Dead Onslaught (2020) launched onto PSVR and PC headsets late last month to less than glowing reviews. Developers Survios aren’t giving up on the single player zombie shooter though, as the studio has released a new patch that aims to rebalance zombies, weapons, and the game’s combat system.
There’s a long list of changes (seen below) that are now live on all versions of the game. Survios says the patch was created to
“help players achieve our goal of walker-slaying fun.”
Since its September 29th launch, user reviews haven’t been super consistent across the board. At the time of this writing, The Walking Dead Onslaught is sitting [3/5] stars on the Oculus Store, a more positive [4/5] stars on the PlayStation Store, and undoubtedly the worst over on Steam at ‘Mostly Negative’ user reviews.
In our own review we gave it a [4/10] for being too grindy, and not presenting enough of a challenge when it comes to zombie-killing action. In short, the shambolic goons felt more like generic bullet sponges than identifiably different classes of zombies, and the one-way run and gun levels, although beautiful, felt like distractions to the game’s overall story, narrated by Daryl Dixon (reprised by Norman Reedus).
With the rebalance, Survios seems to be trying to reframe zombie encounters to be more deadly, and therefore more important obstacles to the main task of running and scrounging. Anyway, check out the full update list below, provided by Survios via Steam.
The Walking Dead Onslaught Combat Rebalance Patch
1) Significant Ranged Weapon Combat Overhaul
All ranged weapons have been tuned to allow for one-hit kills to the brain at close range; less damage is dealt to the jaw and significantly less damage is dealt to the neck and below.
Ranged weapons now have custom fall-off damage over distance, which can be improved via weapon upgrades (“Refined Powder”). This excludes the Lever Action Rifle, Revolver, and Crossbow.
Simulated weight on heavier / longer ranged weapons has been adjusted for better usability; this weight can be neutralized by stabilizing (two-handing) a weapon.
Ammo Pickups now grant less ammunition per weapon, increasing ammo scarcity.
All ranged weapons have had their maximum ammunition and upgraded ammunition capacities re-balanced to the new weapon damage values.
Ranged weapons brought into a Scavenger run as part of the player loadout now start with a single magazine’s worth of ammunition rather than the maximum for the weapon.
The ammo bonuses granted by The Forge have been increased from +40% at max level to +125% (+25% per upgrade).
Increased blunt melee damage on all ranged weapons (pistol whipping).
The “Copper Tips” upgrades for the Heavy Pistol, Lever Action Rifle, and Crossbow are now more effective; penetration values have been increased.
The Basic Pistol is now less accurate at range to compensate for its new one-hit kill capability.
2) Significant Melee Weapon Combat Overhaul
All melee weapons have had their damage values tweaked; less damage is dealt to the jaw and significantly less damage is dealt to the neck and below.
Sharp melee weapons (blades and axes) now stick inside of a Walker’s skull on kill and will resist easy removal; higher quality sharp melee weapons such as the Katana and Battle Axe have the least resistance of removal.
Dead Walkers no longer automatically detach from sharp melee weapons when impaled.
While impaling a Walker with a sharp melee weapon, player movement is restricted for as long as the weapon remains stuck in the Walker.
Additional simulated weight has been added to heavier / longer melee weapons; this weight can be neutralized by stabilizing (two-handing) a weapon.
Reduced blunt melee damage for sharp melee weapons when striking with the hilt or other non-sharp surfaces; the Crowbar, Battle Axe, and Shovel have retained higher damage for these blunt attacks.
The Knuckle Knife has been completely re-tuned to better emphasize blunt damage (two-hit punch to the head, one-hit when upgraded); the knife end is no longer an instant kill head strike but also does not stick in skulls on kill.
The “Impact” upgrades for the Hammer, Bat, and Battle Axe are now more effective; explosive damage values have been increased.
3) Walker Aggression and Difficulty Increased
Walker perception and aggression has been increased.
Walkers now deal significantly more damage when biting.
On Survivor and Veteran difficulty, Walkers now also deal initial grapple damage before biting starts.
Increased number of Walkers in Campaign Chapter 1.
Armored Walkers and Spiked Walkers are now more difficult to kill.
Spiked Walkers are now noticeably more deadly than other walkers.
4) Progression Has Been Eased
There is more Food in the early game to allow for smoother level progression.
Changed the first time user Scavenger site mission from Main Street Supply Run to Military Checkpoint Supply Evac.
Reduced the speed of the Scavenger Herd Wall when playing on Novice or Survivor difficulty.
