We Happy Few

tl;dr:
Pros:
- Story
- Characters
- Atmosphere
- Humor
- Fun to explore

Mid:
- Combat mechanics aren't great
- Even on hard mode you can make up for some lack of skill by making a basically infinite supply of healing items

Cons:
- You will spend absurd amounts of time running, likely 1/3 of the time you spend playing
- Hilariously bad AI for things like stealth, very far beyond the norm of "must've been the wind"
- You are rewarded early on for exploring outskirts of the islands, and then somewhat rarely after that
- With every new character comes all of the downsides of "I'm starting from square one and am slow as hell again"
- Only one situation that felt like an intro to a boss fight, and it required one grenade throw to win

---

Longer review:
It's fun and I really like the vibe and the British humo(u)r, but there's an absolutely massive amount of running around for no reason.

Almost every quest, rather than directing you to somewhere nearby, has you run to either the nearest safe house to fast travel, or makes you run the whole way because there isn't a fast travel point nearby. I would guess a third of the time I spent in this game was running, and that's with doing every side quest on the first two characters.

There are only like 6 kinds of enemies:
1. Bobbies and other humans (they fight the same)
2. Old ladies with Air Raid Siren screams (which are hilarious, but they don't fight)
3. Doctors
4. Jubilators (SUPER rare)
5. Traps
6. Various invincible mechanical things that shoot electricity

The fighting can get boring, but they do a decent job of different quests mixing things up.

That said, this mostly earns a recommendation from me because of the atmosphere, as well as three things about the story.
1. It's very good at revealing more about the in-game universe as you go, and stringing you along
2. I really like when nobody's perfect and there isn't a "this person is just evil" as the reasoning for the Bad Guy
3. I REALLY like when someone's brave enough to make MCs also be bad people

i let my games sit idle cuz im too lazy to open and close them and wait, so my play time looks WILD. but compared to the beta, this game fucking sucks. if i wanna play british depression simulator, ill make shitty beans on toast with mushy peas, warm beer, and ill stop brushing my teeth.

I really enjoyed the story and the voice acting. I think the concept was incredible, and the world building was immersive and captivating.

I will admit I took a two year hiatus during Act 2, and couldn't bring myself to take my time in Act 3 - the best scriptwriting is definitely frontloaded. Though the end of the story in Act 3 is really important and emotional, the process I found to be repetitive and frustrating. The first two characters have a very different playstyle that I much prefer over the third. I really wish Act 3 got more of a chance or was developed further.

Having said all that, I do highly recommend this game. It's many, many hours of solid entertainment. The world is interesting and both PCs and NPCS are compelling. The world is fascinating and at times (especially if you take your Joy) beautiful.

Play if you enjoy open world games with excellent world building, well developed characters, intriguing storylines, and a combination of puzzle and combat (with a bit of flexibility in how much of each) in your game.

If you're on the fence about the cost, wait for a sale - it's definitely worth it!

Candy-coated with swinging London fashion and sunshine pop melodies, We Happy Few is a curious mixture of Monty Python, Sgt. Peppers, and A Clockwork Orange… with a twist. And while this psychedelia-tinged game definitely isn't for everyone, I did enjoy my time enough to revisit it every now and then.

The residents of Wellington Wells are under the influence of a government drug called Joy, the effects including euphoria and memory loss, both of which are quite intentional. Refusing to take your Joy makes you a “downer,” resulting in negative vibes and hostile encounters with the locals. Same goes for breaking curfew, wearing the wrong attire, saying anything remotely controversial, running, jumping or doing anything that stirs the ire of the populace. In Python-esque terms, the key to survival in this dystopian society is Not Being Seen.
 
One of WHF's standouts is Uncle Jack Worthing, the congenial telly host who comes off as a Mister Rogers for stoned adults, shilling innocuous stories and reminding citizens how important it is to ignore the vicious rumors and keep taking their Joy. Uncle Jack is played to perfection by actor Julian Casey, and like most things in Wellington Wells, he conceals his own dark secret.
 
The game’s audio design is top notch. The voice acting and dialogue are particularly exceptional, from Arthur’s humble-mumble to the sinister intent lurking behind the baritone of the Orwellian bobbies. If you’re a Beatles and/or Python fan, you’ll grin as you hear residents wonder aloud how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall or remind themselves that supreme executive power must derive from a mandate from the masses.
 
