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Title: We Happy Few DLC 1: They Came From Below
Platform: PS4 (reviewed), Xbox One, PC
Developer: Compulsion Games
Publisher: Gearbox Publishing
Price:
Console: £7.40/$8
PC: £7.20/$8
Release Date: Out now
TL;DR: A sci-fi drama that pays homage to classics.
Family Focus?:Click here for more information

Upon its launch, We Happy Few wasn’t the game everyone was expecting. Bioshock fans were the most excited to get their grubby mitts on it, but everyone was soon met with a bug ridden game that didn’t meet those high hopes. However, it would seem the game has been cured of these ailments.

They Came From Below stars Roger and James, the couple from the base game as they go searching for Dr Faraday after she creates a portal and transports herself somewhere else. Upon beginning their search for her, they discover a basement in the house which leads to a massive underground facility where they find a bunch of killer robots.

The first piece of downloadable content throws out the stealth from the base game and gives the chance to wield a ray gun that can transform into a stun baton, which is then used to take down the waves of evil robots that come at you often throughout the DLC. You also need to use the ray gun’s charged shot to solve certain puzzles that pop up all the time and unfortunately, they get rather tiresome rather quickly. 

They Came From Below has you traverse a bunch of platforming segments that I have always found tedious in first person games (please don’t ask me how I feel about Mirror’s Edge). I usually blame my disability for platforming in a first-person shooter, but it seems I’m not the only person with this opinion, as I read some other ones whilst screaming at the screen, but I persevered each time, some more annoying than others but I ventured on.

As for difficulty, I stuck it on easy mode to enjoy the plot, but the game doesn’t joke around when you come face to face with several robots. This can be frustrating, especially when you need to recharge your ray gun with the stun baton, and then the damn robots land a hit on you and take a good portion of your health. Unfortunately, when you die your health is the same as when you got to that checkpoint, so if you get to a point with low health, you’re stuck with it if you don’t have any healing balms.

The writing in this DLC is good, but it’s let down by the lifeless character models; they just kind of stand there and don’t really emote- unfortunate, as They Came From Below’s writing is much better than the base game. I guess this content didn’t have the budget the main game, had so it feels a little harsh to criticise it, but it is hard to fully invest myself with it due to this.

They Came From Below can be cleared in just under a few hours, but it’s crammed with a lot more content, which makes it feel a bit stuffy as you hit one big revelation after another without enough time to digest the previous one. The best way to describe it is to imagine you’ve ate a bunch of food really fast, you feel bloated, right? Whereas, if you took your time to enjoy each and every bite at a steady pace you’d be left more satisfied.

Overall, We Happy Few: They Came From Below is a welcome addition to the family and makes me excited for what comes next in the upcoming DLC, Lightbearer. I hope Compulsion Games continues to make the writing great but fills those characters with a little bit more life to really make the story shine.

The Good:

  • Excellent writing that’s only let down by the lifeless character models.
  • Combat is fun, I mean you get to shoot a bunch of robots and I’m pretty sure one of them said Exterminate!
  • Fixes the issues from the main game.

The Bad:

  • Heck of a difficulty curve even on the easier difficulties.
  • Too much content to digest for the short campaign.
  • Platforming in first person sucks, just saying…

Family Focus

We Happy Few is rated M for Mature by the ESRB and PEGI 18 with the use of drugs, bad language and violence, so unfortunately little Timmy will have to stay away from this one…

Disclaimer: This review is based on a copy of the game provided by PR for the purpose of this review.