We Happy Few Xbox One Preview

August 6, 2016

We Happy Few had quite a showcase at Microsoft’s E3 2016 press conference. The gameplay trailer showed off Bioshock-inspired tones – including the inventory system, a dystopian world, inspirational action sequences and a hint of mystery. With the release of an alpha build via Xbox Early Access, it gave developer Compulsion Games a chance to really market the game. However, upon getting past the opening stages it becomes quite apparent We Happy Few has a long way to go in its development cycle.

The alpha build of We Happy Few features the opening moments shown during Microsoft’s E3 presentation. Players are introduced to Arthur Hastings, a newspaper clerk who censors articles to ensure the public only reads “happy” news. One day he discovers an article mentioning him and his younger brother, Percival, which prompts Arthur to question if he should continue taking a drug known as Joy. Joy is taken by the entire population of Wellington Wells, which distorts their reality and makes everyone jolly. As Arthur comes off the drug he starts noticing weird scenarios, such as a colleague stabbing someone and, disturbingly, a pinata which is actually a mutilated rat. As Arthur is horrified by the sight of his colleagues feasting on the rat, they catch on that he is a Downer – someone who isn’t taking their Joy – and a chase sequence ensues with Arthur later waking up in an abandoned bunker.

We Happy Few Screen 2

Apart from the opening sequence the alpha does not feature any story elements, instead focusing on the world and gameplay of We Happy Few. Unfortunately there are some bugs which detract from the experience. As Arthur wakes up in the bunker for the first time, players are told to use a jimmy bar to open a locked latch. Despite having one in our inventory, the game had an issue where it didn’t recognise it. We had to reload our save file to progress. Out in the world of Wellington Wells, NPCs with secondary missions would also disappear when reloading save points. On your compass you’re sometimes alerted to special points of interest with an exclamation mark, only to find nothing there when you arrive. There’s definitely a lot of bugs which need to be ironed out.

Every time you create a new game, Wellington Wells is randomly generated. The idea is to encourage multiple playthroughs, but in the alpha the world is incredible generic and just isn’t interesting to explore. The streets are littered with similar looking buildings, and it’s easy to get lost in the maze. More often than not you will be pulling out your map in a vain attempt to get you bearings. There are some unique landmarks such as parks and fountains, but these don’t quite resonate an appealing world to explore.

There’s also a general lack of direction. The alpha build gives you the freedom to walk around and locate objectives, but it doesn’t provide any hints at how to complete them. An example is needing to find a power cell to open a door to an otherwise inaccessible area. You’re left blindly searching the whole island for the power cell, all the while uncovering more quests that require you to find item X to continue. It’s poor gameplay design and unbelievably frustrating.

We Happy Few Screen 3

Players might be surprised to find thirst, hunger and sleep meters in the top left display. A huge part of the game is centered around Arthur’s survival. However, the meters seem to deplete awfully quickly, and this may prove particularly annoying for some as you’re in the think of exploration. It feels like the game is half exploration, and half raiding any and all objects to find food. It just isn’t compelling and feels tacked on. Also, you need to be careful of rancid food making Arthur sick. If he’s sick your vision will occasionally get blurry and you will suddenly slow down. At one point we even managed to catch the Plague, but it was unclear how we could be cured. Nothing seemed to happen after initially catching the virus, but after reloading the save file the screen grew dark, Arthur’s movement slowed and he then eventually died. Unless we were just unlucky with our timing of reloading our save file, it seems like it was another bug to add to the growing list.

It’s hard to be enthusiastic about We Happy Few when the alpha is almost a complete mess. There are a lot of bugs, the survival system feels tacked on, and the world and gameplay just aren’t very appealing. There are some hints at some greatness, but development is a long way off from achieving this.