This August 2018 release had some waiting in anticipation (like myself), but for others it seems to have fallen a little flat. Let’s dive into the world of Wellington Wells, a small, English town in a post-World War 2 that the Germans won, heavily inspired by Orwell’s 1984.
We Happy Few is the second release from indie gaming company Compulsion Games. It’s radically different from their first game, Contrast, which followed a young girl in a platformer-like manner with interesting physics puzzles and a vintage setting. We Happy Few, though, was a massive challenge for the company to undertake due to it’s hugely expanded storyline, multiple character stories to follow, and additonal combat and inventing mechanics.
Personally, I have been following this game for multiple years, and when the alpha was released, I snatched it up like nobody’s business. Back then the game was choppy and glitchy, and man I got tired of hearing Arthur complain about his lungs while running away from enemies. The final game that came out this August is so dramatically different from the first round of the alpha that I played, it’s actually astounding. It’s clear this company has put in a ton of work and deeply cares about the game. Textures have been enhanced, the inventory model has changed, the maps became more interesting, and the side missions no longer feel like the only thing driving the story.
The first several updates to this game felt very empty, and didn’t have a lot of space to move forward in the story. They also lacked the multiple characters the company kept promising, which many found frustrating (though the other 2 characters were given with the full release later). I ended up pretty stuck in the “bad” islands where the residents were “off their joy” and generally more aggressive and depressing. Later updates allowed more exploration of the “regular” islands, but almost everything from the Maidenholm update (the final update before the full release) seems to have been scrapped and replaced with a brand new game.
The characters, Arthur, Sally, and Ollie, paint three very different pictures of living in this post-war, communist state. All three, however, have strong parallels to George Orwell’s novel 1984, particularly the idea of “big brother is watching you”, punishments for questioning the system, and falling outside the strict confines of the government predicated norm. As a story about people, I think this game truly excels. It even comes complete with different understandings of the same event as told through multiple perspectives. Through these characters, the game explores ideas about mental illness, feminism, sexual assault, victim-blaming, government, media, and more.
As far as the mechanics go, they are much smoother than the alpha and continue to get better with each update. There’s an interesting set of inventable items, and overall a very unique approach to certain roadblocks.The fast travel mechanism makes sense, and transitions are fairly smooth. Additionally, there is some level of customization for the difficulty. I wouldn’t call this game on any difficulty a challenge in the same way a game like Dark Souls is, but it does make survival much more difficult on a number of levels. They have made survival somewhat easier than in the alpha where literally everything could kill you, but it’s still a fun little race against time to maintain hydration, hunger, sleep, and health levels.
The overall aesthetic of the game deeply resonates with me as a Bioshock fanatic – I like the retro, sci-fi feel to the game, and the artistic choices I think work incredibly well with the content. In particular, I love the use of masks in the main islands, the use of different color palettes, the need for different kinds of clothing to make sure you blend in, the texture patches used, and the very 60’s vibe of everything.
Overall, I think probably most causal gamers who aren’t afraid of some gore and like story-driven games would enjoy this We Happy Few. In particular, I think other gamers that loved Bioshock would love this game. Also, I think this company is really going somewhere and want to see their endeavors supported in the wake of gaming giants like Nintendo and Bethesda. I bet they have some super awesome content in store!
What do you think of WHF? Have you tried playing it? comment below!
Glamming & Gaming 