The Quiet Man, Square Enix and Human Head Studio’s part FMV movie part brawler, has gotten itself a bit of a reputation since its release last week, and it isn’t a good one. A new update released yesterday promises to reveal the answers to the game’s story by adding in audio.
The Quiet Man stars Dane, a character who happens to be deaf. In order to simulate his deafness, the game is more-or-less devoid of most sound. It’s an ambitious move to try and make a game about a handicapped character and incorporating their disability into the gameplay experience, and is also a step in the right direction as more representation like this in games is definitely much needed, but the way this is handled effectively leads to a three-hour game with the pre-existing audio ripped out. There are also no subtitles. Since Dane can still communicate with other characters via lip reading and ASL, this results in players knowing less than the deaf protagonist!
The actual gameplay, where Dane gets into brawls with other characters, isn’t much better. Dane feels clunky in combat, with unresponsive controls and poor hit feedback that makes his hits feel anything but weighty. The game also never explains the controls or other mechanics. It’s “fortunate” that the enemy AI is just as clunky, with enemies that sometimes will stand in place for several seconds.
Those who completed the game were told that questions would be answered a week from the game’s release. The ‘Answered’ update, which released yesterday, adds the audio (both voices and sound effects) back into the game so players can experience it and get the full story. Will players finally understand what’s going on with the story? Probably. Will it make the game worth playing a second time? Preliminary sources say no.
The Quiet Man is available for PlayStation 4 and PC via Steam.