I have been a huge fan of A Quiet Place since the first film was released in 2018 and there has always been a part of me that has wanted to see how the franchise can be welcomed into the gaming industry. Then fast forward to 2021 when it was announced that a video game was getting made that would be set within the same continuity as the film series and felt like my prayers had been answered.
After A Quiet Place: Day One was released early this year I have been riding the hype train and have even gone back and watched the first two films.
Then in June of 2024, we got the title announcement and trailer for A Quiet Place The Road Ahead. After watching the trailer, I was pumped and counting down the days until release and thankful for me, the wonderful people over at Stormind Games and Saber Interactive were kind enough to provide me with a PlayStation 5 version and while I was on my lunch break at work, I jumped on my PS App, installed A Quiet Place The Road Ahead and counted down the hours until I was able to step foot into the story of Alex Taylor.
The story follows asthmatic college student Alex Taylor who is trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world, alongside her boyfriend and father as they try to manage life constantly threatened by the alien creatures. After a few earlier shocking revelations and heartbreaks, Alex must rely on her strength to remain alive and get to safety. A Quiet Place The Road Ahead is heavily focused on stealth and survival horror, using the first-person perspective it immerses you even more into the world and makes every movement, sound, and encounter more epic.
The overall story wasn’t anything special in terms of new or something we haven’t seen before, however, you do feel attached to Alex and end up feeling her pain and difficulties as the story progresses.
Embark into the eerily tranquil, post-apocalyptic landscape of the A Quiet Place franchise that up until now could only be experienced through the films. Every mission will have you observing, traversing, and using your own path to navigate through each situation. You’ll come across various tools and resources along the way that will aid Alex with her health as well as useful items like bricks, and glass bottles to help distract the alien creatures.
I loved the stealth-horror element of A Quiet Place The Road Ahead, with the alien creature only being able to hunt you through sound and vibration it made each level play out differently even if it was similar. I love the alien creature but it had me bricking myself at the best of times, the slightest bit of noise or accidentally stepping on leaves or a puddle had this thing charging at you and you must do everything possible to hide from it or sneak away.
It’s made more intense when you play with the mic turned on and the game picks up real-world audio too. So, at times when there are jump scares or you accidentally cough or make too much noise yourself, the alien creature will pick up on this too and it’s game over. The one time I was playing I forgot that my phone was on loudspeaker and my partner rang which in turn scared the daylights out of me but ultimately was my downfall and Alex’s. Heads up to anyone who likes faster-paced games this might not be for you as taking your time and not making noise is the only way to survive.
Alex suffers from Asthma, so if it wasn’t hard enough trying to keep quiet having this health condition thrown into the mix makes everything harder. You will come across various medications that can help keep her calm and not have panic or Asthma attacks but when you play through some levels the level of dust and smoke in the world can also affect Alex which becomes an extra challenge for the player. It was a super fun mechanic even if at times Alex coughing or having a panic attack got the alien creature’s attention and ultimately her killed.
Using bricks and glass bottles will become your best tool for survival as well as using bags of sand to lay paths along your way to reduce the sound of your footsteps. You can easily keep track of your noise level by using the phonometer that Alex builds. There are plenty of environmental puzzles for you to overcome while keeping in mind all the obstacles that would cause you problems like tin cans, leaves, and wood planks to name a few. I have never wanted WD40 so much in my life after playing A Quiet Place The Road Ahead, who knew doors could make so much noise when you open them?
Graphically A Quiet Place The Road Ahead is a beautiful game. I love the night levels the most as using the flashlight and going through woods or abandoned buildings while the alien creature is trying to track you is so tense. It is similar to the Alien from Alien Isolation but a bit easier to manage against seeing as it is blind. Audio is key as you rely heavily on sound to make sure you aren’t attracting the attention of the alien creature.
Because I was using the mic audio feature too, I was even more on edge than normal when playing a horror game. I felt at times like it was me in the situation and not just a game. Stormind captures this element from the films perfectly and has replicated the horror level to match what we have seen in the franchise fantastically. I love the way the alien creature sounds and moves and it’s so scary when it is right in front of you and you feel like it could get you at any time or the slightest noise could get you killed. It was a super fun experience and one that I will be playing through again.
This brings me to replayability. The story once you have experienced it once isn’t going to carry the same weight as it did the first time through. I found myself playing the second time on Easy to try and locate all the collectables so that I could unlock the artwork and character models in the gallery on the main screen. If you want the experience a true challenge then you can try playing on the hardest difficulty but even I haven’t brought myself to that just yet. There are also plenty of trophies available to collect so it will give Plantuim players plenty to do.
Closing Statement
For me, A Quiet Place The Road Ahead was a good entry for the franchise in terms of being a video game. Don’t get me wrong crouch-walking around everywhere trying to not get caught by the alien creature might have been tedious at times and did feel towards the end of A Quiet Place The Road Ahead a bit annoying, but overall, it was a decent story, and gaming experience using sound at its core to make a good stealth-horror experience.
There is a high level of repetitiveness throughout that at times did make me come away from A Quiet Place The Road Ahead after playing a few missions just because I was losing my focus on it. However, this meant that I was able to spread the game over a few days rather than just in one sitting. I was surprised to see that it didn’t come out closer to the release of the film earlier this year but I know fans of the franchise won’t want to skip on this entry.
The tense atmosphere that was maintained throughout was brilliant and I love how simplistic but difficult A Quiet Place The Road Ahead was because of how the alien creature reacted to you and the surroundings. I will be eagerly waiting to see if any more games will come out and if they can build on it a bit more so we are doing more than just sneaking around but for now, I highly recommend you check out A Quiet Place The Road Ahead and for all the above I’m happy to give it a well-deserved score of 7 out of 10.
A Quiet Place The Road Ahead Trailer
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