Why wasn’t We Happy Few a smashing success? Well, there are a few reasons. Unlike most FPS games, there are no overpowered assault rifles or weapons of mass destruction to muck about with (it is ’60s Britain after all), and while your protagonist has an arsenal at their disposal—mostly handmade bombs and pointy sticks—it’s often easier to blend in with the crowd and remain inconspicuous, or simply Run Away (another not-so-subtle Python reference) and hide from your aggressors. Combined with the emphasis on pilfering desks and dustbins to craft items for survival, We Happy Few is a game that ultimately rewards avoiding confrontation as opposed to seeking it. I personally enjoyed this unique approach, but it's not for everyone.
 
The game suffers from limited environmental decor. The various locales of Wellington Wells are charmingly detailed, but the game ultimately suffers from rehashing the same assets over and over. Identical storefronts, homes and gardens appear all over the place, the result being a very copy-and-paste visual experience. Instead of traversing a pedestrian bridge and getting that euphoric feeling of discovering an entirely new area, you’ll ask yourself “Haven’t I been here before?” Same goes for the residents. In fashion-conscious Wellington Wells there are apparently only four or five attire and hairstyle options available. You might loosely weave this into the story arc with its emphasis on social conformity and lack of natural resources, but it's a bit of a stretch when every constable stalking the street and every Miss Marple lookalike gleefully splashing in the rain are literally the same exact model with the same exact animation.
 
Whether We Happy Few is a must-play or not depends on your attitude toward narrative-heavy action gaming. If you can appreciate an artistically-inspired title with style and originality that is slightly rough around the edges and leaves you feeling a bit sullen in the end, I’d recommend it. If you're a big fan of '60s psychedelia and British humor, this game may be exactly what the doctor ordered. Just don’t go expecting a highly-uplifting masterpiece or you’ll be off your Joy in no time.

Note: This review is based on completion of the PS4 version and its DLC, as well as PC gameplay.

Good game and good NPC and good music

This game rocks, the mood is impeccable and the bugs have been ironed out from my experience

This game is complex. Not only the history of the company, but the story lines inside of this game. I first learned about this product when I was quite young from Ihascupquake, and I immediately fell in love. While playing it has taken years to finish, as did the company finishing the game. I stuck by it. It is undeniably brilliant. I've shed tears while playing, mainly on Sally's story, which is my favorite. From the twists, to the occasional joyous moments in her life. It's a great story line for her character. I don't care for Arthur, but I think that's perfect for his character.
As for the game as a whole, there are still minor bugs, but you should expect that from a game that was somewhat abandoned... While playing I never found myself never get trapped/glitched, unless there was floating furniture, etc. You can expect to get stuck in between people every now and then, just shove them out of the way with "R".

TLDR: This whole concept of Joy is a very interesting way to create a game, although I do know it could've been made better, I believe they tried very hard. And for trying hard, I believe this is a very good game. I do think you should give it a try, and a really hard try like 1:59:00 which I hate doing...

As a salt of the earth true Brit myself, I can confirm, with 100% certainty that this is the closest you can get to an IRL modern day British experience!
If you were to replace the Joy agenda with the Woke agenda that is....

great story bogged down by exhausting gameplay

Absolutely love this game its got beautiful assets and things and graphics and I really like the story and history with all of it. Def one of my favorite games of all time.

Very disappointing. Starts off so well. So incredibly cool. Then you enter the utterly pointless open world area where you are expected to craft stupid shit. This should have been more narratively focussed and less of an open worldy crafter crapper.

If you're into interesting stories and concepts, then absolutely give this game a try. Yes, its no secret that the game doesn't play very well, and the gameplay gets very stale and repetitive rather quickly. This being said, this game still has one of the coolest stories and style that I've seen. I personally could not bring myself to finish this game, but hey, not every game is perfect. Maybe wait until this game goes on sale and you have nothing else to play, and give it a try.

Отличная игра! Действия происходят в Питербурге, колесики разные можно кушать, грибочки тоже есть, вообщем We Happy in Petersburg

Fantastic game, very fun and very engaging. I played when it was still in development and felt refreshed to see how the game changed from demo to full feature. You will not regret this purchase!

