The other major addition is Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, the last mainline title in the franchise, which further embraced the turn-based combat introduced in Yakuza: Like a Dragon. Other notable additions include A Little to the Left, art of rally, Expeditions: A MudRunner Game, The Exit 8, and Darkest Dungeon 2 – all playable on PS5 and PS4.

Meanwhile, A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead is exclusive to PS5 players. Though not the best survival horror/stealth title by any means, it could be a worthwhile experience for those who like the movies. Meanwhile, Premium subscribers, only one PlayStation Classic is coming – Ridge Racer, playable on PS5 and PS4.

It features all the usual classic features, including quick save, rewind, up-rendering, and custom filters. And really, what more can you say, other than it’s Ridge Racer? Whether you’re playing through Time Trials or battling it out against the AI in, well, Battle Mode, it’s the classic arcade racing experience that you (hopefully) know and love.

This follows its addition to Game Pass Ultimate, Premium and PC on January 20th, so you can likely expect it to go live on the same day. With Resident Evil Requiem launching on February 27th, it’s the perfect time to catch up on the series, even if it’s more about revisiting the tragedy of Raccoon City than the Winters family.

PS Plus is also one-upping Game Pass by allegedly including Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. As you may recall, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio said there were no plans to add it to Microsoft’s subscription service. It seemingly has no issues adding it to Sony’s, though. Both titles will reportedly be available for PS4 and PS5.

Of course, that’s not all. You can also apparently expect Expeditions: A MudRunner Game, The Exit 8 and art of rally for the same platforms as well. Meanwhile, PS5 players gain exclusive access to A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead. The official announcement will apparently go live in a few hours, so stay tuned for updates.

Star Wars Outlaws

As iffy as certain things looked before launch, there was still some hope for Star Wars Outlaws from Massive Entertainment’s involvement alone. The Reputation and Wanted system, more organic exploration, and focus on single-player were all the right moves, but it didn’t land for consumers. Those who took the plunge suffered numerous bugs and issues with movement, combat, AI, stealth, and so on. It’s a better game now, but Outlaws still needs work.

Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League

Even with successes like Helldivers 2, this year just wasn’t it for live-service titles. However, the negative response to Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League began well prior, with many criticizing the looter shooter’s format. The release sadly did nothing to rise to the occasion, featuring a horrendous story that falls off a cliff, insufferable characters, and the same dreary games-as-a-service mission structure seen hundreds of times before. With a $200 million impact on Warner Bros. Discovery’s revenue, Suicide Squad clearly didn’t meet expectations.

Skull and Bones

Alleged reboots, high-profile departures, constant delays, and a ballooning budget – Ubisoft’s Skull and Bones had all the key ingredients for a potential disaster. Adding in all the live-service staples like seasons, always-online gameplay, a focus on multiplayer, and whatnot hastened the game’s doom (calling it a quadruple-A title also didn’t help). With player numbers reportedly coming in at less than a million around launch, it was a failure before it even got started.

Planet Coaster 2

Incredible visuals and the studio’s penchant for attention to detail did little to make a difference for Planet Coaster 2, which is, by all accounts, a hotly awaited sequel, that much more palatable. The awful UI, pathing issues, lackluster pools, awful characters and various bugs were just too significant to ignore, even with the better campaign. Frontier has rolled out improvements, and it will likely excel in the long run, but for now, Planet Coaster 2 is an underwhelming ride.

Farming Simulator 25

After the failure of Farming Simulator 23 (at least on Nintendo Switch), Farming Simulator 25 marked a return for the franchise to consoles and PC. It shipped with extensive bugs, an annoying user interface, jarring physics, and multitudes of other issues that remain. That’s on top of the unoptimized performance on PC, which hinders the otherwise strong environmental effects and textures. Mods will likely make it a better experience over time but at this point, fans would appreciate a strong title out of the gate (which certainly applies to our next choice).

Starfield: Shattered Space

Starfield had its share of mixed impressions after launching last year and Shattered Space seemed like the perfect opportunity to address many issues while offering a fresh slate. However, the hand-crafted planet of Var’uun’kai delivered the most rudimentary content and barren surroundings to go with lackluster characters and story-telling. Even the intriguing gravity anomalies barely appear after a point.

