A Quiet Place: Road Ahead Review

Games based on a popular movie or TV show have always had a mix of quality, but A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead largely bucks the trend of lackluster film releases, and if you're a fan of the franchise, this game is worth playing, even though it's by no means a groundbreaking horror title.

Largely set between 100 and 130 days after the creatures first attacked Earth, the game has a fairly basic plot. You play as Alex as she tries to navigate the world as silently as possible, surviving tragedy after tragedy and traveling from point A to B with some very basic story objectives.

Although the flashbacks attempt to give Alex a backstory and motivation to continue, Alex is a rather one-dimensional character. She's not unlikely, but she's not very memorable either. In a game like this, however, It's a gameplay that should suck you in more than the plot and characters, and it does a great job here.

A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead does well in its gameplay (mostly)

Being Still Is Engaging, If Not Sometimes Infuriating

As you work your way through the series of spooky and atmospheric areas the game has to offer, you'll be chased by the alien creatures we've all known and loved since the Quiet place films. Just like in the movies, they react to sound, which in the context of the game means using natural sounds like waterfalls to cover your steps, avoiding broken glassand even add sand to soften your steps.

All of these game features, along with things like throwing bottles and bricks to create distractions, are great gamified ways to stay true to the movie's premise. If you're the kind of person who flinches when a door creaks A peaceful place, or holding your breath along with the characters on the screen when trying to stay still, this game is definitely for you. Accidentally hitting a paint can or opening a vent too high by accident caused real panic in me during the first few hours of the game, and the creature AI is generally very good at listening to you without it being too difficult to escape certain situations.

I played some of the game with the microphone noise detection feature enabled, in which your microphone (here my PS5 DualSense) will pick up real-world noises that the game's monsters can hear, but that got old quickly. This is a great feature for streamers or playing with friends, but if you're playing this game while you're sick like I was and need to sneeze, you're going to have a hard time. It felt like a gimmick, albeit fun in brief periods, and I turned it off after testing it for an hour or so.

The Creatures of a Quiet Place Are Smart, But Not Smart Enough

Immersion in ruins of accidental humor

As alluded to, the creature AI is very good, but not perfect. More than a few times I've gotten some nonsense from them, including one time where I threw a bottle and - for some reason - the monster came straight at me instead of following the crunching noise. I've also had more than a few occasions where a creature has jumped directly at me, simply because I was unknowingly in its predetermined path.

At some points, the game became tedious and laborious, relying too much on the same mechanics over and over again - Short bursts are definitely the way to play. The road ahead tries to pace its threats and mechanics to keep you interested as it progresses. Later mechanics like not moving are introduced so the gameplay doesn't get too stale, although it's a successful mix here.

Where The road ahead really struggles to keep the creatures scary. After a few hours and a few deaths, the monsters just stop being so scary - especially when you see some of their questionable animations in the daytime areas. This often makes it difficult for the game to maintain the initial sense of fear you feel in the first few hours, despite new mechanics and challenges added later.

The world is well designed, but exploration is lacking

Why am I risking my life here?

A great professional A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead is its accessibility - This is definitely a game for movie fans who might not be as well versed in gaming. The paths are laid out in a way that it's almost impossible to get lost, and there's plenty of signage about where to go or what to do next. It was great to see this in a game tied to a movie, as it means you don't need to be a seasoned video game expert to participate.

That said, the linearity of the design, coupled with the lack of rewards, it makes exploration pointless. When I play horror games, I'm a scavenger. I like to explore everything and collect all the resources I find. This is almost a requirement of the horror genre now, and for good reason. Forcing yourself into dark rooms and terrifying caves to find a health item you might actually need later is rewarding, while also taking your fear to new heights.

A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead it doesn't encourage exploration other than through finding notes, which I quickly grew tired of collecting as they didn't add much to the experience at hand. Unfortunately, the game does not allow you to stack items. While you can collect inhalers, items like pills are used up in collection, and flares and batteries cannot be collected if you are already full. When I was stocked with items, I had no real reason to risk exploring new areas, which was a shame for a horror game.

Asthma, panic and exertion

Some cool ideas that needed a little more time in the oven

One of the mechanics that interested me most in the game was how the asthma and panic systems would work. While panic isn't really a new mechanic for horror games, combining it with asthma is an interesting idea, although it wasn't entirely executed as well as it could have been. Alex's ability to breathe is affected by exertions such as running, climbing and lying on the sandas well as dust and panic.

This could have really been taken to interesting depths, like having to decide whether it's really worth dragging a bag of sand around to keep your steps quiet or whether the risk of an asthma attack is too great. Unfortunately, it doesn't reach that level of decision making. Resources like inhalers and pills are fairly easy to find, and most areas with exertion or panic spots for Alex have the necessary pills nearby. While it was interesting to consider Alex's asthma when running or moving around, overall it felt pretty superficial.

A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead is worth playing if you love movies

Despite some flaws

A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead is, despite its problems, a good game if you're a casual gamer with a great passion for the franchise. Being able to delve into such a dangerous world is really fun, and its stealth and sound mechanics provide an experience that's the closest we'll get to living in the movie universe itself (which is probably for the best). If you're a seasoned fan of horror games and are just looking for a new scary game, this might not scratch the same itch on Standard difficulty - you might want to turn it up a bit for a really scary challenge.

Although the story is forgettable and the gameplay can become repetitive, A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead It's a surprisingly nice gift for fans of the franchise. It doesn't reinvent the horror game wheel when it comes to the hide and seek genre, but it does have some interesting mechanics. Playing with the microphone on has its merits and challenges, and the game tries to keep you interested as Alex tackles new areas and challenges. Avoiding the full AAA price was a smart move for the game - for the price of $30, A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead it has just enough to enchant.