We Happy Few game Review
We Happy Few: The amazing adventure that hides her joy
“True happiness consists in making people happy”. This famous reflection of Stanislaus first was surely taken too seriously by the authorities who officiate in Wellington Wells, a small town in the south-west of England. Within this dystopia sprinkled with uchronia where Germany permanently invaded the kingdom of the English Channel during the 1930s, the inhabitants of the aforementioned village invented a drug bringing into a state of intense happiness a population lost in the torment of his exactions. Those who do not take their dose are treated like weeds. The question, now, is whether sometimes it is better not to avoid seeing reality in the face.
THE NEEDLE AND THE COLORS
We Happy Few: The amazing adventure that hides her joyUp until now, we have been used to using drugs with our video games in order to acquire special skills and thus become a power monster. In We Happy Few, syringes and colored pills simply help the people of Wellington Wells to see life in pink, blue, yellow. This artificial happiness acts as religion, which was developed to help consumers forget the horrors of war under German occupation. While he is busy censoring newspaper articles, Arthur, the first hero of this long epic, decides to rebel against the system. His quest for freedom but also for answers will put him on the road of various additives which will become, for some, playable protagonists.
If We Happy Few reveals a very narrative walking simulator side during its prologue in the corridor, it turns out to be in its continuity a larger-scale adventure game in which several ingredients such as exploration, infiltration and combat. The procedural generation of elements making up the levels as well as the possibility of activating permanent death insist that Compulsion Games has above all imagined a survival-oriented epic. What must be understood, however, is that the narration goes into the background in favor of a game design with multiple rules and inspirations.
First we find a bit of DNA from Bethesda productions, with an endurance bar that empties according to the actions performed (sprinter, hit, jump). The sets can also be searched in order to find all the material necessary for the development of objects facilitating progression, from the crowbar to be created by fusing three pieces of metal to the master key to be made thanks to two pins. It is also this process that is used in the manufacture of care items, outfits, and even weapons. Faced with this abundance of items to retrieve during the trip, we are quickly conditioned to click all over the place. Fortunately, the world map has hideouts that allow quick travel from one area to another, in addition to a stock of content shared with those unlocked. Storing food in the trunk is clearly recommended, otherwise the weight of the inventory quickly makes the hero as lively as a slug.
Survival requires, what should not be forgotten in the stinking alleys of Wellington Wells, is that hunger justifies the lack of means. Having a full stomach is the best way to prevent your endurance meter from melting like an ice cube in the middle of a dodger. Drinking regularly is also essential for good sprint management. Even if the controlled character does not die from a nutritional deficiency or dehydration, ignoring these needs significantly complicates the confrontations. We will therefore have to keep an eye on the state of its gourd, but also on the more or less spoiled food collected.
UNDERGROUND EXODUS
We Happy Few: The amazing adventure that hides her joyThe progression is done via main (and secondary) objectives to succeed within the different districts composing the village. To go from one mission to another, it is necessary to cross more or less hostile areas where the level of suspicion of the natives has quickly increased. The dress code is important in order to be accepted by others, which explains why people from poor neighborhoods hate to see an individual in a suit in perfect condition wandering around in their throats. Playable protagonists have the welcome ability to take a silent walk to be as discreet as shadows. Human enemies are attracted to noise, which means that it is rather easy to lead them where we want by throwing objects accordingly.
We Happy Few: The Amazing Adventure That Hides Its JoyWe Happy Few: The Amazing Adventure That Hides Its JoyWe Happy Few: The Amazing Adventure That Hides Its Joy
Like Assassin's Creed (except Origins), sitting on a bench for five minutes with faith is a great way to make yourself forgotten by the plebs, as long as you are properly hidden behind a newspaper. An enemy who was knocked down and left in the middle of a road quickly alerted the guards. Discreetly annihilating an opponent behind their back or while sleeping is better than a formally declared fight, so it is highly advisable to advance with a wolf's eye and observe enemy rounds rather than rushing like a battering ram. Long round trips in the city, however, are a little too regular for our taste, especially since some alleys are regularly blocked, forcing to find other passages.