5) Additional Changes
Added an option for Left-hand Dominant players who use Smooth Locomotion to swap the Movement and Turning inputs with each other.
Reversing grip on a bladed weapon will no longer cause a choked Walker to detach.
Choked or impaled Walker corpses have increased simulated weight, but no longer automatically fall to the floor.
Increased velocity when throwing Walker corpses..
Choked Walkers can now be brought closer to the player’s face.
The Walking Dead Onslaught is this year’s second Walking Dead franchise game for VR, following the release of the The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners (2020)in January. Unlike its scrappy RPG-style older sibling, Onslaught does away with dark and gloomy trepidation of entering a room halfcocked, instead replacing it with a constant pressure to run, gun, and scrounge your way through levels to an oftentimes ineffectual conclusion.
The Walking Dead Onslaught Details:
Available On: Oculus PC, SteamVR, PlayStation Store (PSVR) Release Date: September 29th, 2020 Developer: Survios Reviewed On: Oculus Quest (via Link), Oculus Rift
Gameplay
I quit watching AMC’s The Walking Dead probably after the third season, which, for me, was when the show stopped being about surviving zombies and sort of became a zombie it is own right. It shambled along in a way that just made me question: where the hell is this all going?
Whatever your level of fandom though, if you’re going to play The Walking Dead Onslaught, you only really need to know a few things to succeed: Methodically search through every building for supplies. Have a balanced loadout with at least one edged weapon. Make sure to point the shooty part of the gun at the zombie’s head. And run.
Image captured by Road to VR
You don’t need to know where to go, or what to do, and you won’t need to solve any puzzles along the way. Just aim down the iron sights, shoot, reload, and run from the constantly marching red fog of zombies behind you until the credits roll. The red fog works just like in a battle royale, which gives you all the motivation you’ll need to make your way to the finish line.
There’s no stamina, thirst, or hunger bars to worry about here (not a bad thing), making it all about moving quickly through the one-way snake-like pathway through each level—but not so fast that you’ll breeze past the inexplicably massive amounts of food, wood, metal scraps, adhesives, etc—all of which either helps you upgrade weapons or unlocks the next bit of story.
The game is divided into two discrete sections: Daryl, reprised by Norman Reedus, has a story to tell about trying to save a little girl. As Daryl, you play through a half-dozen levels to meet the conclusion of his story arc. It probably took around 3 hours to play through Daryl’s bit alone, but you aren’t set loose right away to run through each chapter as you please.
Image captured by Road to VR
For some reason you need to attract survivors to your encampment which is done by scrounging for food across a map that sequentially unlocks different zones after you meet a survivor number requirement. This basically ties you to grinding through scrounging missions to unlock Daryl’s story which then kicks you back out to more scrounging missions, rinse and repeat.
Image captured by Road to VR
It all felt a bit like the game was tacking on a pretty useless bit in the name of extending gameplay length. You’re forced to go through these missions, which have no other purpose than to find stuff, to then make self-serving upgrades to weapons, health, and supply retrieval ability.
Daryl’s story was interesting, and acted somewhat of a retreat from the grind, but I found myself mechanically repeating the same scrounging levels over and over just to get enough supplies to unlock the next chapter. These missions quickly started to feel like a dull chore than an honest way of engaging with the game.
The red fog of the horde, Image captured by Road to VR
That’s not to say there aren’t some really fun bits in shooting a massive crowd of walkers (all of them slow until they get within striking distance) and seeing the hardest zombies go down. The constant pressure of an enclosing zombie horde fog also keeps you on your toes during scrounging missions, never giving you enough time to search the byways for everything. Stabbing, slicing, shooting, and pushing the physics-based baddies around is all really satisfying.
I also liked that you can attack each level of the game, both story and scrounging missions, in easy, medium or hard difficulty modes, although the amount of stuff you find decreases the easier you take it. Onslaught does those things well, but I feel like it would be better served with a larger, more engaging storyline and significantly less supply grinding.
Image captured by Road to VR
As for the game’s antagonists, there’s not a ton of functional variation to the slow walking zombies in Onslaught. Later in the game, you’ll meet armored zombies in riot gear or covered in spikes that add additional pressure to the level’s slolam, however its overwhelmingly populated with civilian walkers that can die with a single knife plunge to the brain. Have enough ammo, aim for the head, and eventually all of the bullet sponges will lurch their last step.
In all, both Daryl’s story and the scrounging missions took me a little over seven hours to complete. After the credits roll, you can always head back in to upgrade every weapon, melee and gun alike, but I just didn’t see a need since I’d be playing through all of the same missions again with the only real variation being where key items are located.
