This is the big one – our The Walking Dead Saints & Sinners Quest 2 graphics comparison.
For months, we’ve waited with bated breath to see how Skydance Interactive’s excellent zombie-slasher runs on the Oculus Quest. Now we have an early look on not just the original headset but also the new Oculus Quest 2. What’s the result?
Pretty darn good, actually.
Before we continue, we need to note that the below video is based on an early demo Facebook provided us with for testing Quest 2. It isn’t meant to be indicative of the final game – launching alongside Quest 2 on October 13th – but does highlight some early differences between the two versions we think you’ll find interesting. Exactly how different the final version of the game will be remains to be seen.
Another Polished Port
Unlike most comparisons we do here at Upload, stacking up Saints & Sinners’ Quest version next to the existing console and PC VR editions isn’t just about the graphics. They’re a big part of the proceedings, sure, but Saints & Sinners’ fantastic, physics-driven combat, with which zombies can be stabbed, shot and decapitated, seemed like it could be too much for the standalone VR platform.
Based on the demo, which takes you through the first full mission in the game, that’s not the case. In that first level, you help a grieving mother put her pain to rest by killing her husband, who has turned.
You’ll definitely notice the differences between this version and the PSVR and PC VR editions in particular right from the off – and we’ll likely have another video going deeper into those differences when the final version arrives – but on first glance, Skydance has done a pretty remarkable job staying as close to the original as possible. Zombies are still gruesomely detailed, though they’ll no longer sport lasting cuts and lacerations when you hack away at their heads, and environments are littered with crafting resources to pick up.
As for enemy counts, you can see about six enemies in one encounter towards the end of the demo, but we wouldn’t be able to speak to this element compared to the other versions until we’ve played something like the Meatgrinder mode, which throws zombies at you by the wave.
Quest 1 Vs Quest 2
But let’s get to the bit you’re really here for: how Quest 2 stacks up next to Quest 1. Again, bearing in mind this is an early build, we have noticed a few key differences. At two points in the mission, we discovered buildings that were covered in vines in the Quest 2 build, but had no such foilage in the Quest 1 version. Plus, there’s also an area on the streets with a stack of wooden palettes in the Quest 2 version that can be seen in the Quest 1 edition.
That last point is the more significant of the two, because it represents a change in the geometry players can actually navigate on Quest 2. This might well be different by the time the final edition rolls around of course, but it will be an interesting situation if the process of actually playing the game is any different, however slight.
Overall though, these two versions are pretty close together, which is incredibly impressive from the Quest 1’s perspective. The demo seems to match Quest 2 in terms of enemy count and the visual effects that are there are pretty much on par with the Quest 2 version. Just as before, though, we’ll be keen to see any differences in the final version.
As we said, The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners will be a Quest 2 launch title, arriving next month. We’ll have more impressions of the game around launch. Are you going to be picking the game up? Let us know in the comments below!
