Xbox Game Pass Hidden Gems (February 15): We Happy Few

Welcome to Xbox Game Pass Hidden Gems, our weekly look at titles on Microsoft’s on-demand subscription gaming service that you may not have otherwise taken a second look at.

While games like Palworld, Starfield, or Like a Dragon Gaiden get all the attention, there are plenty of others worth checking out once you're tired of collecting monsters in space as a former member of the Yakuza... or whatever those other games are about.

This week, we're looking at an open-world FPS that had quite a bit of buzz around it when it was first released. At the time, it garnered mixed reviews and has largely been ignored over the years. It's often been compared, fairly or not, to the BioShock series, as it presents dystopian themes in a semi-historical setting. It's also completely bonkers.

Let's take a look at Compulsion Games' We Happy Few.

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There's a lot of Joy in We Happy Few. Sort of.

Published in 2018, We Happy Few is set in an alternate mid-1960s Britain that lost World War II. For some reason, the residents of Wellington Wells aren't under German rule, however. This is due to an event the villagers only refer to as the Very Bad Thing. So Very Bad, in fact, that all the residents regularly ingest a hallucinogenic drug called Joy in order to remain blissfully ignorant as to what the Very Bad Thing actually was.

Taking a regular dose of Joy is compulsory in Wellington Wells, and failure to do so results in violence, arrest, and, well, other very bad things.

Miss a dose, and you have THIS to look forward to (Image via Gearbox Software)

We Happy Few opens with one of the three main characters, Arthur, on the fence as to whether or not to take his regular dose. The player can decide to do so, which humorously sends the game directly to the closing credits. If they don't, however, the game begins proper.

The title invokes many of the themes seen in dystopian fiction, like Nineteen Eighty-Four, Brazil, Brave New World, and Equilibrium. In fact, at times, it seems to wear these influences loudly on its sleeve — almost to the point of distraction. That being said, all of these elements combine to form a game not quite like anything before it.

So, why should you play it?

What often gets lost in the discussion when it comes to We Happy Few is how good of a game it is mechanically. While it often bites off more than it can chew in terms of its narrative and themes, it plays really, really well. At least in this writer's opinion.

While playing, I rarely (if ever) found myself at a loss for what I needed to do next. There's plenty to explore in Wellington Wells, but the game never lets you forget what your objective is. That's especially impressive, considering the story is divided between three main playable characters.

There are also a couple of DLC packs available if, like me, you find yourself engrossed in the world created here. And they are ridiculous. Seriously. One of them has you playing as a rock star talking to a hallucination of a rat that sounds just like his old (now dead) manager. Seriously.

We Happy Few is a well-made game wrapped in a weird, depressing story that's stylishly told. Try it out on Game Pass, and if you dig it like I did, there's more to it. If you don't, you can always go play Palworld or something.