Immersion
Onslaught misses the mark by being a little too simplistic and overly grindy, but it also misses the mark somewhat in the Immersion section too by being too damn predictable.
Level design is nearly always built around a one-way slog through a ruined town, which all starts to feel the same after about the first hour. It’s a shame, because the visual variety of the levels feels actually really quite good. Although you aren’t going to stop and smell the daisies ever, it’s clear there was some serious love in making the each level feel uniquely ruined by the zombie apocalypse.
Image captured by Road to VR
Unfortunately there’s no object interaction to speak of, as your dominant hand is tied to your weapon until you switch it out for another. Force grab is used in place of actually picking things up. Those aren’t bad things in and of themselves, but the abstraction away from actually holding something with your hands does limit user immersion somewhat.
Both character design and voice acting are however pretty exceptional considering Norman Reedus was the only original actor in the game. There is somewhat of an uncanny valley effect when characters speak, which only happens when you’re back at base, but it’s not very often that you even see another human being in the bulk of the game, so it’s mostly a non-issue. Although zombies are functionally the same, with the only variation being armor level, the designs are extremely well crafted.
Image captured by Road to VR
Onslaught’s clever use of positional audio is a highlight too, as you have to keep your ear out for the foggy horde inching ever closer behind you, free range zombies lurking around the level, and valuable caches of supplies, which sound like a soft radio fizzle when you get near them.
The game’s UI also smartly stays out of the way, which is a nice touch, letting you more fluidly engage with the hordes of zombies. You can also turn the UI completely off in the settings, although you may not even notice it most of the time since it hides in the upper and lower registers of the screen.
Comfort
The game’s developers, Survios, are old pros when it comes to VR comfort design. You can choose a number of locomotion options including teleport, snap turn, smooth turning, head or hand- relative forward motion, and even the arm-swinging style they’ve used in Creed: Rise to Glory (2018) and Sprint Vector (2017).
All of this, combined with a well-studied use of particle effects to help you stay grounded as you move forward, give you a wide swath of options according to your individual comfort level.
You can play both seated and standing, which is done through an automatic calibration process. An in-game recalibration button is also there if for some reason you want to switch between standing and sitting.
The Walking Dead: Onslaught from Survios is the second VR game to release this year based on the iconic zombie apocalypse universe and the only one to feature the same cast of characters as the AMC TV show. What it gains in familiar faces though, it loses everywhere else. Read on for our complete The Walking Dead: Onslaught review to see what we thought of this post apocalyptic action game.
The Walking Dead: Onslaught is not a very good game, but it could have been. The original demo I first tried nearly a year and a half ago back at E3 2019 had promise with its gory combat and focus on replayable co-op missions. There was a clear arcade-style focus there that seemed to fill a niche and had enough setting it apart from The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners by Skydance Interactive, but most of that initial charm is all gone now.
After Saints & Sinners was announced and released, something seems to have happened with Onslaught. For starters, we knew multiplayer was getting axed in favor of prioritizing the story. Norman Reedus took on a bigger part in the project, reprising his role as Daryl Dixon. Carol and Eugene are the same actors as the show as well, but Rick and Michonne are not — it’s immediately apparent. Those two performances are pretty hit or miss depending on the moment, which is a shame considering Rick is a major character in the game from start to finish.
As it stands, Onslaught is quite literally two separate games mashed together. You switch back and forth between them over the course of six or so hours. On the one hand you’ve got the story-driven campaign that ushers you along a collection of linear levels featuring narration by Daryl and Rick as you play through a series of flashbacks that eventually culminate in a larger event. Then there’s all the Scavenge missions. This is the real meat of the game and where Survios hopes you’ll want to spend most of your time replaying missions, getting more loot, and investing the time to upgrade your camp.
But the Scavenge missions have a huge, massive, glaring flaw: exploration is heavily discouraged. So much so that you’ll literally just die if you take too long. During missions a foggy red cloud slowly encroaches on you, closing in the level from the back like something ripped out of Fortnite or PUBG. The red haze is supposed to represent “The Horde” but there are no zombies anywhere in the red cloud. It’s just…foggy. And red.
If you stand it too long then you slowly lose health until you died. The game never explains this so you just sort of find out on your own. There is zero narrative justification for why “The Horde” is a red cloud and I can’t think of a single explanation gleaned from the show. It comes off as lazy and uninspired. I’d have preferred a countdown timer until “The Horde” arrives, at which point the screen fades and you die or something. Anything other than misty red haze that saps your health for no reason.
