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A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead is an uncomfortable experience. Every mistake haunts you and the crack of a stick breaking can signal the end of your life. Accordingly, you are on edge throughout, making it a genuinely tense affair.
This first-person horror adventure was developed by Stormind Games and published by Saber Interactive. Moreover, it is a spin-off from the highly acclaimed series. Thankfully, no prior knowledge is required of the horrors that will unfold. However, you may need to hold someone’s hand if you have a nervous disposition. Alternatively, if you want to up the ante, you can switch on your microphone and create a tough but captivating game of cat and mouse.
A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead tells a haunting tale.
Interpersonal family conflicts are tough at the best of times. But when murderous aliens are chasing you, it makes matters worse. Unfortunately, Earth was hit by meteorites and the result was catastrophic. Unfortunately, the impact wasn’t enough to annihilate mankind. Yet, the contents of the space rocks were a different story.
Immense spider-like aliens invaded Earth. These blind creatures should have been easy to take down, but they weren’t. Their supersonic hearing and powerful jaws pinpoint and rip apart anything in reach. Unfortunately, the protagonist must evade each monster as she watches her friends and family get ripped to shreds.
Take it slowly.
Deadly space aliens wanting to rip you apart would make you want to run. Yet, you must be silent and move slowly. Every small arena is laced with noisy obstacles and cruel traps. Every survivor was out for themselves. Consequently, they created tripwires, bear traps, and other deadly hazards. This makes navigating each area harder than it should.
If you include the delicate but loud sticks, cans, broken glass, and gravel, it is a recipe for disaster. On top of this, the heroine suffers from asthma. Subsequently, stress, excursion, and dust make matters worse. Luckily, inhalers and pills are easy to find, and your wits and some planning mitigate the most stressful situations.
As you explore each location, the gameplay follows a simple loop. Understand your mission, follow the path, and solve the puzzles. Alongside this, there are collectables to find and plenty of aliens to avoid. Though there is some freedom, A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead is fairly linear by design.
A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead looks great.
A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead is a claustrophobic and unnerving game to play. Each location is surrounded by eerie woods and low light. Moreover, there is blood, bodies, and other signs of death. This wouldn’t be great for squeamish gamers. Additionally, younger players shouldn’t give this a go.
I adored the cinematic and the snippets of lore. There are notes and pictures dotted around the world. Though these can be ignored, they support the story and create a fantastic picture of what occurred.
The audio is where this excels. Silence has never been so deafening. Consequently, you become sensitive to every footstep and splash of water. However, it is the accidents that make you gasp with shock. A crunch of broken glass or the noise of a rolling can fill you with dread. As the sound settles, you’ll hear the familiar noise of the creature and your heart will race. This is exactly how game audio should make you feel and the audio is truly mesmerising.
Excellent controls.
Every area has tight locations to navigate. Thankfully, the controls and responsive and helpful UI keeps you on track. Furthermore, it is easy to slow yourself down if you want to remain quiet. Though this makes traversing each environment a little arduous, it works with the core mechanics and the horror theme.
A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead has plenty of hidden achievements and loads of collectables. Yet, there appears to be no way to alter the story, and this was a shame. I’d have loved there to be branched storylines and plenty of unique endings. This would have enhanced the replay value and longevity.
A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead is a great horror game.
January isn’t normally a month for horror games. This was released in October 2024 and I wish I played it then. However, if like me, you missed out, you are in for a treat. Though it is slow, it is truly uncomfortable. Moreover, the story is great and the claustrophobic world is a joy to explore. Accordingly, I adore this game and recommend buying it here! Can you keep quiet and survive? Explore your surroundings, complete your mission, and avoid the aliens.
