We Happy Few Pax East 2016 Impressions

We Happy Few is hands down my favorite and most anticipated game of PAX East 2016. Described to me as a rogue survivor game set in an alternate universe dystopian England in the 1960’s. As part of the backstory, during World War II the citizens of Wellington Wells drove the Nazis out by doing, “A very bad thing.” So horrible was this thing that the citizenry resorted to taking a steady dosage of the drug Joy in order to suppress the memories of anything bad that ever happened to them. I was led through the demo by Creative Director and my new smoking buddy Guillaume Provost, and Art Director Whitney Clayton. They explained that I was a “Downer,” which meant that I didn’t take Joy and wanted nothing more than to get out of Wellington Wells. Easier said than done as Downers are hunted down and forced back on Joy in order to conform with the normal people. In the meantime I had to survive in the streets making sure to sleep, stave off hunger and thirst, and craft items to help me escape Wellington Wells.

One of the first things I got to do was put a dead old lady in a garbage can. I was warned against drawing too much attention to myself, but after the trash bin incident I wanted to push things. Looting bureaus, and choking out unawares, and picking the pockets of the unconscious. I was in the slum section of the city for the most part of my demo, but I like to think that from our nic break together Guillaume broke out God Mode to show me the Joyous part of town. He showed me how the police call boxes were turned into Joy dispensers. I experienced life under the influence of Joy, skipping about enjoying life. The most striking thing was how perception of the environment changed under the influence. Picture living in Rapture and then having Mary Poppins drop in and show you what you’re missing. From the dreariness of the slums to the picturesque beauty of life on Joy is visually amazing. How starkly things change is 100% Whitney’s fault I’m told, and I’m in awe and fearful of how her mind must work. No spoilers, but I must recommend looking to the sky while on Joy. Replayabilty is huge in this game as the world is procedurally built, meaning that the city layout is different every time. We Happy Few is scheduled for release on Xbox One, Windows, Mac, and Linux in 2016. Microsoft Game preview and Steam Early Access are also available 2016.