The functional results of this red cloud is that every Scavenge mission is limited, forcing you to memorize maps and try to loot as quickly as possible. This could have caused some interesting tension, but instead it’s just frustration. The discrepancy occurs because there is a complete and utter lack of fear. This isn’t a stealth game or a survival game, at all, and it’s hardly even a horror game unless you just get really creeped out by dumb, slow-moving zombies.
The Walking Dead: OnslaughtComfort Settings
The Walking Dead: Onslaught has about what you’d expect in the way of comfort options for a VR title in 2020, especially from Survios. In addition to snap and smooth turning, there are both teleport and smooth movement. You can also use their brand of arm swinger movement, similar to how it works in Creed: Rise to Glory. There are some FOV limiting features as well and that’s about it. Everything else is just good old fashioned swinging your arms and pointing guns. I found it most appropriate to play standing, but seated does work.
The Walking Dead universe is one where death can come for you at anytime as the relentless walkers will stop at nothing to gnaw on your face. But in Onslaught, they’re nothing more than a time sink due to how unbalanced combat is.
Everyone knows melee is usually preferable in a zombie game because it’s quick, clean, and usually the stealthier option. But in Onslaught, that mantra is taken to another level. Since there is no stamina system and no weapon durability system you have basically no reason to use anything other than the knife, machete, etc. With a tiny bit of force I can kill any walker with a quick poke to the face, yank out the knife, and keep on stabbing.
Meanwhile the pistol takes three headshots to down a single enemy. It makes no sense. Shotguns and assault rifles feel fine, but I have no incentive to use them. If anything, they’re more of a nuisance since you need to eject magazines and reload clips from your belt. Knives are just indestructible.
As you gather scraps and loot you can create upgrade mods for weapons, but once again you just don’t really need to. It feels like a half-baked feature that was added in at the last minute before being fully realized.
Visually, it’s not bad other than the bland yellow/brown tones on everything. Most textures and areas look pretty good, especially from a distance, but there is a lot of clutter to prevent you from going where you’re not supposed to go. Levels are very linear across the board, save for a few destroyed buildings you can poke around in briefly.
And you can’t interact with anything at all. All of the various objects on tables and items on shelves you see lying around? They’re bolted down and can’t be moved.
With all the leaps forward we’ve made in VR game design, especially when it comes to interactivity and physics in games like Saints & Sinners, Boneworks, and Half-Life: Alyx, Onslaught feels like a major step back.
The most unique and compelling thing Onslaught has going for it is Alexandria. The small village starts out looking like a run-down farm but over the course of the game as you gather gear and supplies from Scavenge runs you’ll start to rebuilt the settlement with new buildings and more survivors walking about. It’s satisfying to see your hard work paying off with actual tangible rewards that make the world feel more alive.
But the problem is, without a compelling gameplay loop to motivate you, there is little reason to keep building the town. Ideally, I’d want a feature like this tacked onto the end of Saints & Sinners, with co-op support, and a bit more customization about how you configure your camp and what each building does. Then it’d honestly be like the dream zombie game. But as it stands in Onslaught, the Alexandria settlement is another feature that falls short of really selling itself fully.
The Walking Dead: Onslaught Review Final Impressions
I’m struggling to think of a scenario in which I’d recommend The Walking Dead: Onslaught. Functionally, it works, and there are some bright spots here since you get to step foot inside the world of the show and interact with iconic characters — but the compliments mostly stop there. Campaign missions are extremely linear and uninspired, Scavenge runs utilize a ludicrous red fog to represent “The Horde” while you collect random scrap parts, and combat fails to ever give you much of a reason to graduate beyond the basic combat knife. I hate to say it, but The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners is just a much better example of how to create an immersive VR world, much better use of the source material, and much better game in general.
Thanks for reading our The Walking Dead: Onslaught review! Onslaught is out today for PC VR and PSVR for $29.99. This review was primarily conducted on an Oculus Quest using Link and Oculus Rift S.
Want new The Walking Dead: Onslaught gameplay and screenshots? We’ve got you covered.
Developer Survios just published a new deep dive into its upcoming VR zombie killer, revealing new details about its story and features. You can see it below. As you may already know, Onslaught is set in the world of the TV show – not the comics like The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners – and takes place between Season 8 and 9. At this time, Rick Grimes and his band of survivors are establishing a new home named Alexandria.
New The Walking Dead: Onslaught Gameplay
As part of the game, then, you’ll be tasked with building this new safe zone. Rick and Darryl Dixon (played by Norman Reedus himself) will be at odds with how to establish Alexandria, which forms much of the game’s story. Often playing as Darryl, you’ll be sent on scavenging missions to help you build the town, watching it grow into a place you and your friends can call home.
