If Wellington Wells is the hook that pulls players in, then the relationship between the characters is the heart. We Happy Few’s odd setting and Joy-addicted denizens take a back seat, letting the spotlight fall on the three protagonists: Arty, Sally, and Ollie. It’s a setting that teases a deep dive into the themes commonly associated with endangering individualism, but spends the majority of its time acting as a zany backdrop to the very personal stories of the three character leads. You play as three semi-sane characters off their Joy pills, surrounded by uncanny, drugged-out drones that quickly turn into rabid killers at the mere mention of unhappiness. Wellington Wells is Compulsion Games’ retrofuturistic rendition of the British 60’s, retrofitted with all the elements of an Orwellian dystopia, alongside a healthy dose of Bradbury, Burgess, and BioShock. Unsurprisingly, the game is grand and filled to the brim with character, but sadly, there’s little room left for all its mechanics to take flight. Now after several years, We Happy Few is bigger than ever with more room for quality… but also more room for error. While proficient at setting the stage, the games failed to nurture those unique mechanics beyond the games’ opening acts, leading to increasingly disappointing gameplay as the hours went by. But past the glitz and glamour of the games’ opening hours-a fatal flaw. With Contrast, Compulsion proved their ability to create captivating worlds and introduce unique mechanics, something that they would replicate in We Happy Few’s early access days. Creep, crush or confirm your way through puzzles and encounters.Melding together distinct visuals and head-turning gameplay concepts has been Compulsion Games’ design philosophy since day one.
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