Meet Ollie Starkey, We Happy Few’s Final Playable Character
In We Happy Few, you’ll play the tale of a plucky bunch of moderately terrible people trying to escape from a lifetime of cheerful denial in the city of Wellington Wells. In this alternative 1960s England, conformity is key. You’ll have to fight or blend in with the drug-addled inhabitants, most of whom don’t take kindly to people who won’t abide by their not-so-normal rules.
When discovering the retrofuturistic city’s dark history, you’ll play through the intertwined narratives of three quietly rebellious citizens of Wellington Wells. Each with their own strengths and weaknesses, you’ll discover their pasts, prepare for their future, and engage in activities that aren’t exactly status quo in the artificially-enthused society.
We Happy Few is launches this week and it’s time to learn more about the games third and final playable character, Ollie Starkey
Ollie’s a mad Scotsman whose only companion is an invisible friend. Holed up in the bombed-out train station, and beset by Wastrels, no one in town likes Ollie, and Ollie likes no one in town–especially jolly Uncle Jack, the only celebrity on TV.
“We wanted a character that was physically tough and hardy, which was one of the reasons Ollie came about,” says Whitney Clayton, Art Director for We Happy Few. “He’s a mad Scotsman, an ex-soldier, and a survivalist. He lives in the run-down Garden District, at the top of the old train station, where he has managed to survive a while. He wears his old military jacket, old army boots, and plaid pants reflecting his Scottish heritage. It was important that he be more than just a tough soldier. Ollie has a complex relationship to his past, and he does not accept what the ‘civilized’ part of society has become. In his visual design, it was important to give depth to his face, and to show he’s got a lot going on behind his thick eyebrows.”
Having worked for the General many years ago, Ollie is a trained soldier, but his memory has become a church made of cheese, and all the congregation’s mice.
“It isn’t until Ollie discovers a dark secret about the Victory Memorial Camp that he finds renewed purpose in his life,” adds Alex Epstein, Narrative Director at Compulsion Games. “But the more clues he discovers about the ongoing collapse of Wellington Wells, the more he realizes he might just be the only man capable of revealing the truth.”
As you help Ollie uncover his fuzzy memories, you’ll play within the world affected by the previous playable characters, Arthur and Sally, who each have their own secrets, motivations, and special skills in the story of We Happy Few.
We Happy Few is coming to the Xbox One family of devices on August 10 and will be enhanced for Xbox One X. Pre-order now on the Microsoft Store and get $9 off plus the exclusive Jolly Brolly weapon at launch!