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You’ve heard of slow-burn horror movies, but have you heard of slow-burn horror games? Because this is… a slooooow… slooooooooow… slow burn molasses of a horror game. Which is fine, there’s nothing wrong with that. This is not a quick game, although it only takes a few hours to complete the story. The game doesn’t feel rushed while playing, as the added tension of being busted with one wrong move is always present.

A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead was developed by Stormind Games and published by Saber Interactive. Saber Interactive were the developers of Evil Dead: The Game in 2022, which was the first game we reviewed. It was a great live service game until they stopped working on it. But we are not here to talk about the past. Time is always moving forward and times are changing as death gets closer and closer to us all. If you didn’t know, A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead is based on the A Quiet Place film series and features its own original story in the universe. Ravenous alien creatures rain down from the sky and within months have destroyed much of life on earth. The creatures have no eyes, but they hear exceptionally well. The film series is known for showing the emotional bonds of its surviving characters as they struggle to persevere in this tear-jerking new existence. I’m Levi from Hardwired and today we’re going to talk about how this game ties in with the movie series.

So first, let’s talk about the sound design for the game. It was nothing short of intense. The spikes of music that hit every time you made a noise too loud for your surroundings to cover sent shivers down my spine. The slight creak while trying to open a door, drawer or cabinet would cause me to freeze nervously and listen to my surroundings. Creatures make small noises when they are nearby, if stress had a sound, this is the sound. If you alerted any of the monsters, this intense music would start, basically letting you know you were about to die. There is also a feature where you can have the microphone enabled in the game. Basically any noise you make into the microphone can alert the critters. My house is noisy so I tried this feature and died almost immediately. I’m sure if you live alone and play in a quiet room, this feature would be a lot of fun.

The monsters are authentically recreated from the movies. It really gives you a chance to check out the full anatomy of the creatures as they almost always move very fast in the movies. The art style of the game is awesome. The environments are immaculately detailed. The densely packed foliage created a claustrophobic atmosphere that felt ripe for predatory attacks. Lighting plays a role in the game’s story, with many of the tensest scenes taking place in extremely dark areas, making your flashlight a literal lifesaver. Unfortunately, the alien monsters aren’t the only things that are ravenous, as you have to feed your flashlight batteries repeatedly as the game progresses. Like most survival horror games, this form of resource management-based suspense gets a little boring.

As I said, the game world is magnificent to look at. I just have a problem with the world design. Why? Why are there so many empty boxes everywhere? Who just walks by cans of Chef Boyardee and then immediately turns around and grabs a can of Wolf Brand Chili and fences it off, then dumps the cans in the middle of the woods? I have to assume we invented can opener silencers because there is no way anyone could quietly open a can of ravioli in the woods. Also, have you ever heard of someone eating something straight out of the box? We have two scenarios here. Either someone simply swallows the food from the box, or uses some kind of utensil and scrapes the inside of the box, creating a veritable dinner bell for the monsters in this scenario. In fact, there are so many cans in this game that I assume no one stopped the production lines at the cannery and they are overflowing and just rolling into the forest. I can say with the utmost certainty that this was not meant to be an environmentalist message, but through the sheer volume of cans in the world they have inadvertently painted a vivid picture of the monstrosities that man has visited upon this planet. The monsters may be literal monsters, but it’s clear that humanity has created its own destruction.

The character designs were pretty good. Their facial expressions conveyed the emotions they were feeling. The protagonist’s hands, which are seen heavily throughout the game, are exceptionally detailed. It’s a great game considering it was developed by a game studio I’ve never heard of before. The voice acting is pretty good, especially the woman who plays Alex Taylor, the game’s protagonist. The overall story is decently written, but some story beats feel rushed or convenient, which undermines the emotional tone.

Alex dies of lung cancer throughout the game (no really, she just has asthma, but god, her asthma plays too much of a role in the overall game). But just like the movies, they gave us a character you wouldn’t think would be one of the last people standing in a world overrun by creatures with super hearing. It would be like finding out that the person leading the rebellion against the robot uprising has a peanut allergy. Every action you take in the game lowers your lung health. When the lung meter reaches the red, it could trigger an asthma attack, causing you to cough and then get dismembered by a creature. To keep your lung health under control, you need to take different medicines scattered around the world. There are also several disposable inhalers that can completely refill your lung meter and give you temporary immunity to meter degradation. It’s all just added flavor to the stealth mechanics.

A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead is a solid first game from Stormind Games. While I’m still not sure who looked at A Quiet Place and thought, “that would be a fun game,” the developers really delivered on the premise in the best way possible. It’s a slow game, but it’s also a masterclass in anxiety. Worth checking out. I give A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead seven out of ten empty boxes. For Hardwired, I was Levi Barner. If you want to see more content like this, be sure to like this video and subscribe to Hardwired for more gaming news, reviews and more. Now make sure you stock up on batteries and inhalers and don’t forget the cans of ravioli and chili.

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