Developer: Compulsion Games
Publisher: Gearbox Publishing
Genre: Action, Adventure, Indie, Early Access
Format: PS4, Xbox One, PC, Linux, MAC OS
Released: 10 Aug, 2018
We Happy Few has been in open development since early 2015. The project began its journey on Kickstarter before moving to Steam Early Access and the Xbox Game Preview. After a few delays and a change in direction, developer Compulsion Games are finally releasing the game on August 10th.
When you jump into We Happy Few you’ll take control of Arthur, a man that lives in a dystopian version of England in 1964. You’ll explore run-down towns, vast open fields, and the perplexing city of Wellington Wells that is all drugged-up on a little pill called Joy in a world where nothing is as it seems.
Joy is a drug that the city-goers take in order to induce a feeling of bliss and euphoria so that they can escape from the distressing memories and horrendous living conditions that they must face after the war. You start your experience by sitting at your desk, performing mundane tasks until suddenly a newspaper article brings back a memory in which you must choose weather you want to suppress it or embrace it.
There are three individual campaigns in total, with unique characters, quests and a gorgeous procedurally generated world to give you a unique experience every time every time you play. However, the one thing that doesn’t change is the forceful way in which the citizens ensure that you’ve taken your Joy. You are able to play through the story normally or even create your own with a dedicated sandbox mode DLC, which will be free.
The gameplay in We Happy Few focuses heavily on survival aspects with open-world and exploration elements both playing a huge part. For example, you could be frolicking through the fields picking berries or sneaking through a guarded military base and throwing glass bottles to distract enemies whilst you pass undetected.
These survival aspects are excellently implemented. Collecting ingredients, and crafting materials in pure Joy… No, not the drug. The user interface is sleek and very user friendly which makes for a smooth experience when crafting a variety of items, whether it be weapons, tools or clothes. As you level up you can use the reasonably sized skill tree to enhance or learn new skills to assist your progression through the story.
The combat in We Happy Few is easily one of its strong points, it’s fast, fun, responsive and most importantly, satisfying. Although one on one fights tend to be a breeze, (at least on normal difficulty) being matched against multiple enemies brings strategic elements into play. Whether that means pushing one to the ground and punching the other to death or creating some distance between yourself and the enemy and then throwing rocks at the now not-so-joyful police officer, the choice is ultimately yours. You can really play how you want to play.
Another point I must bring up is the incredible voice acting throughout. With a range of British accents such as Scouse, Scottish and Cockney, you get a very authentic feeling experience which is enhanced by the unbeatable audio quality that Compulsion Games have opted for.
Unfortunately, things take a little topple in the animations department… Although your playable character’s animations are nearly flawless, the animations of NPC’s are a little disappointing. I had several bugs when interacting with these characters during my experience. For example, there was one chap that kept cowering in a never-ending animation cycle, another that was walking on the spot as if possessed and my favourite of all, the one where I was inside a man on a bench... Of course, these bugs will most likely be ironed out by launch, but are a little concerning considering the 3-and-a-half-year production time.
Okay, now let’s get back on track. The graphics are beautiful and atmospheric. Although I found the game a little bit dark at times, the soft lighting and clean style graphics made We Happy Few a charm to play. I always worry with procedural generation, as if it’s done badly, the games can be literally unplayable, but We Happy Few hits the nail on the head a creates a vibrant a living world.
The settings and controls are as expected for a game from this developer. Responsive, fluid and simple to learn, you can focus purely on your experience without fiddling around with awkward controls or key binding. On the PC version, you can optimise the settings to your hearts content with an FOV slider, FPS limit as well as all the other usual options.
I have to say, I’ve had a fantastic time playing We Happy Few, it really has been worth the wait. If you can look past the bugs which will undoubtably be fixed in the weeks following launch, you are left with a fleshed-out game featuring three campaigns. Each one offering a unique experience with tons of replayability, playthrough styles, in-game choices, fantastic combat systems, unbeatable voice acting and a gorgeous procedurally generated world with a fascinating storyline.
I highly recommend this to you.
We Happy Few - 9.0 out of 10
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- Scorpio
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