Rating: 9 out of 10.

A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead is a survival/horror game released in 2024 for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. The game takes place in the same universe as the films of the same name, although does not follow any of the same characters.

Gameplay

A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead is based on being stealthy. It is played in first person, and the main focus of this game is to be quiet. If you have seen the films (A Quiet Place, A Quiet Place Part II, or A Quiet Place: Day One), then you know the scenario: aliens decide to come and hang out with us. Unfortunately for us, they also think we are tasty and they find us when we are noisy. Which we are, because we are humans.

A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead follows the same principles. It uses some elements akin to Alien: Isolation: creatures hunt you and are sensitive to the sounds you make. The game makes heavy use of your microphone throughout most of the game: If you breathe too heavily, fart too loudly, have a cat singing in the background, scream when you get scared, etc – you are going to have a bad time.

A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead is played in first person, and there is no combat involved. Movement is either walking, or crouched walking – and at times, it feels very slow. The more quiet you need to be, the slower you have to go. The type of ground can affect how much sound you make: walking on leaves, rubble, or glass will cause crunching or rustling sounds, and these noises will attract the creatures to you. In some places, the game helps you walk safely by putting rugs on the floor, or by providing you with bags of sand you can use to create a walkway.

The majority of the obstacles to overcome seem to involve… doors. Apparently, every single hinge in the entire universe will creak as loud as possible and WD-40 no longer exists. To open a door, it has to be done extremely slow to avoid it creaking too loudly. There are also screws to unscrew, and valves to turn – and it is always painfully loud.

One of the more annoying mechanics in this game is that the main character has asthma. Nothing is inherently wrong with this. People in the world have asthma, and representation is fine – but the only real purpose of it in the game is to force a limiter on you. It makes the character louder, slower, and weaker. If you move too fast, lift too many things, get too scared (because of proximity to the creatures), or… have to be around too much dust – you are in danger of having an asthma attack. If you have one, the character starts to cough loudly unless you can successfully hit all of the triggers to stop it. You will find pills and inhalers throughout the game to help you manage it – but for some reason, you can not carry pills. They are used as soon as you pick them up. Presumably, carrying the bottle is too noisy? Inhalers can be carried with you, but using them makes noise. I have very nearly been killed over my inhaler multiple times.

Although the asthma is annoying, it is not unreasonable. The most difficult thing for me was unfortunately my… spatial awareness? The game is in first person, but the only part of your character that you see is your hands. If you look down, you will not see your feet, legs, or body. In a lot of first person games, this is not an issue – but in this game, you can accidentally knock over cans, barrels, or other small objects that can make noise. Without having a sense of how big you are or where your body actually ends – it’s very difficult to avoid doing this, even when creeping around painfully slow.

I also had issues where I would try to hide from the creature. I would be perfectly still and hide in a corner, only to have it walk into me or bump me slightly. Maybe that is a ‘me’ problem, but I had a hard time determining if I was far enough away from the creature. I died many times to it just bumping into me.

There are a few small puzzles to solve, but nothing overly difficult. Without any combat, the main stress comes from trying to be quiet, managing your asthma, or find safe passage through the creatures. I felt like the gameplay was fairly smooth (outside of getting killed by being walked into), and it felt very immersive. I often found myself holding my breath when the creatures were close, or even felt myself freezing my entire body. Maintaining silence was difficult. I wanted to scream, several times.

Story

A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead does a great job capturing the tense, survival-focused atmosphere of the films. The story stays true to the core premise: aliens have invaded, and they hunt using sound. The game puts you in the shoes of Alex, starting her journey alongside her boyfriend, Martin. The opening sequence doubles as a tutorial, introducing the game’s mechanics and survival strategies before turning you loose. It’s not a long tutorial, and it does a great job setting up the game for you without feeling entirely too hand-holdy. (“Hand-holdy” is in fact, a technical term. Or at least, it is now.)

Without spoiling too much, the story is pretty good! Tragedy and loss are recurring themes, often caused by mistakes, chance, or just plain bad luck. This story is really about survival than it is about being a hero, which really matches the feeling of the films. Alex’s primary goal is straightforward: get to safety. Character relationships are also important – some people will die, some will try to kill you, but they all do a great job of providing the sense of fear and danger in this world.

The pacing of the game is pretty quick, and the overall story isn’t particularly long. If you like puzzles, there are plenty of them without being overly difficult. That said, if you are like me (and I am not puzzle… adept) – then the puzzle-solving will slow you down a bit. On the easiest difficulty, (no shame in this. I always play games on easy because I like story!!) it took me approximately 11 hours to finish.

Overall, A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead delivers a great experience. Its pretty faithful to the source material, plays well mechanically ( I think I only found ONE bug in this one!), and has a good story.

Overall Review

I give A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead a solid 9 out of 10. The game delivers a great experience that feels true to the tension and survival themes of the films. Its length is just right—not too long, but contains enough depth to feel satisfying. If you enjoyed the films, you’ll likely enjoy this game too!

The controls are intuitive and accessible, making it easy for players of all skill levels to jump in – but I’m docking it just a tad because of the body-awareness issue. That proved to be an ongoing source of frustration for me. It’s obnoxious to lose progress—or worse, your life—because of an issue that feels more like a design flaw than a personal mistake.

Despite this, A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead remains a standout experience. A bit more polish on the character-body mechanics could have made it a perfect 10, but even with this minor flaw, it’s an exceptional game.

Was it fun, though?

Yes, I had a lot of fun with A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead! The game does a great job of keeping you on edge with its tense atmosphere and jump scares. Trying to stay quiet during those moments, both in the game and in real life, added an extra layer of immersion and challenge.

That said, I don’t think I would replay the game anytime soon. Now that I know where key events and threats occur, the suspense and discovery that made the first playthrough so enjoyable would no longer be there. The element of surprise is a big part of what makes the experience so great!

I would also like to go ahead and start pitching that I am more than happy to work as a QA tester. I seem to have a knack for finding silly bugs in games. Evidence: