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Which Game Just Freaked Us the F*#k Out?

Which Game Just Freaked Us the F*#k Out?

We Happy Few is an upcoming survival horror game by Compulsion centred around the novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. The premise is much the same: the citizens of this dystopia take a hallucinogenic drug called ‘Joy’ in order to remain ‘happy’ and emotionless. Anyone who is not taking the drug, or has adverse effects from it, is termed a “Downer.” These people are dealt with quite violently, either killed or ejected from the city proper to live in the outskirts where the drug is less prolific. The character the player controls is named Arthur Hastings , who reacts rather terribly to the drug, and the game’s goal is to escape the city without dying.

After watching a playthrough of the pre-alpha by IGN and the main trailer , I realized what makes the game really creepy to me. All the people in the main part of the city are wearing these odd white masks. The masks have a fixed smile, almost too wide for the face, and the eyes become especially large. They also appear almost fused to the skin, and judging by the trailer, I would say they’re supposed to be painted on. That’s somehow worse than just a mask; a painted permanent smile, like a clown. I find masks like these especially unsettling because they can only show one emotion, in this case joy. It’s entirely human to be frightened of a lack of expression, or rather a permanent and unmoving expression. In real life, fixed expressions are only found in masks or in the permanence of death. Even the most taciturn of people have changes to their expressions, regardless of how minor they may seem. Death, however, whatever the circumstance, is always a fixed expression.

Social pressures, especially in Western society, often discourage any outward sign of emotion. We Happy Few ‘s masks, and the overall premise of the game, certainly put such constraints into perspective. For example, let’s take the social pressure for men to never cry; no matter how painful the moment, emotional or physical, a man is expected to never cry, as crying is a sign of weakness in Western society. Yet, when We Happy Few takes that social pressure and applies it to all emotions, throughout the world, equally, it becomes terrifying. Most social pressures, when taken to their logical extreme, can be revealed as crucially flawed, and even detrimental to the advancement of human intelligence.

Which Game Just Freaked Us the F*#k Out?

Another example of a social pressure taken to it’s extreme in We Happy Few is the idea that outward happiness will cause inward happiness. Ultimately, all you have to do in the game’s society is act happy, take your joy, and you will be happy. The flaw only appears when the player realizes what adverse affect the drug has: severely depleted vitals and loss of at least a day in memory. If Hastings were to continue to take the drug, as recommended by Uncle Jack, he would die within a matter of days if not sooner. As such, the idea that Hastings’ outward happiness will turn into inward happiness is impossible. Taking the drug will make him die; not taking the drug will outcast him from society.

As such, what makes We Happy Few truly terrifying is how easily these emotionless masks can be linked to the social pressures of our culture, as well as to death. Death is the more obvious one, linked simply because of it’s permanence. The social pressures list, not just that men are expected not to cry, goes on. All you have to do is take a look at We Happy Few to find more.

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