A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead

I was excited about Stormind Games’ first-person horror, especially with how it leveraged the films and their mechanics. Unfortunately, A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead is a hugely linear, highly scripted experience with bizarre AI, questionable design decisions, and a predictable story that fails to really leverage its endearing characters.

Concord

Sony’s biggest first-party failure in years, Concord was seemingly doomed from its first proper reveal, especially when the hero shooter elements became apparent. After a beta with abysmal numbers, it would launch to middling reviews and reportedly sold only 25,000 copies. Sony initially pulled the title from sale and shut down servers before eventually shuttering it and Firewalk Studio.

Rise of the Ronin

Director Fumihiko Yasuda revealed around June that Rise of the Ronin was Koei Tecmo’s best-selling game so far, with the publisher even reporting higher sales than Nioh. That’s all great, but the game itself fell short of what we expected in terms of open-world activities and storytelling. At least the combat remains enjoyable, and Team Ninja has provided some extensive post-launch content for free.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard

The first Dragon Age title in ten years was bound to have astronomical expectations, especially with all the rumors and reports of reboots. Combat was sharp despite pivoting to a real-time hack-and-slash approach and the environments are gorgeous, without a doubt. It’s everything else that either whelmed or disappointed, from the uneven characterization and writing to the mission structure. Though it wasn’t BioWare’s worst, it’s far from being its best.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

Significant improvements over last year’s game don’t excuse Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 from disappointing in other ways. Despite a superior campaign, its story ultimately felt flat (and continued the same cliffhanger approach), while multiplayer fell short with its map design. Zombies is surprisingly good despite some balance issues, and while the overall experience classifies as “good,” it’s nowhere near the series’ heights.

Unknown 9: Awakening

There’s always some skepticism when a developer gets ahead itself and plans out an entire universe for its IP before the first game even launches. Unfortunately, Unknown 9: Awakening loaded its bland premise with dull writing and boring combat, while various bugs and performance issues weighed even heavier. Suffice it to say that with an all-time peak concurrent player count of 285 on Steam at launch, Unknown 9: Awakening failed to meet any expectations heaped on it.

MultiVersus

From promising platform fighter to being pulled and relaunching earlier this year in a worse form, MultiVersus has had quite the journey. It’s hard to pinpoint all the issues, be it the sheer lack of quality-of-life features at launch or how underwhelming Rifts felt after they finally went live, but above all else, the feel and fluidity from the open beta felt like it was missing. And unfortunately, Player First Games hasn’t been able to capture the magic ever since.

XDefiant

Initially revealed as part of the Tom Clancy series, XDefiant would become a standalone entity while still crossing over with the publisher’s various other titles. However, despite some responsive shooting, it couldn’t match the features and content of other free-to-play shooters at launch. Various issues like network performance also affected it, causing a sharp downturn. Maybe there’s still time to right the ship, but based on the company’s other live-service endeavors, XDefiant’s days could be numbered.

Outcast: A New Beginning

Developing a sequel to a niche title from the late 90s is unusual on its own, but perhaps Outcast: The New Beginning could cater to long-time fans. What it offered was a massive world with nothing exciting, loading up players with menial tasks and awful writing. Appealing as it may be for those seeking more old-school-style titles, A New Beginning felt more like an awkward continuation for a cult-classic series.

Enotria: The Last Song 

Milan-based studio Jyamma Games are utilising their Italian heritage to great effect in Enotria: The Last Song. This isn’t just a summertime Soulslike, it’s imbued with tradition, folklore, and culture, with inspiration seeping out of Renaissance era theatre Commedia dell’Arte. The story here begins with you, The Maskless One, tasked with liberating a world locked in time loop; an eternal play stagnating its actors. Through power bestowed via NPC companion Pulcinella you’ll alter the very fabric of reality to eradicate the nefarious Authors who’ve besieged this beautiful world.

]]> 605153 https://gamingbolt.com/a-quiet-place-the-road-ahead-review-silent-hills Tue, 22 Oct 2024 14:21:10 +0000 https://gamingbolt.com/?p=601939 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.

NOTE: This interview was conducted prior to the game’s launch.