The infiltration conditions vary depending on what the needle indicates on the dial. By day, the natives are numerous in the streets and quickly look for the fight after a simple glance of askance. At night, the curfew prevents onlookers from going out, but the police hang around, and they do not tolerate any night owl. The hours that pass do not only serve to determine the barriers that the player will find on his way into town, since they influence the availability of merchants and the opening of other structures. It is particularly recommended to take a nap to make time pass faster, which, as a bonus, heals the avatar. Enough to have your eyes wide open to see the strange behavior of NPCs.
The patrols performed by the guards do not really make sense, while some attitudes tend towards the ubiquitous. We remember that moment when a guard came to speak to us during a cutscene, then attacked us at the end of the latter, because the fact that night had fallen immediately made us suspects. It’s also hard not to sigh when a dozen militiamen are chasing us into a cramped place, hostile characters with whom it becomes possible to chat quietly ten seconds later, after hiding. In general, the too many soldiers who prowl all over the alleys make it often better to rush towards the objective by alerting the police, then to find a hiding place a few steps from the mission, rather than going there silently from start to finish.
However, Wellington Wells’s universe is full of shadowy areas and tall grass that is prone to infiltration, encouraging the player to get around the difficulty rather than face it brutally. It’s also about being a spoiler: not standing out in the street, avoiding looting in plain sight, and staying focused on your goal like ivy on stone. When the castagne cannot be avoided, the player must juggle between direct hits and guard. Blunt objects obviously do more damage than a salad to the knuckles, however the latter deteriorate with each use. A skill tree is obviously present and offers many improvements. It should be noted that the experience points are unlocked during the campaign, and are therefore not linked to the number of opponents knocked down.
DIG DRUG
We Happy Few: The amazing adventure that hides her joyWe Happy Few tackles a lot of themes, but that of drug addiction occupies a prominent place both in the script and through the gameplay. The “Joy” makes it easier to wander around town. In this second state, the population is more lenient, and the light gates like the machines do not alert to a state of craving. However, beware of its use: consuming it generates in the minutes that follow a temporary state of lack which diminishes capacities and attracts attention. In case of abuse, the overdose that occurs seriously handicaps the character. The icing on the space cake is that each of these stages has its own visual atmospheres, capable of changing in real time depending on what is consumed.
It is a shame not to find this care in the overall scripting of the title. We would have appreciated having more choices in how to respond to a problem. For example, one of the rules of the game states that breaking and entering makes hostile behavior. The problem is that on several occasions the title is forced to violate the properties, and consequently to play fists on tiptoes. Despite a rich universe adorned with a formidable artistic direction, the overly classic mission objectives are repeated. The developers actually rely heavily on barter to send the protagonists to the pipe-breaker. Does a character have an access card to open a door? He will exchange it for his war treasure hidden in the confines of an enemy base. Does a scientist have information necessary for the success of the main objective? She will respond in exchange for a product available several hundred meters away. To the point where we almost feel like the game is cheating us when it asks us to fetch cod liver oil in exchange for almost vital service. There were surely other ways to interest the player, especially in this very particular universe.
The notes
+ Positive points
Rich universe
The mechanics of drugs
Long life expectancy
Nice artistic direction
-Negative points
Artificial intelligence often lacking
Far from interesting quests
A narrative finally erased
Many visual bugs
If the first taffes are good, the red pill has a little trouble passing the length. Despite the promises of an adventure with stories to tell, the purely narrative aspect of We Happy Few is diluted in an open world with quests far from unforgettable. The option of permanent death to activate insists on the fact that it is indeed a survival game, but it highlights the few inaccuracies of the gameplay, and especially everything related to the disappointing artificial intelligence of the plebs. The many ingredients that serve as rules, however, ensure a pretty good cocktail in terms of possibilities, so that we necessarily take pleasure in traveling this world that was close to making us know nirvana.
About hicham
0 comments:
Post a Comment