Game Review "A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead'

A stealth-heavy survivor horror saga that challenges you to use your wits to scrape by against daunting challenges, "A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead" wears its challenging nature proudly. 

Set alongside the timeline of "A Quiet Place: Day One," the game puts you at a distinct, often frustrating, disadvantage against your surroundings and enemies. You are often left stumbling in the dark, scratching around for the item it will take you to move on, or the path to avoid your tormenters to see the next cut scene. 

Working with publisher Saber Interactive, developer Stormind Games leans into the grit and determination embodied by the film franchise's characters. Nothing comes easy in the game, but sometimes the difficulty comes mainly in simply in navigating the muddy level design and irritating enemy tendencies.

As with many games adapted from film franchises, there's a bit lost in translation. The stakes are lower, because there are only tenuous relationships to the franchise at large. The game's story suffers the usual fits of inconsequence that comic book prequels often find themselves.

There are some interesting touches, such as a feature that lets creatures in the game detect ambient noise actually happening around you as you play. This helps get you in the mode of prioritizing quietness as a prerequisite for survival. Of course, this can also add to the sense of frustration, if someone around you or outside your home makes a noise that messes with your progress.

You play as Alex, an asthmatic college student thrust into the apocalyptic chaos brought on by the predatorial incursion detailed exhaustively in the films. The goal is to find something of a safe haven for your family as you navigate through decaying ruins of civilization.

The devs take enough cues from inspirations, such as "Resident Evil," "Silent Hill" and "The Last of Us," to keep things engaging. You get a sense that this is more of an imitation of an imitation than a grand vision of its own. 

"A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead" seems like it's stuck staring at the rear view mirror rather than forging ahead on its own path.

Publisher provided review code.