"We designed the stealth gameplay in A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead to be deep and strategic, without becoming overly complex or frustrating."

With The Road Ahead being positioned as a prequel, how deeply will it be tied to the movies in terms of its story? For instance, what should players expect in terms of connections, easter eggs, and the like? 

Luca Esposito (Senior Narrative Designer): Rather than being a prequel, The Road Ahead is a story set within the narrative universe of A Quiet Place, taking place between Day One and the start of the first film. While it introduces a new cast of characters, the story we tell is connected to the films only through its themes and scenarios. There are no direct references to the characters or events from the movies, but players will recognize familiar survival situations and dynamics from the cinematic saga.

Given the premise of the game and the universe it is set in, stealth is obviously going to be a big part of the experience. How nuanced and mechanically dense should players expect the gameplay experience to be in that department? 

Manuel Moavero (Lead Game Designer): We designed the stealth gameplay in A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead to be deep and strategic, without becoming overly complex or frustrating. Managing sound is the heart of the game, and players have to be very mindful of the noise they produce, from simple everyday actions like walking or opening doors to more complex interactions with the environment, like throwing objects or moving on noisy surfaces.

Every surface has its own “sound profile,” which means that walking on sand is far less risky than walking on rusted metal, which can quickly attract the attention of the creatures. This system adds a layer of depth to the stealth mechanics, requiring players to carefully plan every move.

Additionally, the phonometer plays a crucial role: it’s a tool that measures noise and provides visual feedback to help players understand how much they are risking. The ability to mask sounds through environmental sources like water or wind offers further strategic opportunities.

In short, the stealth system is nuanced, and the design is intended to be accessible and rewarding, allowing players to use the environment to survive rather than focusing on overly complex mechanics.

What can you tell us about the game’s progression mechanics?

Moavero: Progression in A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead is not based on a traditional system of upgrading the protagonist’s abilities, but on a gradual evolution of resources, tools, and solutions available to the player. Alex, the protagonist, will face increasingly complex and dangerous situations, and to do so, she will have to use new tools and interact with more complicated environments.

Each level introduces new mechanics, such as flares, sandbags, or devices like fuses and valves. These tools not only expand the player’s tactical options but are essential for solving puzzles and tackling challenges that arise along the way.

Despite the absence of a traditional progression system, the variety of solutions and the increasing difficulty of the situations make the experience dynamic and stimulating. The constant and unpredictable presence of the creatures adds another layer of pressure, forcing players to rethink their strategies continuously. In some moments of the game, players will also have to exploit the creatures’ sensitivity to electronic devices against them, making the gameplay even more interesting and varied.

"There were moments during development when we discussed whether to lean more towards survival horror. Tension and fear are fundamental elements in A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead, and the constant risk of death is present at every moment, but we wanted to maintain a balance between the horror experience and the adventure aspect characteristic of the movies."

A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead is billed as a horror adventure game, but were there ever conversations during development to lean more into the survival horror direction?

Moavero: Yes, there were moments during development when we discussed whether to lean more towards survival horror. Tension and fear are fundamental elements in A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead, and the constant risk of death is present at every moment, but we wanted to maintain a balance between the horror experience and the adventure aspect characteristic of the movies.

While the game includes survival mechanics, such as managing noise and needing to be cautious with every single movement, we didn’t want to focus too much on the more typical aspects of survival horror, such as extreme resource scarcity. Our main goal was to create an immersive but accessible experience that offered a high level of tension and fear without ever becoming too punishing for players who didn’t manage their inventory perfectly.

In the end, we decided to maintain an approach that mixed adventure, fear, and ingenuity, creating an experience that was both engaging and challenging. The focus on sound and the need to remain silent, rather than confronting the creatures directly, is what sets our game apart, and this influenced our decision to stray a bit from the conventions of traditional survival horror.

Do you think the resurgence of horror games in the last few years has allowed developers the opportunity to experiment more with the tone and format of horror games they put out? What are some of the games that you have looked to for inspiration during The Road Ahead’s development?

Moavero: Absolutely: the resurgence of horror games in recent years has allowed developers to explore new ideas and approaches to the genre.

