After The Walking Dead, when somebody says ‘point-and-click adventure game released episodically over five instalments’, there’s bound to be some undead-themed excitement brewing. As fantastic as the aforementioned game was, put zombies and horrific decisions to the back of your mind because aside from the format and genre, Kentucky Route Zero and The Walking Dead have seemingly little to nothing in common. Instead, get up at the wheel with a flask of milky tea and enjoy Kentucky Route Zero and my review of Act I.

We begin our peculiar adventure with our protagonist Conway, a truck-driver for an antiques shop, and a mangy dog called Blue or Homer (it’s your preference. I chose Blue) approaching an old man at a gas station. From there we learn that our truck driving friend has an important delivery to make, but with no idea where the address he has to deliver to is, and with only the confusing and seemingly unstable characters around him for direction, it doesn’t look hopeful.

Kentucky Route Zero is steeped in surrealism, which leads to the first act being alluringly disorientating.  Through-out the first hour I spent with Conway and Blue I came across four ghosts/hallucinations apparently playing a table-top game based around anxieties, I came across a decorative graveyard and last but not least, I came across an artificial limb factory. The sheer unpredictability of what is to come next in this bleak and bizarre world is probably enough on its own to keep players hooked. It manages to be spontaneous and unnerving in its imagery without being ‘random’, if you know what I mean. Even though the things Conway comes across seem strange and out-of-place, there’s a very strong feeling that everything is symbolic, and that when the plot develops in the following acts, everything might start to make sense.

What my previous point was hinting at is that Kentucky Route Zero is beautifully written. It’s rare that you find such eloquence in a game, because usually there’s only so many ways you can describe a headshot. Almost every line of dialogue is ambiguous and emotive. Everything feels loosely connected yet tightly bound; for example, in one conversation, I began controlling the dialogue choices of a character called Shannon, and then almost with noticing it, I was choosing Conway’s dialogue instead. Even with this shift in control, it all seemed to run smoothly. Also, there were several occasions where I was forced to choose dialogue options when I had no idea of the truth. For example, an NPC asked a question along the lines of ‘were you (Conway) allowed to watch TV as a child?’, and I had to choose an answer, even though I was given no indication as to what the correct answer was. It lends a strange progression to the story, because as we trundle along in Conway’s truck towards our destination, his past is being decided by us to an extent as well.

When it comes to gameplay, there really isn’t too much to comment on. In terms of puzzles, Act I was practically barren. There was a sum total of about three puzzles in the entire section, and each of those was solved without any amount of effort; for example, somebody needs the power turned on so go and turn the power on. Perhaps in the later acts the puzzles will gain some teeth, but if the alternative is to have the kind of puzzles that gave adventure gamers nightmares in which they had to combine a fishing rod with a yellow sock to disguise themselves as a giraffe so they could sneak into a zoo, then I’d prefer no puzzles at all. Apart from puzzles, the gameplay revolves around talking to people and getting directions, then following those directions by driving along the roads in your truck, then exploring whatever you find. It might not sound like much, but with such interesting characters and spellbinding writing, it’s enough.

Obviously being an indie game, you’d be a fool if you expected to find the kind of graphics you’d find on a triple AAA game’s loading screen, but like all great indie games, Kentucky Route Zero makes up for its limitations with charming, murky visuals. Limbo-ish in their execution, the visuals mostly consist of greys and blacks. The game manages to feel moody and bleak whilst also being exciting and appealing, and despite the fact that the only environments I saw much of through-out the first act were a petrol station, a country house and a mine, I’m still exciting to play the upcoming acts to see where Conway will find himself next.

With Act I, you’d expect that the top of the developer’s list of priorities would be to set the scene, establish the characters and familiarise the players with the games core mechanics, and despite the fact that I know little about the plot or the characters with only a vague idea of the goal of Conway’s journey, I’d say it’s a complete success. It’s a success in the sense that I’m chomping at the bit to find out more. Although the actual gameplay might sound a bit lacking, it forms a sound enough vessel to carry the budding story, which promises surreal occurrences in every dusty corner.

 

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