The Walking Dead: Onslaught - What We Know So Far
If slaying zombies in virtual reality sounds like a good time, you'll want to check out the latest game based on The Walking Dead franchise. The Walking Dead: Onslaught features characters you recognize, such as Daryl Dixon, in an all-new and exclusive story designed to satisfy your hunger for horror-survival shooters.
Onslaught takes place between the eighth and ninth seasons of the long-running AMC show, following the war with the Saviors. Survios game director Andrew Abedian told VentureBeat the developers have worked closely with the producers, writers, and actors from the TV series to make sure the game hits the right notes and aligns with the brand.
The Walking Dead: Onslaught follows on the heels of another VR game set in the universe, The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners. Developed by Skydance Interactive, Saints & Sinners draws on the comic books, rather than the show. It released in early 2020 and established a high standard for Onslaught to live up to. Here's what's been established about the title so far.
Does The Walking Dead: Onslaught have a release date?
According to the official website, The Walking Dead: Onslaught releases on Sept. 29, 2020 for Oculus Home, Steam VR, and PlayStation VR.
For $29.99, you can preorder standard version The Walking Dead: Onslaught and get a few desirable extras: two exclusive skins for Sheriff Rick and Hunter Darryl, plus two weapon skins: the Gold Knuckle Knife and Gold Katana. If purchase the game through Oculus or Steam before Sept. 29, you'll enjoy a 10 percent discount.
The Deluxe version of Onslaught includes the skins mentioned above, plus four iconic show weapons (Mandy, Lucille, Mace, and Hammer), the Alexandria Crafting Starter Kit, the game's digital soundtrack and a digital art book. The Deluxe version is priced at $35.99 through Sept. 29 (regularly $39.99).
Preorders have not launched for the PlayStation 4 version. However, if you buy The Walking Dead: Onslaught from the PlayStation store, you'll also get a special PSN Avatar Pack and a PSN Theme.
Is there a trailer for The Walking Dead: Onslaught?
The Official Gameplay Trailer for Onslaught is short and sweet, offering some excitement and plenty of gore for fans of the franchise. The visuals look good, and being able to play as favorite characters is a definite plus. Prospective players get a feel for a number of close-range, melee weapons and long-range weapons such as shotguns, too. Nevertheless, it's hard to get a sense of what the virtual reality will actually be like from the video alone.
Still, it's nice to see the progression from the Cinematic Announcement Trailer, which debuted in May 2019 and showed off a diner full of weapons and corpses. Commenters were not particularly impressed by anything except the music, and many mistook it for a teaser for the TV show's tenth season. There really wasn't much content to that video, and the Gameplay Trailer offers a much stronger look at what the title has to offer.
What is the gameplay like in The Walking Dead: Onslaught?
Survios aims to pioneer new combat systems for The Walking Dead: Onslaught, which features real-time melee and long-range combat. Survios' Progressive Dismemberment System allows "delimbing, carving, impaling, and other context-based physical reactions," as noted on the official PS4 listing. Plus, a Melee Restraint System lets you grab and hold walkers for precision attacks. You can also push and throw them in defensive moves.
Interestingly, Survios decided to remove the cooperative multiplayer aspect of the game that was shown at 2019's E3. Onsalught now focuses heavily on narrative, as revealed in an Upload VR interview with Abedian. The campaign primarily unfolds from the perspective of Daryl, voiced by actor Norman Reedus. You attempt to build up Alexandria and can go out on Scavenger Runs to find weapons and resources.
Survios wants players to feel like they've landed in the middle of an episode of The Walking Dead. "If players are coming into our game and they are literally feeling like it's the show and they have these awesome memories of watching the show, there is no other game to be able to provide that at this current juncture," Abedian stated.