You’ll be able to choose how Alexandria grows, too. Will you focus on upgrading your Armory, or other areas? If you do go with your arsenal, you’ll be able to craft better upgrades for guns and produce new melee power-ups like a slo-mo option.
Today’s news also comes with some new screenshots you can see above, including another look at fan-favorite character, Michonne. Onslaught is due out on PSVR and PC VR headsets on September 29.
What did you think of the new The Walking Dead: Onslaught gameplay? Will you be picking the game up later this month? Let us know in the comments below!
What are the biggest new VR games for September 2020? Find out in this month’s full rundown!
After a slow August, the year’s releases are picking up steam as we head into the holiday season. September should offer a little something for everyone, from hardcore zombie action in a new Walking Dead VR game to family-friendly party thrills in Cook-Out. Let’s dig in to the new VR games for September 2020.
New VR Games September 2020
Cook-Out: A Sandwich Tale (September 3rd)
Resolution Games – Rift, Quest
Resolution Games’ latest VR party game, Cook-Out, riffs on Overcooked, getting up to four players to work together to make sandwiches as quickly as possible. It promises a hectic good time as ingredients fly and customers, including werewolves, get peckish.
Falcon Age (September 3rd)
Outerloop Games – Quest
A heartfelt adventure telling the story of a girl and her feathered companion, Falcon Age comes to Oculus Quest for the first time. We liked it a lot on PSVR, and have high hopes for this port.
Stride (September 4th, Early Access)
Joy Way – PC VR
The Early Access release of this highly-anticipated Mirror’s Edge VR-lookalike is just around the corner. Stride will come armed with an Endless Mode to try out its brand of VR free-running. We’ve been hands-on with it already, and it shows promise.
Solaris: Offworld Combat (September 24th)
First Contact Entertainment – Rift, Quest
After a last-minute delay in August, Solaris moves its fast-paced multiplayer arena shootouts to the end of September. First Contact was behind the excellent Firewall: Zero Hour, so Solaris should be in safe hands.
Budget Cuts (September 25th)
Neat Corp – PSVR
It’s suffered multiple delays but it looks like September will finally be when we get our hands on the PSVR version of Budget Cuts. Will this seminal stealth title measure up on the platform?
The Walking Dead: Onslaught (September 29th)
Survios – PC VR, PSVR
Another long-delayed game, The Walking Dead: Onslaught impressed up with its return trailer in August, so we have high hopes for this one. Survios is a VR veteran, so fingers crossed it pulls it off.
Agence (TBD)
Transitional Forms – PC VR
First coming to the Venice Film Festival this week, Agence is a new type of VR experience that has players interacting with tiny AI-driven characters. This is definitely one of the more ‘out there’ experiences releasing this month.
What’s your pick of the list for new VR games September 2020? Let us know in the comments below!
Yesterday, Survios announced the long-anticipated release date for The Walking Dead Onslaught. The zombie survival game touches down on September 29 on PC and PS4 with support for VR headsets. But you’ll also be able to play the game on the upcoming PS5.
In a press release announcing the release date, Suvios noted that “The Walking Dead Onslaught’s PlayStation 4 version will also be compatible with the next-gen PlayStation 5.”
To our mind, that makes Onslaught the first PSVR game to be confirmed as backward compatible on PS5. Note that this wording makes it clear that we’re not talking about a native version of the game on PS5, but instead the PS4 version running on the console.
Why is that news? Well, simply put, we don’t know how far backward compatibility on PS5 will extend. Sony initially suggested that most of the PS4’s most-played games would work on the console, before later specifying that the ‘vast majority’ of the older console’s entire library would run on the device. Onslaught seems to be the first PSVR game we can count among them.
Last week Sony also confirmed that all your existing PSVR peripherals will work with PS5 to play PS4 games. The PlayStation Camera will need a special adapter to work (which Sony says it will ship out for free), but the DualShock 4, Move controllers and Aim controller can all still be used.
Wide-ranging backward compatibility support will be crucial for PSVR on PS5, but we’re also wondering if new PS5 games will support the headset. Last week IO Interactive announced that Hitman 3 would support PSVR, but is yet to clarify if that’s on PS4, PS5 or both. We’ll be keeping a close eye on the situation as we lead up to PS5’s holiday 2020 launch. Onslaught, meanwhile, is available to pre-order on Steam and Oculus now, with PSVR pre-orders coming soon.