I thought it was pretty good. Optimized rather poorly in my opinion with some big FPS drops and stuttering. It has that old school buggy Bethesda game feel and the story is pretty cool.

Except Sally. I hate her.

8/10

we happy few is a 2018 action-adventure game combining rpg, survival, and roguelike elements taking place in a alternative version of the 1960s where a society is wholly reliant on a hallucinogenic drug that keeps citizens unaware about the truth, while leaving them easily manipulated by the government. the game features a strong, compelling narrative while the gameplay is a bit hit or miss. the gameplay can be a bit repetitive which is not good when the game specifically wants you to play through multiple playthroughs and doing pretty much the same things over and over again across each character or playthru.

this is definitely not worth $60 full price, but grabbing it on as big of a discount as possible is definitely something worth considering, as you'll pretty quickly determine whether or not this game is for you and you can refund if need be by time you come to that conclusion.

It's been 3 years since last time I've played this game, and judging by recent reviews, seems like the game haven't changed a bit. It's the same repetitive, boring, and buggy. I found the story to be quite interesting but other than that it's badly executed game.

even tho buggy sometimes, really fun game and story!!!! i luv the theme of the game and the characters are lovable :D i love u we happpy few

if you like the story of bioshock. the inventory, movement, and stamina system of fallout 4. just dishonoured in general, and a post-war asthetic. this game is for you. its just like a bethesda game, bugs and all!

In the short time I played this, there were constant bugs. Maybe I'll give it another go someday, but I just didn't have the patience for a game that's buggy off the jump.

Great story, fun combat, good stealth

Quite sad if you take your time to read through the notes & understand the fictitious, albeit at times too close to reality, world of WHF.
I'd say it's worth it, but yea, brace yourselves :)

Obviously, me being a manly man I never shared a single tear, duh.
...but your eyes might get slightly watery at times.

As someone who does not do a lot of gaming, this is my absolute favorite game. Even the DLCs are fun!

This game will forever hold a special place in my heart <3

I think the price is completely exagerated, but the game has a lot of detail put in it. I like the story, I like the visuals and art style, I like the worldbuilding, I like the characters and the voice acting. There is still some bugs, but some of those I found were funny, but there are still some that are annoying. I recomend the game, but buy at full price, wait for a big discount.

personally I loved this game. The story is great and the gameplay is enjoyable enough. Probably not worth full price honestly. If you get it and do enjoy the story, definitely recommend the We All Fall Down DLC

The story is compelling but the gameplay and environments are very repetitive. Fairly glitchy as well. Hugely disappointing.

Great game, I'm currently playing 9n xbox because my laptop can't run them is masterpiece. Buy, you'll love it.

nothing new to add, ive started hating this game the more bugs i saw, the more my experience was difficult because of bugs, everything mechanically is incompetent, nothing works.

playing this game is like taking Joy!

Okay game, although it feels clunky and boring from time to time.
Completed act 1 and I have no need for pushing further. I feel like the police are the coolest guys around in the game.

Fantastic opening, I love the concept and parts of the story in We Happy Few but I just feel like the game after the opening is pretty dead and uninteresting. Maybe you have to play it for longer but I just found the game a bit boring after the fairly intense opening. I'm kind of on the fence of recommending it or not but I'm leaning more into not recommending it based on price tag alone, $85 for this is criminally overpriced.

This has been on my list to play for years. Was heavily recommended by a friend. Started playing it a few months ago. Had a couple good sessions, story setup seemed nice even if a little slow intially. But I wasnt really getting into it. Had picked normal difficulty and I just had trouble with a lot of the game mechanics to the point it just generally wasn't fun.

I'm very grateful friend checked in again to see if I was playing or had finished it recently. I gave it another shot. Restarted because it had been a few months. Picked easy difficulty this time. And omg it was like a night and day experience. I'm not sure if it was just because the second time experience the starting missions again or that I'm not drinking as heavily now but all of the game mechs started to click. I could actually play the game and had a lot of fun with it. Got incredibly into the story and itching to know any new details that would come up while questing and exploring the world.

Pretty unique game. Fantastic story telling, especially when you get into chapter 2 and chapter 3. Great sound track. Great voice acting. Very nice immersion overall.

