Official PlayStation Magazine - 04.2020

085

REVIEW

INFO
FORMATPS4
ETAOUTNOW
PUBANNAPURNA
INTERACTIVE
DEVCARDBOARD
COMPUTER

KENTUCKY ROUTE ZERO:

TV EDITION

I should be so Kentucky

W

ith the TV edition, Kentucky Route

Zero, originally released on PC in

instalments over seven years, makes

its way to PS4 as a package with

some quality-of-life enhancements. Through

five chapters and as many interludes, you piece

together stories past and present surrounding

the mysterious Zero, a motorway leading to a

world below the US state of Kentucky.

You begin the story as Conway, a truck driver out

on a delivery for an antiques shop. What begins

as a routine search for his destination steadily

becomes the journey of several people, as Conway

loses his way and is inundated with requests and

issues leading to ever-increasing detours.

Ostensibly a point-and-click adventure, most

of Kentucky Route Zero’s interactivity is in its

dialogue choices. Throughout the game you

not only take control of Conway, but also his

companions, such as Shannon, an electrician he

meets in a mine, or Junebug and Johnny, a pair

of android musicians, by choosing what they ask

or respond with, or even who gets to speak at all.

Sometimes characters switch mid-conversation.

This flexibility leads to some standout scenes:

in one you direct Conway via the interjections

of several of his friends as he plays a hypertext

adventure game; another sees you choosing the

lyrics to a song during a performance. By chapter

IV there are so many different

points of view available it’s

worth playing the section

twice in order to find out what

everyone is up to.

HYPERTEXT DRIFTER

KRZ experiments with text, but

also with its stark, memorable

visuals. The occasional traversal

takes place on a map that is

rarely more than a few white

lines on black background, but

each of your destinations is

framed from striking camera

angles. Visual techniques range

from cutting a forest up in

vertical slices to a cave that

slowly unfolds before you as

you walk through it. Contrasts

between shadow and light and

a sparse soundscape often

result in a slightly unsettling

atmosphere that draws you in

just as much as the enigmas

you encounter on the Zero.

At its core, however, the

game brings people together

through relatable subjects such

as loss, economic downturn,

and the corporate greed that

often goes with it. Instead

of dipping into the corporate

satire so frequent in games,

KRZ focuses on the affected

through beautiful, meandering

prose, often held together by

little more than anecdotes.

The weird and magical, such

as people living in a museum

exhibit, or an office floor full

of bears, feels normal here,

not sinister in the way it does

in – for example – Remedy’s

Control. For long stretches the

very loose plot is as dark as the

game’s colour palette, but the

fifth chapter is more colourful

and ambitious in scope than

its predecessors. It really feels

like coming up after a long

timeunderground.

HARD TIMES SERVED @yourkyotowife

VERDICT

Kentucky Route Zero

feels like it looks, full of

sharp angles and dim,

melancholy colours.

Crams philosophical discourse,

art, architecture, and magical

realism into the story of one

drifter, resulting in a unique

experience that will leave you

thoughtful. Malindy Hetfeld