The road ahead for Xbox Series

Shh, don’t make any noise. A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead gives us a very bad time

Almost in complete silence and furtively we received A quiet place: the way forwarda survival horror adventure based on the license of A quiet place. Saber Interactive and Stormind Games are responsible for directing this adaptation of the work of John Krasinski (The Office, Jack Ryan) and if we certainly didn’t have high hopes for this one, it is clear that it surprised us for the better.

Nobody expected that John Krasinski, In 2018 he decided to direct and star with his wife, Emilie Bluntone of the most original horror offerings we’ve seen on the big screen. And even less could we have guessed that today it would be the saga it has become; having received A quiet place: Day 1 that same year as a prequel. Likewise, Krasinski and his team are working on the third part of the story, the first of which we are eagerly awaiting.

Well, given the resounding success of this license, it is not surprising that they decided to enter the video game sector. However, we are not going to fool you when we tell you that A quiet place: the way forward It completely surprised us, but this work turned out to be a very good option for this next Halloween. So without further ado, discover with us the strong points, and the weak points, of this work in its detailed analysis.

A quiet place: the way forward It starts off in a very powerful way, with a very shocking beginning, and the premise of this title revolves around the same alien creatures from the films and a few survivors who will be fighting for their lives. In this way we will accompany Alex, the protagonist of the story, and Martin, a young man who accompanies him. The narrative of the work gradually introduces us to the subject, lightly explaining the origin of the entities that threaten us, as well as the situation in which we find ourselves. Alex is a girl who has asthma issues and lots of panic attacks, two things that aren’t going to go very well together in this adventure. Indeed, the monsters we face, although blind and lacking sense of smell, have a highly developed sense of hearing. You can already see where the shots are going, can’t you… Yes, we can’t make any noise, because if we do, we will most likely end up dismembered by one of these ferocious creatures.

This is where the essence of mechanics lies. A quiet place: the way to go, silence In fact, people have learned to live differently, creating a completely different society than before. It is now imperative that we pay attention to every noise we make, as any noise emitted at a frequency higher than the frequency of the ambient sound itself will alert insects. Thus, humans see their lives cut short overnight, having to sacrifice their quality of life to prioritize their survival.

The laughter, the cries, the tears, the music, the applause; everything became silent to continue living. With desire and her own survival instinct, our protagonist creates a sound level meter, a device with which she is able to measure noise. Thus, this device indicates to us in two visual signals the ambient noise and that which we produce, having to ensure that the noise which we emit does not exceed the ambient noise indicator. This is one of the main mechanics of the game, which will allow us to advance stealthily, travel on suitable floors and monitor what surfaces we walk on or touch. In addition, another aspect that we will have to take into account is the illness of our protagonist, asthma. This mechanic is represented by an icon in the shape of lungs, which indicates the stress and agitation that torments Alex at any time. This way we will know its condition in real time, knowing when the symptoms of anxiety or asthma worsen. We will therefore have to carefully measure our actions according to the situation and explore the environments in search of pills, the effect of which is instantaneous and helps us relieve their distress. On the other hand, there are also inhalers that we can carry with us and which will perform the same function, but require a few seconds to administer. These medications thus become very precious and rare goods, which will prevent our protagonist from having an asthma or anxiety attack and ending up coughing and thus alerting the fearsome monsters.

The road ahead is thus inspired by certain titles, bridging the gap, such as Extraterrestrial Isolation o AmIt isEastin which we must hide from a creature we cannot face directly. Storm Spirit was able to very well apply all these ideas in a formula that works, and which really keeps us tense at all times and even makes us feel like we are actually participating in one of the films in the saga.

The environments are an important element of the setting, therefore being a factor to take into account. As we indicated previously, we must be particularly attentive to the noise and where we step. For this reason, you have to remove the boards very carefully, walk on sandy paths to cushion your steps, interact slowly with buttons or latches, avoid puddles or broken glasses… Everything becomes work extremely arduous and a real puzzle with which any mistake could lead to incredibly scary moments. Likewise, the good level design represents the essence of the films very well, as well as brightening up how monotonous the gameplay could end up becoming by spending the vast majority of the time in stealth.

The setting and atmosphere that the game recreates perfectly capture the essence or style that the saga exudes on the big screen. A great job has been done in this regard and the level of immersion in the experience is incredible, making our hair stand on end on many occasions. But that’s not all, since the video game includes a functionality that favors or increases all those sensations that we feel when we are absorbed in A quiet place: the way forward. It is nothing more than the possibility of activating a microphone to capture the sound of our own environment in which we play and introduce it into the gaming experience. Thus, we are forced to hold our breath repeatedly , to silence our cell phone or any other surrounding device, as well as avoid any noise that could trigger a disaster in the game. The truth is that this option is a real success and breaks the fourth wall very well. Additionally, it is well implemented, despite the fact that there are areas where it cannot be used.

Concerning the visual part, it must be said that the work uses the engine Unreal engine in a very solvent manner. Thanks to this, the lighting and the graphics section manage to have an exceptional visual finish, taking care of details and technical performance. Likewise, the animations are well designed and polished, and except for occasional errors, like occasional graphical shakes in the creatures, we had no problems. In this way, it turned out to be a very enjoyable and nerve-wracking adventure from start to finish.

Finally, the sound section is of good quality, because it is an important facet in this type of games. For this reason, we find well-produced instrumental pieces to accentuate the tension of each moment and bring a touch of additional strength to the setting. In addition, The voices of the work are dubbed into Englishit will therefore be necessary to be satisfied with a few well-localized subtitles in Spanish.

Conclusions

A quiet place: the way forward It turned out to be a learning experience, as well as a pleasant surprise amidst all the storm of releases this October. Without a doubt, this proposal is a good option to enjoy this Halloween, in addition to being a good horror experience. Its mechanics may not be as pleasant and dynamic as one might expect, but the truth is that We took full advantage of the 7 or 8 hours that the adventure lasted us.. Certainly, it is easy for us to recommend the title to anyone who had a good time with the film license, although it is also a good product for anyone looking to have a bad time, for the better, in a work which left us with rather good sensations.