A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead Review

I’m not much of a movie guy, often being derided for having seen about 5 films in my life. While the real number is a bit higher, it’s true that I rarely add to that tally, preferring to play games in my free time. However, upon the announcement of A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead I did indeed add one more notch to my film list, finding the first entry in the series to be an entertaining and tense affair. So it’s to my delight then that I can report the same of The Road Ahead; it’s not perfect, but has kept me on the edge of my seat for the last few nights rather well.

We play as Alex Taylor as she tries to navigate her way to a literal safe harbour as the world ends around her. Those who know the premise of the film know that the world has been invaded by lethal aliens who can hear a pin drop from a mile away (at the cost of sight), and so we must get her – slowly – to safety. A brief opening reveals that not only is Alex a severe asthmatic, but also has a…more vested interest that requires her survival. It’s a not too dissimilar premise than the first film, although the beats are slightly rearranged.

It’s a set-up that works well enough, and while we never really felt the added pressure of the *mild very early game spoiler* fact she was pregnant, Stormind Games take every opportunity to remind us she is asthmatic.

Every action Alex does affects her lungs, handily shown via a coloured meter in the top left of the screen. Climb a chest high wall? Inch closer to an attack. Carry something heavier than a torch? Inch closer to an attack. Hell, drop off of a small ledge and, you guessed it, inch closer to an attack. It can verge on over done at times such as this, though it all plays into the tension of the stealth and survival. Push her too far and she’ll have an asthma attack which as you may know are not the quietest of things. We can alleviate these by using found, single-use inhalers, pills, or in dire times, passing a QTE to help her control her breathing. In my time with The Road Ahead I only really hit the limit once or twice mind you, most of the time skirting with disaster.

This was mainly due to the creatures. While occasionally we’re alone in an area, more often than not we are in close proximity to one of the aliens, and either way, we are never safe in The Road Ahead. Being within a certain distance to a creature means Alex will panic, thus (all together now) increasing her likelihood of an attack. Stormind have clearly learnt from the best, as The Road Ahead evokes the same sense of tension and fear I felt whilst playing titles like Outlast or even The Last of Us at times. When the creature is inches from our face and all we can do is sit quietly and hope it turns away, all the while conscious of Alex’s quickly dwindling lung health it can be quite exhilarating. 

The need to remain quiet is embodied throughout. Remember when I mentioned we’re never safe? I meant it, as even if we can’t see a creature we are under constant threat of making too much noise and attracting one to us. The Road Ahead offers a game-centric item to help with this in a handheld device Alex has that can compare the ambient noise to our own, making it simpler to see just how loud we’re being. A game like this would be almost impossible to play without such a MacGuffin, and it was a welcome addition despite being a bit far fetched.

So we’ll have the tools, but the crux of silence is still key. We need to be mindful of the ground we walk on, looking out for rustling leaves, broken glass, puddles, metal grates, tin cans and more. Our left analogue stick is our best friend here, rarely needing more than a glancing push to keep us safe. But let your guard down and all it takes is one loud noise to spell the end of Alex’s journey.

Well, mostly. On the standard difficulty we get a bit of grace, the creature merely roaring in acknowledgement if we make a couple of minor mistakes before punishing us for one too many. One loud noise will still be enough to kill us, but I appreciated the slight leeway given at times.

I think overall what won me over with The Road Ahead though was how well Stormind Games use all the parts to really nail a sense of tension and atmosphere. Many times I found myself crawling along, barely remaining under the ambient noise level, knowing full well the creature was walking right behind me and one wrong move would have had them ripping me to shreds, only to find a brick to throw to distract it at just the right time, or a cubby hole to duck into. One area, full of long grass, leaves, and puddles was especially a highlight, and combined with some excellent audio visual work really had me holding my breath as I tried to sneak just past the creature. Its slow pace might not be for everyone, but those who get into it will find a thrilling time indeed.

One aspect that left me underwhelmed though was the use of the microphone in real life. Plug one into a headset and we can play make believe in the need to remain silent ourselves. Sliders let us adjust the levels at which the mic will trigger and alert the creature, and in theory this is a great way to increase immersion in a game all about remaining quiet to survive. However, it all falls a bit flat as there’s no real reason to use the mic other than to make things more annoying to play. I spent the opening few hours with the game with mic in, and the only time I got killed because of it were when it either a) randomly spiked despite me not making any noise, or b)when my kids came bursting into the room. When I mentioned this to fellow podcast host Ross he posited that it would be good for jump scares that make us yelp out, but the only time I’ve really found myself audible because of what’s going on in game is when Alex is already done for and I can’t make her move. A few times I tried hard to get into the mindset of using the mic, for example needing to cough but trying to hold it, but in the end I just paused the game when it became too uncomfortable, let it out, and then moved on. Not being able to pause, or having more of a reason to use the mic could have made this feature interestingly challenging; as it is, it’s just a gimmick that got old quickly.

Conclusion

Overall, I’ve had a blast playing A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead. It nails the sense of dread and atmosphere, and regularly did I find myself on the edge of my seat as I just evaded the creature again. The use of Alex’s asthma is handled well, albeit a bit over-done at times, but it adds to the fear and horror of the experience. The use of a mic in real life is a short-lived gimmick, but other than that this is a great survival horror stealth title that makes tremendous use of the Quiet Place setting.