Over the last decade, Kentucky: Route Zero has come in and out of the videogame sphere with a new episode or funding opportunity. With each episode, it gathered a larger audience and captured the imagination of players with its unique setting in Kentucky and particularly the elusive “route 0” running through the large caves that the state is known for. While you could write a book about the development and grit of the game’s developer, Cardboard Computer, a new and conclusive “TV Edition” has been released on modern platforms. At last, we can see the end of the road for this project and it’s never looked this good.
As the sun sets you pull your delivery truck up to an old gas station and ask for directions from preternatural blind man. When he tasks you with repairing a generator in the basement, you get the first taste of magical realism and spooky atmosphere. Upon entering the basement, you come across four people playing a board game who refuse to acknowledge your existence. After flipping the lights off and on, you’ll see that the quartet has vanished. When you ask the old man about it, he neither denies what you saw nor affirms the encounter. This is the first impression of Kentucky: Route Zero and the grounded but supernatural adventure game you’re in for.
While most people are familiar with choosing which text to respond to in a conversation the game adds a nice wrinkle that makes the world feel responsive and undefined in a good way. As you initially try to type a password phrase based on a poem into a computer, you’ll find that there are no wrong choices, but instead, variables about the world that you are choosing to establish. It’s one of the first times the game will set the stage but allow you to play out the character how you want. Furthermore, you’ll choose text-based responses from different characters not just the old delivery man named Conrad.
This mechanic plays with perspective subverts what we’ve come to expect from games as a storytelling medium. It’s this unsteadiness that complements the overall mystery of trying to make your last delivery and find your way to 5 Dogwood Drive and opens a small cast of characters to play off of one another in a multitude of different ways. While the bulk of interactivity comes through choosing your dialogue the game also has you moving around within this very stylized world. You can almost feel the humidity and night air of Kentucky in each frame. The character animations strike a balance of expressive while still lulling you into the rhythm of moving for a few moments and then having another conversation.
This edition comes with some added customizability in text options as well as the inclusion of some interstitial episodes that help to connect the five acts together. Furthermore, if you’re so inclined you could jump through the acts in whichever order you prefer. Each act could be completed in about an hour depending on how fast you read. I found the interstitial episodes a nice way to tee up each act.
The last accolade that needs to be acknowledged is the sound design. The music, ambiance, and sound effects play a major part of bringing the world to life. At one point you park your truck in front of a mysterious government building while a construction light clicks on and off. It goes such a long way to include the rhythmic “clicking” of the sign and bring a feeling of dread and curiosity.
By now you have probably heard of Kentucky: Route Zero. However, if you are like me and wait for a complete package with episodic games, this is as close to a definitive edition as you’ll get. The story and experience were well worth the wait. Furthermore, the inclusion of interstitial episodes helps round out the background if you’re hungry for more. If you’ve held off on jumping on that dark highway of Route Zero, then there is an old dog with a straw hat waiting to go for a ride.
