Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC
If you've ever thought you'd nail surviving in the silenced world of A Quiet Place, this is your chance to test that theory. Kicking off on day 105 after the "Death Angels" planetfall (as seen in A Quiet Place: Day One), this puts players in the shoes of Alex (voiced by Anairis Quiñones), a young woman who's just found out she's pregnant – right as her partner Martin is killed on a supplies run.
Alex's pregnancy feels somewhat redundant – especially after that birth scene in the first film – but still adds some pathos to the proceedings, particularly with the fractured relationship she has with Julia, Martin's mother. Quiñones delivers every pained interaction to perfection, as she strives to reach a promised safe encampment for her unborn child.
One burp at the wrong moment could be Alex's undoing.
Played first person and with a heavy focus on avoiding the creatures, it could have essentially been a reskin of Alien: Isolation. Instead, developer Stormind Games brilliantly lean into the monsters' keen sense of hearing and makes audio design integral to the experience. Every action Alex takes makes noise, and while she eventually builds herself a phonometer to measure her movements against ambient sound, every step taken still feels like a risk. She's also asthmatic, and any exertion or stress (like being hunted by carnivorous alien monsters, say) makes a coughing fit more likely, ensuring the hunt for medicine is life-saving in multiple ways.
The Road Ahead also makes excellent use of resistive controls, demanding the least possible pressure on the thumbsticks to gently open doors or drawers without a sound, or to move at the slowest viable speed to avoid audible footsteps. Even more impressively, there's an option to enable your mic – like the one built into the PS5 controller – to detect your real-world audio. One burp at the wrong moment could be Alex's undoing.
Unfortunately, other aspects aren't quite so well-realised. Level design is almost comedic in places – telling players not to brush against metal cans, then putting them in a room full of them – and largely linear. There's opportunity to go off-track to seek out lore-building collectibles, but only completionists will find the reward worth the risk. Other survival mechanics feel dated, like torches with batteries that last mere seconds before needing replacing, or throwable objects to lure the monsters away.
Most disappointingly, it's just not that scary. Tense, yes, especially when being hunted, but its few actual jump scares are so telegraphed they rarely land, making it more stealth than horror. Still, a great story makes for a solid exploration of the world built up in the films.