I want to like it based on environment, but I find the gameplay tedious.

Okay, this was a hard one. I'd give it neither a thumbs up or a thumbs down but unfortunately you can't do that on Steam.

On one hand, the story, the design and the voice acting are absolutely outstanding, but on the other hand the gameplay itself is clunky at times (enemies sometimes just vanish when you try to take them down, savegames are still glitchy eight years on and so on) and there's several things that absolutely break immersion, especially the piss-poor quality of the in-game German translations. Most of the time it seems like they took an English sentence and translated it word-for-word back into German, which often makes no sense at all. Did you even bother to hire a native speaker to proof-read your 'translations'? I'm sure some dude on Reddit would have even done it for free. And it doesn't stop there, even English texts are riddled with spelling errors and inconsistencies - why are the hatches, for instance, labeled 'authoriZed access only' (isn't the game supposed to be set in Britain?), which is written in Impact of all fonts?

If you can overlook that (which, frankly, is VERY hard to do as a native speaker) it's a rather decent game though - if you love walking simulators and don't mind other minor inconsistencies. Overall I enjoyed it but please, PLEASE hire translators the next time you're designing a game.

Very good underrated game. Love the atmosphere and characters.

its okay, definitely not worth the price though, just found it a bit boring and there's really not much to do after you complete all the stories. (but I do like the story line) If you really want to get this game id suggest waiting for a discount to come along because as I said, I just don't find it worth 60 bucks.

This became one of my favorite games that I've played; because this game is not just about blending in, it's about redemption. The characters I've played have done something terrible and they needed one small thing to redeem themselves. After the main game; They Came From Below is more like a puzzle, Lightbearer is a mystery, and We All Fall Down is the final chapter. A real high thinking game that kept putting me on edge every step I take, the game and the stories I enjoyed so much!

Oh, I have so mixed feelings about this title. I've been struggling to finish the game because of that. And the fact that my saves won't transfer between PCs like they should, and I had to start over the first time I played the game.

Let's start from the positives. The atmosphere is amazing. The writing is top notch. Voice acting, best I've ever experienced. The first person mechanics when the characters are looking around in cutscenes is implemented really well. Many of the characters are actually really fun and personal.

However, there are some severe shortcomings. The game still has some annoying bugs. The stealth mechanics aren't that interesting at times. Early game is filled with accidentally alarming the townspeople or bobbies, and running away from them. Combat is totally useless and not fun. You're either overpowered or overran, but nothing in between. Sharing the stamina between attacks and running will render the player helpless after they've attacked, and make escaping impossible. At times the throwables felt just useless, and the tranquilizer or bersek darts don't always work as intended. Really frustrating.

The main quests are really good. The only downside is that there's a lot of running. I hate the beginning of Sally, when you had to run to the other end of the world while having to maintain the baby. That was just unnecessary punishing. Moving around is what I hate most in this game. You're just running around, using the quick travel and avoiding the NPCs from attacking you. At best it's mechanical and boring. At worst it's a hell.

The side quests can be really boring. The only reason I did them was to get XP and to access the OP skills.

Chemistry was actually really fun in the Sally playthrough, but it doesn't get to its full potential until you've already finished the game. So it's actually useless. From the point where you unlock the last ones of Sally's recipes you have only like 30 minutes of gameplay left if you focus on the main quest. And there isn't any reason to do the side quests at that point, because they're boring and the game is going to end very soon.

The game looks a lot like Unreal Engine. I don't like that at all. But regardless of that, they succeeded in making the environment beautiful. I like the art style, the masks, British aesthetics, the contrast between the drug-controlled parts of the world vs the other places. The dreamy and eerie atmosphere. Sound design and music. Futuristic apparatuses, robots, energy systems and such.

I liked to loot peoples homes. That was one of the best ways to get crafting ingredients. However, the cities didn't feel that much alive, and not all homes were accessible for understandable reasons. Money wasn't at all useful in the game. The vendors didn't sell anything interesting besides the things you need for quests. For looters and hoarders like myself there isn't much of that in the game.