With the evolution of technology and innovation in gameplay mechanics, audiences have become more open to different experiences, allowing creators to push the boundaries of traditional horror games. Today, we see a greater variety, from more action-oriented games to psychological survival horror and more atmospheric horror, as in the case of A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead.

During development, we were inspired by several games that managed to blend fear and atmosphere in unique ways. Alien: Isolation was our main inspiration, particularly for its management of tension and the feeling of being hunted by an enemy you can’t confront directly. The fear stemming from the constant invisible threat is something we wanted to capture in A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead, but with the unique sound-based mechanic.

The Last of Us was a major reference for the way it creates tension through resource management and interaction with the environment. Amnesia influenced our thinking on how to create fear without necessarily showing enemies at every moment, instead playing on the sense of vulnerability and isolation.

We also drew inspiration from games like Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, for the depth of its stealth mechanics, and Thief, for the importance of environment and sound in determining survival. Each of these games taught us something important about how to balance tension, exploration, and danger in a way that immerses the player in an intense horror experience without being too punishing.

In the end, the variety and success of recent horror games gave us the freedom to experiment and innovate, allowing us to explore a more atmospheric, sound-based direction while keeping the core of the horror genre intact.

Roughly how long will an average playthrough of the game be?

Alessio Alfonsi (Producer): The experience lasts from 8 to 12 hours, depending on the difficulty chosen and, above all, how much you want to complete the game 100% to collect all the collectibles and unlock the extras from the main menu. Furthermore, the duration can also increase thanks to additional runs, when a player decides to try the experience again at a higher difficulty.

"Alien: Isolation was our main inspiration, particularly for its management of tension and the feeling of being hunted by an enemy you can’t confront directly."

Given that you have experience working with all the current-gen consoles, I was hoping to pick your brain on some of the differences between them. For instance, where their GPUs are concerned, the PS5 clocks in at 10.28 teraflops, behind the Xbox Series X’s 12 teraflops. In real terms, however, how much of an impact does that difference have during development?

The difference in teraflops between the PS5 and Xbox Series X is real in terms of raw computing power, but during development, the actual impact often depends on how well-optimized the game is. In many cases, both systems can achieve similar results since development tools and middleware are designed to maximize the hardware potential of each console. The difference in GPU performance becomes more noticeable in scenarios requiring heavy rendering. However, with good optimization, these differences are often near imperceptible to the end user.

The PS5 features an incredibly fast SSD with 5.5GB/s raw bandwidth. How can developers take advantage of this, and how does this compare to the Xbox Series X’s 2.4GB/s raw bandwidth?

The PS5’s incredibly fast SSD allows for much quicker loading of game levels and sections, reducing wait times and the need for traditional loading screens. This is especially beneficial for continuous asset streaming. For developers, it means we can design levels with greater fluidity and fewer interruptions. The Xbox Series X has a slower raw SSD speed, but it still offers excellent performance due to internal optimizations and its Velocity Architecture support.

Both the PS5 and Xbox Series X boast Zen 2 CPUs, but there is a difference in the processors of both consoles. The Xbox Series X features 8x Zen 2 Cores at 3.8GHz, whereas the PS5 features 8x Zen 2 Cores at 3.5GHz. Your thoughts on this difference?

The clock speed difference between the processors of the two consoles is marginal and rarely affects the gaming experience significantly. Rather, it depends on how each console manages cooling and power balancing. Generally, development on both platforms requires specific optimizations, but the CPU difference doesn’t majorly impact the game.

The Xbox Series S features lesser hardware compared to Xbox Series and Microsoft is pushing it as a 1440p/60 FPS console. Have you faced any problem while developing for it?

The Xbox Series S is more limited in hardware compared to the Series X, especially in terms of GPU and memory. However, it’s possible to optimize the game effectively. There are technical challenges when developing very ambitious or visually complex games, which might require compromises like reducing texture quality or using a more aggressive dynamic resolution to maintain a smooth experience.

"The variety and success of recent horror games gave us the freedom to experiment and innovate, allowing us to explore a more atmospheric, sound-based direction while keeping the core of the horror genre intact."

What frame rate and resolution will the game target on the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S?

