A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead Review – Silent Hills

With how successful A Quiet Place has been, it’s somewhat surprising how long it took for a video game adaptation to come alive. Evading monsters sensitive to sound isn’t a new concept, but Stormind Games also focused on recreating the essentials of John Krasinski’s breakout franchise. While it mostly succeeded, A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead falters in many other baffling ways, feeling almost like wasted potential.

The story focuses on Alex Taylor over 100 days after the arrival of the infamous aliens. She’s surviving and scrounging for supplies like the rest of humanity’s remnants while tinkering with some device to measure noise levels. Other characters include Martin, her partner; Lara, Martin’s mother; Kenneth, Alex’s father; and Mark, who is entirely disposable.

"There are two core plotlines – the present day and the past – with the latter concluding within two brief flashback sequences. They don’t don’t do nearly enough to build on the cast, but at least they teach you about hook ladders and shotguns."

Lara dislikes Alex for what she did on Day 1 of the invasion and assumes somewhat of an opposing role (which the writing does a mixed job of really reinforcing). As interesting as the interpersonal conflicts can be in the opening hours, they’re almost entirely disregarded in the game’s latter half. Until the climax, of course, and its predictable outcome.

Considering how straightforward the first movie can be, one of its strengths is the characters’ bonding. While the voice acting is solid all-around, The Road Ahead offers minimal interactions in its short runtime. Sure, Alex will have her share of whispered conversations, but when out in the world, her journal pushes most of her character development.

Ironically, the more intriguing stories are found in the various notes and letters discovered throughout. From the pump station’s maintenance crew to the story of a girl writing poetry and her imminent end from disease, these stories felt better written and more organic than much of what The Road Ahead had to offer. There are two core plotlines – the present day and the past – with the latter concluding within two brief flashback sequences. They don’t don’t do nearly enough to build on the cast, but at least they teach you about hook ladders and shotguns. Who would guess that both elements become important later on?

Those are only the beginning of the contrivances within the actual gameplay. It’s a first-person adventure focused on traversal, puzzle-solving, and noise reduction. The last bit is a substitution for stealth since you must be as quiet as possible while traversing most environments. That means opening doors as slowly as possible, inching across surfaces, and avoiding the many cans and containers scattered about.

"Though you have plenty of opportunities to walk on plain surfaces or sand, other surfaces generate more noise. If you push things too far, then a creature will arrive and kill you."

Thankfully, you have a noise detector, which measures the ambient noise in the environment and the amount of noise Alex makes. Once again, I have no clue how she jury-rigged this thing together and how it works flawlessly when other items, like the flashlight, eventually fail. Regardless, only one can be held in your left hand at any given time, and both are unusable when carrying objects. The right hand is for inhaler dosages, flares, and throwables.

Yes, you heard that right – inhalers. Alex has asthma, which is aggravated in so many different circumstances. Entering a warehouse caked in dust is understandable (don’t ask why she never sneezes), lifting an empty container, mantling over obstacles and even coming near the creatures – even if she can’t initially see them – you name it. It’s more baffling when entering a dusty room with creatures inside since it accelerates to the aggravation meter.

When it turns red, Alex’s vision goes dark, and she’s at risk of coughing, but a quick-time event lets you stifle it. I don’t know what’s more comical – that each inhaler has only one use or that they’re found almost everywhere. Even if this is a video game, my suspension of disbelief only goes so far.

The goal of Alex’s journey is to reach the National Guard. Each chapter usually revolves around a core mechanic, like picking up and putting down planks to cross gaps, using a multi-tool to deactivate sound traps, pouring sand to mask your footsteps (which feels more like a film nod than a worthwhile mechanic), and throwing objects to distract the creatures. Though you have plenty of opportunities to walk on plain surfaces or sand, other surfaces generate more noise. If you push things too far, then a creature will arrive and kill you. Some areas have high ambient noise, allowing quicker movement or more forgiving behavior.

