Indie survival horror game "We Happy Few" has been in development for more than a year now, and it's finally hit Steam Early Access. Interested players can play a beta build on the service, but being a development build, it still has a lot of bugs—however, that doesn't stop the game from being compelling to try it.
"We Happy Few," to put it simply, plays like a cross between "Bioshock" (it actually feels like "Bioshock: Infinite") and "The Elder Scrolls" games. The survivor horror element takes prominence, but the open-world element also exists.
You play as Arthur Hastings, a citizen of the ridiculously dystopian Wellington Wells, a town set in an alternate history England that suffered from a Soviet invasion during World War II. A "Very Bad Thing" had happened in the war, and now the town takes a drug called Joy that makes everything seem happier than it really is. "We Happy Few" is set at a time where the chemicals to produce Joy, as well as food to sustain the town, are running out, and Arthur must escape before it does.
"We Happy Few" is a rogue like game, meaning it's pretty much a dungeon crawl game that procedurally-generates environments at random through each playthrough. Permadeath is also a prominent feature, with no restarts at previous save points—although according to the GameSpot preview, the feature can be turned off.
This gives "We Happy Few" an element of difficulty, but smarter players are more likely to avoid frustration. Also, despite running away from it, part of the stealth and survival gameplay also involves taking minor doses of Joy in order to blend in with the Wellington Wells citizens during your escape. Item and weapon crafting are also a necessary gameplay element.
"We Happy Few" doesn't yet have a final release date, but it can be played on Steam Early Access from six to twelve months.
