(It should be noted that Saints & Sinners isn't the first VR survival game but it is probably one if not it's best thus far. Probably the best since RE7.)



So I think I can say with confidence that a lot of people have played a zombie game at some point and likely killed one with a knife. It's pretty mundane thing to do at this point and that's why I find it so great how the new VR game, The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners, made it actually interesting again.



Since in S&S you don't have a specific "execution" animation (as in most games that simply say: "Press A when behind enemy") of the like. You actually have to take the knife and jam it into the zombie's head. But you can do this a variety of ways. You can hold the knife with the blade pointing down and arch your arm back and jam downwards. Or you can run up to a zombie, grab their head and then stab upwards through their chin. The game doesn't force any specific way but sometimes depending on the situation you might lean to one or the other but in the end it's all your choice. (What's cool is that if you press the triggers you switch how your holding the knife in your hand.)



But you have to be decisive because if you don't arch your arm enough the knife might not go all the way through the head and will require you to either try and force it in further or rip it out and try again. Since weapons have durability this could result in a knife you're using to break sooner then it might have otherwise.



Another fun mechanic is the way you heal. Using bandages has you actually wrap them around your arm and that bandage will actually stay there for quite a bit. Since they aren't just instant uses, there is incredibly tense moments where you're fighting a human (who from my experience always have a gun) and you run for cover and frantically use bandages to try and heal.



In one of my first encounters, due to the pistol I had scavenged having been in low conditioned kept jamming and so I kept having to unjam it. Another time I ran out of ammo and had to hide in a bathroom with a screwdriver I found and wait for them to come to me at which point I quickly jabbed downwards into their head, though only after taking a few shots and nearly dying.



Lastly even the mechanic of scavenging is made interesting. Though this change from flat to VR is probably the most expected since people love to pick up stuff in VR and has been done in quite a few VR games already. But still, opening up cabinets, and such to find stuff to use or break down is great. Doubly so since the game does try to give weight to some things. So for example a big clock or a large piece of wood feels a little unwieldy to try and pick up with one hand.



I had found an extra crowbar (which requires two hands to properly use) and wasn't planning on keeping it (I had no more weapon slots) but still would get some use out of it and so as I scavenged I'd literally put it down on stuff and then pick it back up as I went along. A small thing but it gave the weapon (and by extension myself) a sense of physical presence due to that.



In the end a lot of these mechanics have been done in other non-VR games but it's the way the game is able to implement them into VR that makes the difference. I know that might seem obvious but I know some don't believe that VR can make a difference.