There is nothing in the game that attracts me to replay it with roleplaying or different playstyle. Like, killing nobody. Or being lawful. Or taking Joy, since it has negative effects to it. I wish the core mechanics were good, and this would be GOTY material. If you can get it for huge discount, and if you don't have absolutely anything else to play, and if psychedelic steampunk futuristic dystopian post-apocalyptic story-driven 1st person single player games are your cup of tea, give it a go. You'll know in 15 minutes of gameplay if this is what you desire. Don't pay the full 60 euros for it, because there are some titles that are really worth that money, and have 100+ hours of gameplay. This surely doesn't.

I wish there was a sideways thumb in the "do you recomend this game", because I'd use that here instead of thumbs up or down.

Very long and in depth game.

I Don't Understand The Dislikes
But The Game Is Good

We really could've had it all...

The lore and side content and story is all really good. It slots into history really well and creates this dystopian that's really fun to get lost in. The combat is fun and the survival elements are fun. But there are a lot of bugs, especially in the somehow both more-polished yet less-polished survival and sandbox gamemodes.

You also WILL run into an annoying scenario where you're dying and need a health balm or healing item and can't get one in time so you just kind of have to wait out the death timer and accept your fate which never feels cool or fun. Honestly quite the turnoff...

The DLC's are really solid. If the base game had been completely story-focused like the DLC stories we'd have a 10/10 product here. Each one has a gimmick item but each fits the narrative and overall game really well.
The first DLC has two gay guys from the story going up against evil robots that have taken over. You get a laser blaster thing and it's kind of fun to use, and you fight robots.

The second DLC has a mega-famous rockstar with a lot of bad habits trying to get to the bottom of a series of murders at the hotel he's performing at. It's a surprisingly funny campaign with a story about self-betterment and a ridiculous way to explore the dangers of addiction and drug overuse. You use his guitar to serenade and subdue your crazed fans who try to pull you apart when they see you. The DLC took Beatlemania and made it the combat style. Plus, you get to learn a lot about the mysterious character Foggy Jack, a mysterious serial killer you hear about through dialogue in the base game. Also, new song from the Make Believes, though it sadly never got put on Spotify (besides a podcast episode someone graciously posted.)

The third DLC might actually be canon despite the DLC's being labelled as not being relevant to the base game and it's story... You play as a character from the main story as she tries to grab people's attention and warn the people that their picture-perfect society is not only insanely dangerous and corrupted, but also that it's coming to an end. It's a solid story and feels like a fourth act to the main game, I really don't know why I slept on it because it was honestly my favorite campaign out of all 6 (base game and DLC campaigns) after finally getting around to playing it. Gone is the RNG world generation and in it's place, there's a very immersive and intentional city design that feels a lot closer to what you'd expect based on concept art and ideas from the base game.

Overall a fun game, you'll probably get lost in the story and side content but again, the bugs. Oh, the bugs.

Is it janky? Very. Does the random level generator work against it? Very much so. Do I enjoy it despite its many bugs? Yes I do. A very interesting essay on the darker side of British conformity.

One of my favourite games ever.

Maybe I just don't understand the hate but the setting, music, ambience and characters were engaging enough to where I didn't need crazy game mechanics.

There are bugs but again I could easily look past them.

The DLCs are also fun and give new perspectives of characters that exist in the world.

All in all the world building and story are really strong for the game.

9/10

This is honestly one of my favorite games. It does, however, have its flaws and a dev team that will not fix the bugs in the game. Play for the story, prepare for the quirks.

I definitely DO NOT recommend this game at full price. I bought the game on sale for $15 and I still think that I overpayed for it. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the game, however, there are still quite a few bugs. Overlooking those, there is a cohesive story and decent mechanics. One thing that I have noticed, however, is that things like the hunger and thirst system and the joy overdose system don't really make a huge difference.

The story line is very deep, especially since you play between two characters (not including the DLCs). There's so much to do, which I hadn't realized until after I finished my first playthrough of the game. I had seen a few YouTubers do their own let's plays and this is one of those games where almost no two playthroughs are alike, which I love.

I don't get the hate this game gets. I had a very good time playing it. The story, the characters, the atmosphere is really good. There is lots of walking yes and some parts are way difficult. It is kinda like Bioshock, especially like Infinite. DLCs are amazing, maybe even better than the game. If you are into dystopian games, definitely give this a chance.

despite the raging bugs its a really good game with great potential

Its okay, I would recommend getting it while on sale.