We Happy Few has captivated the gaming community with its flashy style and creepy atmosphere based on the populations addiction to a mind-altering psychedelic known as joy. So how does the title play now that it’s been released on Steam’s Early Access program alongside Xbox One’s Game Preview program?
We Happy Few
Developer: Compulsion games
Price: $29.99
MonsterVine was provided a PC code for preview.
Previewed with an i5-4690k & GTX 970 with 16GB RAM.
As with any of our previews it’s important to note that we’re talking about the game in its current state. As an Early Access game We Happy Few is noticeably rough around the edges and devoid of any central narrative and many planned features. Despite all of this most of the core elements of the game have been implemented, if only in a primitive state.
What the prologue and trailers fail to express is that We Happy Few is first and foremost a survival game. After the introduction it will take quite some time before you see any of the marketed white-faced characters with their sinister grins and posh clothes. In fact, if you utilize the game’s extremely punishing permadeath option, you may never meet them at all.
The environment in this alternate version of 1964 London is procedurally generated for the most part. There are obvious repeated building designs and characters, but the layout of the city and the location of side quests and resources are always varied. In this preview version, players have the seemingly simple goal of escaping by crossing one of two bridges to other islands, both of which have their own methods of gaining access.
We Happy Few, even without the planned main storyline, is refreshingly structured for a survival game. There are clear milestones you have to reach and changes of tone and scenery as well as optional side tasks. Each objective you take on can be completed in a couple of different ways, and while the the options aren’t limitless there is almost always more than one way of going about things.
It’s hard to look at We Happy Few, or any survival game for that matter, without comparing it to others in the genre. Fans of DayZ or Resident Evil will be familiar with the inventory system which contains set inventory space and items that take up multiple slots and shapes. Luckily there are numerous ways to increase the size of your inventory and I never quite found this to be an issue. The problems that I faced are more indicative of the survival genre in general as the necessities of my character quickly grew to be far more frustrating than entertaining.
Your character, known as Arthur, must eat, drink and sleep to survive. Each of these needs seems over-exaggerated and between the game’s procedurally generated system and multitude of un-enter-able buildings, finding the tools for survival can be damn near impossible at times. On top of this, you can suffer from ailments ranging from mild food poisoning to the plague, which is pretty much a death sentence.
Resources are not the only antagonist, and nor are the overly happy security guards seen in We Happy Few’s marketing. The citizens of both the ruins of the city and the upper class areas can quickly turn on you if you upset them in any way. The homeless wanderers outside of the city will probably only get upset if they see you stealing their water or dragging their unconscious Aunt Sally around, while the elite citizens across the water will grow suspicious of you if you’re wearing the wrong clothes or off of your joy.
Despite the interesting premise, We Happy Few is currently more frustrating than rewarding and I truly don’t recommend using the permadeath feature. That said, the gameplay becomes exponentially more engaging and complex as you progress, it’s just a matter of persevering through that initial, simplistic grind while avoiding fatal mistakes.
We Happy Few currently shares numerous problems with those in the survival game family, but it shows promise. If the procedural system, bodily needs and playable space can be refined Compulsion Games may just find themselves with a sleeper hit.