"Though the binary nature of this approach vexes me, I can at least appreciate having to be quiet during regular exploration if the rules were consistent. Walking is usually fine, but break one invisible twig while walking on a grassy surface and instant death?"

A Quiet Place is generally a slower-paced experience, but The Road Ahead takes this to an extreme. I could appreciate the mood early on; however, even if every action wasn’t predicated on generating minimal noise, the core gameplay loop gets repetitive. Most areas are linear – the dreaded yellow paint is everywhere, even on Day 1, to indicate where you should place a crate, but there’s also red paint to denote objects that will create noise, like cans or movable barrels. You know, next to all the objects that won’t make noise if you brush against them because they’re not painted red.

You would think the creatures would provide some dynamism to the overall action, like in, say, Alien: Isolation. And to be fair, they do lead to some tense moments, like backing away slowly as one approaches, being mindful of the noise generated. However, you aren’t constantly stalked by them.

Instead, they appear in two cases – where they’re visible and deliberately make their way towards slight sounds or where you’ll hear them in the environment but not see them. The latter is usually just a punishment mechanic for not respecting the amount of noise generated. Once detected, Alex will seize up and not move before the creature rushes forth from somewhere to execute her, sometimes from the top rope like an RKO out of nowhere.

Though the binary nature of this approach vexes me, I can at least appreciate having to be quiet during regular exploration if the rules were consistent. Walking is usually fine, but break one invisible twig while walking on a grassy surface and instant death? It’s bizarre and only made worse by how the creature acts. In these instances, Alex could slightly cough due to her asthma aggravation when within punching distance, and it won’t react.

"If the creatures had echolocation all this time, why did they wait for so many chapters to use it?"

The AI also comes across as overtly scripted in some sequences. That moment where you’re slowly retreating from the creature back into the waist-high water you just left? It continually patrols that narrow corridor until you find a way to get past it…after which it changes its route to only circle the current area. Slight noises, like puddles, will draw its attention, but it’ll sprint towards the noise from a thrown object. At one point, the creature beelined towards where I was operating a valve and promptly shuffled off, regardless of what little noise was made.

If that wasn’t enough, some sequences see Alex falling or creating extensive noise, leading to the creatures becoming alert. And yet, they give her more than enough to react and save herself or, during one sequence, run away into the pump station (with the creatures not busting down walls to pursue her). I know the movies have their share of plotholes, but all of this breaks immersion, and it’s made even worse by the sheer inconsistency.

The pacing also suffers when the creatures start employing their echolocation or “vibrations” in the latter half. It adds an extra layer of tension while traversing surroundings with high ambient noise since the player is encouraged not to move (but turning is fine, for some reason). The problem is that it slows the pacing down even further, especially when the creatures spam it continuously in the most annoying rendition of “Red Light, Green Light” I’ve ever seen.

It also begs the question: If the creatures had echolocation all this time, why did they wait for so many chapters to use it? It’s like the developer felt the latter portions of the game were too easy with all their ambient noise or too short and thus had to slow things down even further.

"If you’re a horror game enthusiast looking for some substitute for Alien: Isolation or even Amnesia: The Bunker, it may be worth checking out for a discount."

If there’s one reassuring thing, it’s the visuals. Performance Mode on the PS5 runs at 1440p/60 FPS, and while there were some jaggies in the distant details, it’s consistent. Character models and environments are detailed, as are the lighting and shadows. As inconsistent as the creatures can be, seeing the shadows preceding their entrance on-screen is cool.

While the sound design is mostly on point, I grew to hate the music thumps that constantly triggered when a creature busted through a wall, appeared on a rooftop, or when they discovered that a thrown brick isn’t a new victim. They’re annoying attempts at jump scares as is and felt incredibly overused.

Despite all these negatives, A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead might cater to fans of the movies, from the reference to Day One or the homage to the first film’s ending. If you’re a horror game enthusiast looking for some substitute for Alien: Isolation or even Amnesia: The Bunker, it may be worth checking out for a discount. However, if anything, it’ll only make you appreciate those titles much more.

This game was reviewed on PS5.