We Happy Few

 PlayStation 4
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67

Mixed or average reviews - based on 13 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
5.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 124 Ratings

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  • Summary: We Happy Few is the tale of a plucky bunch of moderately terrible people trying to escape from a lifetime of cheerful denial in the city of Wellington Wells. Set in a drug-fuelled, retrofuturistic city in an alternative 1960s England, youll have to blend in with its other inhabitants, whoWe Happy Few is the tale of a plucky bunch of moderately terrible people trying to escape from a lifetime of cheerful denial in the city of Wellington Wells. Set in a drug-fuelled, retrofuturistic city in an alternative 1960s England, youll have to blend in with its other inhabitants, who dont take kindly to people who dont abide by their not-so-normal rules.

    ***1960s Dystopian England***
    Set in a retrofuturistic 1960s, you will find a city ravaged by war and rebuilt by delusionally happy people. Everything appears to be happy in Wellington Wells, including the roads, the people, and its omnipresent television personality, Uncle Jack! However, its a beautiful world on the brink of collapse. You will discover the history of this world, and how it came to be just so beguilingly happy.

    ***Suspicion and Joy***
    We Happy Few is about surviving in and escaping from a procedurally generated world, where you must learn to hide in plain sight. If you act out of turn, or youre not on Joy (the local happy pills), the locals will become suspicious and will rapidly turn your frown upside down! Forcefully. You will need to practice conformity, stealth and combat if you want to survive long enough to escape.

    ***A Mature Story***
    We Happy Fews characters are not typical video game heroes. They are flawed and not particularly heroic, warped by the trauma their world has been through. Each character has their own storyline that reacts to the events of the world around them, and their place within it. Our stories are definitely not appropriate for children, but are laced with dark humour, hope, and even a spot of redemption.

    ***Features***
    In We Happy Few, you will experience:
    - A procedurally generated world, meaning that everyones experience will be unique,
    - A range of difficulties for new and experienced players alike,
    - Permadeath, if you want to satisfy all your masochistic needs,
    - Three modes: sandbox, story and Wellie mode,
    - A unique soundtrack, and
    - A fully voiced, cinematic, first person story.

    And you can play it in your own style:
    - Fill your basic needs (hunger, thirst, and sleep) to survive,
    - Learn how to interact with the other members of your society, and choose stealth, conformity or combat,
    - Encounter dozens of in-game unique events,
    - Conform to the specific local habits by learning to behave accordingly, and taking your Joy,
    - Collect recipes, scavenge items and craft dozens of weapons, tools and devices,
    fight with your bare hands or the crazy weapons you create,
    watch out for traps, or learn how to use them to your advantage.    … Expand
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We Happy Few - 'The ABCs of Happiness' Official Trailer

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 13
  3. Negative: 0 out of 13
  1. Cubed3
    Sep 6, 2018
    90
    Whether interest lies in the survival horror genre or the first-person action adventure, this is a title that delivers an amazing and heart-pounding 25+ hours. It's also noteworthy that a sandbox mode is coming to the game, but as of release it is not an available option. Hopefully, that means a lot of content post release.
  2. Digitally Downloaded
    Aug 16, 2018
    80
    There’s not much wrong with We Happy Few that can’t be fixed with some patches, and regardless of what happens there, the game has a narrative that is brave, intelligently crafted, and so incredibly poignant.
  3. IGN
    Aug 10, 2018
    73
    The stories told of its misfit characters are bleak, witty, tense, and ready to shine a light on their flaws. And yet, like the devilish, grinning masks the populace has donned in conformity, you can’t help but notice what’s just below the surface.
  4. PlayStation Universe
    Aug 13, 2018
    65
    Encompassing a brilliant and inventive setting that is let down by half-baked systems and a lack of polish, We Happy Few is heavily flawed though still ultimately enjoyable adventure romp through 1960s dystopian Great Britain.
  5. Gaming Nexus
    Sep 17, 2018
    65
    The ideas of power, giving in to hegemonic cycles just to feel safe, and other gameplay systems are unfortunately overshadowed by the technical hiccups found in the game's software. It's a shame, because this game could have been good.
  6. IGN Spain
    Aug 16, 2018
    65
    An interesting world and basic idea that lacks polish and uses a couple of game mechanics that feel too old to still be entertaining.
  7. Push Square
    Aug 16, 2018
    50
    We Happy Few isn’t bad per se, but it’s a very near miss, as the game comes right up to the brink of collapsing in upon itself from its many missteps. The game offers such an intriguing backdrop for its world, and really grand art, that whenever it's more focused and non-procedural, it’s a grand old time. These spikes of enjoyment are however far too infrequent given the scale and running time of the title, often times leaving you floundering amid strong art direction and music without a real desire to actually play what’s on offer.

