A Quiet Place The Road Ahead Review: Gameplay Impressions, Videos and Features

A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead from developer Stormind Games aspires to be the latest hit in a nice streak for horror and similar genres in the video game landscape.

Inspired by movies of the same name, the blueprint certainly sounds good on paper. Put players in the horrific, atmospheric universe and task them with surviving, all while leaning into strengths of the video game medium such as immersive sound and harrowing graphics.

No easy task for a relative newcomer, though, especially when the year has been defined by heavyweights such as Silent Hill 2.

Should Quiet Place succeed in delivering a memorable, cinematic experience, it leaves the door open for quite a bit more.

Graphics and Gameplay

A Quiet Place, visually, is surprising because it feels like a heavyweight production.

The game is downright gorgeous, which means absolutely horrifying in many places, too. Outside areas are sometimes bright and immersive with lots of little packed-in details. But the narrative often takes players to claustrophobic, narrow and gloomy places.

No matter the backdrop, the game is a treat in the sense of detail packed into each place. Environmental damage is impressive, and even something that should be mundane, such as an office, has plenty of immersive eye candy.

Since A Quiet Place is heavily inspired by the movies in which sound is a key element, sound design is far more important, though.

Good news on that front—A Quiet Place sounds just as impressive as its visuals are, from voice acting all the way up to tension-building screeches of floorboards, groans of slowly opening doors and more.

It's a downright splendid—and horrifying—blend of gameplay and visuals. When an alien starts to scan for the player, the visuals will actually begin to blur.

The player's character has asthma, which plays a big enough role in the experience that a lung gauge helps players strategically decide when to take risks like lifting heavy items. General stress can trigger an asthma attack, too,

Every little noise matters, though. So, a phonometer displays the ambient noise of the surroundings and the noise levels made by the player. That can range from slowly walking through a puddle to how fast they should open a squeaky door—even with an alien walking right down the hallway toward them.

It creates a stunning layer of tension, sure. But it also adds some intriguing strategy to an otherwise straightforward experience. Players must decide, for example, whether to break the glass of a window and if there is enough ambient noise to cover for that risk.

Oh, and the game also features microphone noise detection. If a player makes noise through their headset... the aliens in the game can detect that. It's not a brand new feature to games, and while optional, it's a terrifying way to up the tension in an experience that is certainly great at it without the innovative assist.

Visuals are a big part of gameplay too, of course. One of the driving features here is the flashlight, which is as useful as it sounds but also runs on batteries that players will need to replace.

The game does an impressive job of rolling out abilities and items at a steady pace to help players really feel like they are improving alongside the narrative growth of the protagonist. Of course, that happens alongside an uptick in the threat to the player, too.

Story and More

Based on the film series of the same name, players guide protagonist Alex Taylor through a post-apocalyptic journey that starts out bright and lively and quickly turns into something much more horrific.

Along the way, the narrative explores some family and character relationships that are worthwhile. There's also a fun past-present balance with some interesting flashbacks. It's nothing mind-blowing by any means, but it's a quality backdrop for the game's true purpose.

A Quiet Place is very much a fun, quick experience without some of the major online trappings of modern games that attempt to keep players hooked for as long as possible.

That's certainly not a bad thing. If there's a negative, it's that the game, especially on the lower difficulties, goes heavy in helping the player. While it might sound silly, the player has access to wallhacks at the press of a button that shows where enemies are, items dabbed in yellow paint are interactable and those painted in red are to be avoided.

There is a fine balance to be had in gaming between player agency to figure things out on their own and helping along players so things don't get frustrating. The yellow paint means go here has been a trope in all types of games now for more than a decade for good reason.

But here, in survival horror, the obviousness of it all can shatter some immersion and tension. And hey, that won't be a bad thing for all players, but it's worth noting that more seasoned or thrill-seeking players might want to tick up the difficulty from the jump.

A Quiet Place packs in a nice set of options, though it does seem to suffer some performance issues with stutters in some areas. As always, though, it's the sort of thing that can potentially be addressed post-launch.

Conclusion

A Quiet Place is a fun, quick experience that surprisingly (and refreshingly) doubles as a stealth-heavy experience in an era where many games don't even attempt it anymore.

For some, it's bound to be a mileage-may-vary game because some players will breeze through the largely on-rails and hand-held experience. But even the slightest suspension of disbelief will leave players immersed and either grossed out or a tension-riddled mess, if not both.

While A Quiet Place doesn't redefine the horror genre in games, it's a fun romp with a niche bit of gameplay for those seeking it out. Plus, the foundation is strong, making it interesting to see where things might go in the future.