Their “Darkest Hour”, as Churchill put it. This is an interesting alternate history take, as many in the States, like myself, sometimes forget the rightful pride many British citizens have that the British Empire managed to last against Nazi bombing after Nazi bombing, more or less alone in the war effort. The hows and whys are not immediately clear, and a big element of Arthur’s story is discovering those answers as he tries to get to Germany and find his brother Percy. Facing the constant siege of Nazi Germany, England appears to have surrendered and sent all children below the age of 13 to the country. Relatively early on, it becomes clear that in the world of We Happy Few, England did something horrible in WWII. Not unlike the likes of Fahrenheit 451 or The Giver, it is an intentionally extreme look at a variety of social issues in order to make a valuable point about the value of truth and dissension in the face of oppression. Any protest or rejection of the country’s social norms is chalked up to Downer behavior. The common Joy taking citizens are meanwhile called “Wellies”, a cute and sinister name implying that they are all well and perfect, unlike the nasty Downers. Downers are hunted by the government and either exiled or casually murdered, often through mob violence. There is propaganda all over about the evils of “Downers”, people who either cannot or refuse to take Joy. The dystopian state requires that all citizens remain on Joy. Joy is absolutely key to exploring this theme, at least in the context of this story. From the very beginning, the game shows players the most interesting elements of its theme: ignorance may be bliss but the truth is more important. The main character Arthur begins the game secretly rejecting Joy (although he is quickly discovered) when he has a brief flashback to something horrible that happened to he and his brother, triggered by a newspaper he sees at his job as a government censor. Still, its most interesting element, Joy, is also perhaps where some of its biggest problems come from.įor those who have not played We Happy Few, Joy is a drug that citizens in the dystopian England setting take in order to forget their woes and, as you’d expect, feel nothing but joy. Glitch-ridden and a bit old hat compared to the likes of Dishonored (a comparison I am certainly not the first to make), it still has some interesting theming, writing, and humor that, in my opinion, saves the game from utter 6.5-7/10 mediocrity. We Happy Few was released about a month ago to mixed reception.
The following contains spoilers for the early story of We Happy Few.
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