Our goal is to offer two modes on both PS5 and Xbox Series X: a Performance Mode targeting 60 FPS at 1440p with dynamic resolution scaling, and a Quality Mode targeting 30 FPS at 4K with dynamic resolution scaling. On the Series S, we’re aiming at 1440p at 30 FPS with dynamic resolution.

Players control Alex Taylor, a former med student struggling with asthma, and attempt to survive. The aliens are blind but hyper-sensitive to sound, so avoiding anything that can make noise is pertinent. You can use this to your advantage, throwing objects and breaking windows to draw their attention away.

A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead is about 8-12 hours long. It also features a Microphone Noise Detection mode, where the player’s noise transmits through a microphone, headset, and even the DualSense for the aliens to hear. This adds to the immersion while amplifying the terror. Check out our feature for other details about the title.

As per producer Alessio Alfonsi, A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead is going to be about 8-12 hours long, depending on what difficulty you play on and how extensively you engage with optional content to get to 100 percent completion.

“The experience lasts from 8 to 12 hours, depending on the difficulty chosen and, above all, how much you want to complete the game 100% to collect all the collectibles and unlock the extras from the main menu,” Alfonsi told GamingBolt. “Furthermore, the duration can also increase thanks to additional runs, when a player decides to try the experience again at a higher difficulty.”

During the interview, A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead’s developers also confirmed that the game will feature both 4K and 60 FPS modes on PS5 and Xbox Series X (though there will be no 60 FPS option on Xbox Series S), and that the cult classic 2014 horror title Alien: Isolation served as one of the biggest inspirations for The Road Ahead. Stay tuned for our full interview with the developers.

A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead launches on October 17 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

In a recent interview with GamingBolt, developer Stormind Games revealed to GamingBolt that on PS5 and Xbox Series X, A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead will feature two graphics modes, which will let players play the game at 4K and 30 FPS with Quality Mode or at 1440p and 60 FPS with Performance Mode. Meanwhile, on Xbox Series S, the game will have just one mode, targeting 1440p at 30 FPS, which means those on Microsoft’s weaker current-gen console won’t get a 60 FPS mode.

Whether we can expect any PS5 Pro-specific enhancements remains to be seen. Our full interview with Stormind Games will be going live soon, so stay tuned for more details.

A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead launches on October 17 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

Speaking in a recent interview with GamingBolt, lead game designer Manuel Moavero revealed that Stormind Games wished to capture the feeling of being constantly hunted by a threat that cannot be directly confronted, same as Alien: Isolation.

“During development, we were inspired by several games that managed to blend fear and atmosphere in unique ways,” Moavero said. “Alien: Isolation was our main inspiration, particularly for its management of tension and the feeling of being hunted by an enemy you can’t confront directly. The fear stemming from the constant invisible threat is something we wanted to capture in A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead, but with the unique sound-based mechanic.”

Moavero went on to mention several other titles that A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead takes cues from in a variety of different ways, including The Last of Us, the Amnesia franchise, Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, and Thief.

“The Last of Us was a major reference for the way it creates tension through resource management and interaction with the environment,” he said. “Amnesia influenced our thinking on how to create fear without necessarily showing enemies at every moment, instead playing on the sense of vulnerability and isolation.

“We also drew inspiration from games like Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, for the depth of its stealth mechanics, and Thief, for the importance of environment and sound in determining survival. Each of these games taught us something important about how to balance tension, exploration, and danger in a way that immerses the player in an intense horror experience without being too punishing.”

Moavero also spoke of the resurgence of the horror genre in games, and how it has enjoyed developers to create unique kinds of horror experiences.

“Absolutely: the resurgence of horror games in recent years has allowed developers to explore new ideas and approaches to the genre,” he said. “With the evolution of technology and innovation in gameplay mechanics, audiences have become more open to different experiences, allowing creators to push the boundaries of traditional horror games. Today, we see a greater variety, from more action-oriented games to psychological survival horror and more atmospheric horror, as in the case of A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead.”

He added, “In the end, the variety and success of recent horror games gave us the freedom to experiment and innovate, allowing us to explore a more atmospheric, sound-based direction while keeping the core of the horror genre intact.”

Our full interview with Moavero and Stormind Games will be going live soon, so stay tuned.

A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead launches on October 17 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.