See all 13 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 50
  2. Mixed: 18 out of 50
  3. Negative: 16 out of 50
  1. Epic-jakeyo
    Sep 22, 2020
    10
    I absolutely adore this game, there's some seriously harsh review bombing going on here. Can we take a second to think about the fact an indieI absolutely adore this game, there's some seriously harsh review bombing going on here. Can we take a second to think about the fact an indie studio is producing better quality games than AAA developers (I'm looking at you Bethesda and bioware)
    The are style and sound design in this game is up there with the greatest, the world is amazing and a joy to be in. It's not without its faults but I'm many many many hours in and really enjoying it .    … Expand
  2. sleepycentuar
    Jul 6, 2020
    9
    a Really fun and difficult game with a good story and game play with a amazing environment
  4. OldAndCynical
    Dec 3, 2020
    8
    I honestly liked this game. The game world turned out to be nicer than I expected, and bigger, making for really interesting and fascinatingI honestly liked this game. The game world turned out to be nicer than I expected, and bigger, making for really interesting and fascinating exploration. The game also has some nice new concepts. Sure it aint perfect, and there are still various issues, but on the whole, it is recommended for people who aren't afraid to be challenged in a bioshock/dishonored style environment.
    What I especially like about the game is how it reflects the mores of our current society.
    Today, all negativity is instantly removed and modded away from online sites, and people who insist being negative are permabanned at record speed.
    Well, the society in this game functions in similar manner; people in it pretend to be happy all the time, because if you're negative, the 'mods' of the game world are on to you like fleas on something fresh and smelly. And people who just aren't capable of happiness are either medicated, or thrown outta the society, forced into a exile pariah lifestyle.
    It is a state that many real world societies thru history have found themselves, and it is a state our western society is going towards if the current trend of deleting all negativity is continued and reinforced on and off line...
    But anyway, the game deserves 8/10 just for having the guts to take a stand against constant medicated happiness.    … Expand
  5. lostsol
    Nov 25, 2019
    6
    This game has so much potential if it was in the right hands. Slow based, story that lakes polish, games play optimized for keyboard andThis game has so much potential if it was in the right hands. Slow based, story that lakes polish, games play optimized for keyboard and mouse, but not supported on Xbox or PS4.… Expand
  6. PictoPirate
    Aug 21, 2020
    5
    I have such mixed feelings around We Happy Few. The world is absolutely fantastic, the voice acting is top-notch, the story is great and someI have such mixed feelings around We Happy Few. The world is absolutely fantastic, the voice acting is top-notch, the story is great and some of the missions are gloriously insane. Unfortunately, despite being two years old the game is still a buggy mess.

    One mission is completely borked and if you don't do the right thing first time the item you need to progress vanishes and you're trapped forever and I lost count of the number of times the game just blue screen of deathed halfway through a mission losing me tons of progress. The criminally long load times, terrible pop-in and glitchy AI I could live with but come on guys you've had two years to make this stable enough to play!

    It's such a shame too because the game itself is brilliant fun when it is working, it just doesn't work enough to allow me to recommend it.    … Expand
  7. DtheCorgi
    Aug 12, 2018
    3
    I haven't been this disappointed since ps4's servers last went down. We Happy Few's name must be referring to the publishers and devs fleecingI haven't been this disappointed since ps4's servers last went down. We Happy Few's name must be referring to the publishers and devs fleecing all of the intrigued masses for money. What was a promising idea and admittedly pretty environment gave way to lackluster "go here with a shopping list" quests, and samey areas. At least the two styles I could get to.

    The slog was made even worse by no less than 20 crashes, 3 completely unplayable bugged side quests, 20 fps on a ps4 pro, and a culmination to the bug filled straw that broke the camels back making the game unfinishable early in the story. The game boasts having two other characters; I'm left unconvinced. The only thing good about the bugged story quest is I could finally stop playing this misery simulator. Ironic, given the game is based around false happiness pills which leaves you feeling like rubbish after.

    If I were Gearbox, I would be utterly ashamed my name was on this. If I were Compulsion, I'd install showers in the office and not have anyone leave until it were fixed. And if I were myself on the day I bought it, I'd mug myself. Would still have experienced the misery and suffering of trying to get this to work and I'd still have my $60.

    Score: 1 point out of ten for the idea, one for the visuals, and one for the laughs it gave when it did work, followed shortly by a crash. Toodles!    … Expand
  8. JasonGold
    Oct 10, 2020
    0
    One of the only games I have ever played that I could not finish due to technical bugs. The game is riddled with bugs, but for the most partOne of the only games I have ever played that I could not finish due to technical bugs. The game is riddled with bugs, but for the most part was still playable. It was frustrating having to reload after a crash (5-6 times) and the slow downs and pauses in game play for various reasons but I got through all that and kept going. I kept playing because the story was good and the somewhat repetitive gameplay was still good. I would have gone to the end except for the one mission that was broken and could not be completed. The Ex Cathedra mission in Sally’s play through was broken. The key you need to exit the mission was not where it should have been and I was apparently screwed. I went back to all previous saves, even before beginning that mission, but it still happened. This is a known bug fixed years ago and yet it happened to me in 9/2020 and ruined the mostly broken game. You can read about the many many many flaws in this game and how broken it is, memory leaks, repetitive play, few character sounds and animations, but to not be able to finish… unbelievable.… Expand

See all 50 User Reviews

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57
#57 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2018

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