Road 96: Mile 0 Reviews
Road 96: Mile 0 is a linear story of Romero and Juliette aimed primarily at fans of the original who miss the iconic characters.
Review in Russian | Read full review
The wishful beginnings to Road 96 quickly veer off-course due to clumsy gameplay, weak writing, inconsistent production values, and transparently purposeless direction.
Road 96: Mile 0 will appeal to those who enjoyed the previous chapter. Instead of taking up the formula in its entirety, Mile 0 introduces a variation in the form of musical sections. The combination works conveying anxieties and concerns of the teenage protagonists. From a technical standpoint, the game is a bit backward, but it does feel acceptable.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Mile 0 not only fails to improve on Road 96, but also fails to meet the same standards, and if you are not already in love with Road 96's world, you are better off skipping Mile 0 and spending your time and money elsewhere.
Review in Persian | Read full review
Road 96: Mile 0 is a cool experience that returning players will enjoy, though it does lack the impact and intrigue of its predecessor. It’s not that there’s anything bad at all, but rather that the story feels more predictable and linear than the adventure you embark on in the previous game. It does deserve praise for the exciting psychedelic ride sequences whilst the world itself is a treat to explore, but I’d be lying if I said that Road 96: Mile 0 lived up to the high standards of the first game.
Road 96: Mile 0 left me underwhelmed. It failed to capture the charm and humour that was present in the original. The dialogue options just pushed the morality and never truly felt like real conversations. The skating mini-game, whilst providing some of the better graphics, just felt like content filler
In the end, Road 96: Mile 0 doesn't quite pull together everything to create something that reaches the heights of the original title. The first-person exploration portions are flawed but fine, while the auto-runner sequences can be unfair but ultimately get a pass thanks to a skip feature. It is the uneven tone, characters, and story that sink the game, as it plays more to caricature and wild logic leaps rather than the original's more thought-out approach. The low asking price might be tempting for those looking for more from the world of Road 96, but ultimately, we were probably better off waiting for Digixart to create a brand-new project in a brand-new world.
Road 96: Mile 0 is an offbeat, short trip that doesn’t overstay its welcome. While some of the rhythm mechanics are a little too unforgiving, practice makes perfect and it is easy to retry any song you’ve beaten before from the main menu. There’s even some replayability in trying to unlock all of the different endings. While it may be chock-full of awkward animations and voice acting, Road 96: Mile 0 has a certain charm to it that may leave you wanting to continue the story when the credits roll.
While featuring some great elements and features, Road 96: Mile 0 fails to flesh them out enough to make the game truly great. However, despite this, it still offers players an enjoyable experience.
Road 96: Mile 0 wasn’t a very long game at all but I mostly enjoyed what I played. As I said it’s a prequel so I know there are things that I would have appreciated more had I played the original; that being said those fans looking forward to this will find a decently developed game. No real bugs are issues other than the juggling of the tone of the game, the rollercoaster ride of emotions wasn’t necessary in my opinion.
Road 96: Mile 0, sadly, isn’t an essential attraction compared to Road 96‘s gameplay loop and characterization. Sadly, the charm that made the original game stand out is gone, and we’re left with an overdone story that dampens the allure of the original game.
Overall, Mile 0 just isn't as strong as its predecessor. It somehow feels both like there were too many and not enough changes made to the formula. Maintaining the dialogue options made the story feel diluted and weak, but abandoning the setting of the open road loses a key part of the game's identity. It's a hard spot to be in. This isn't to say that Mile 0 is a failure, just that it doesn't manage to improve on the shortcomings of the original or capture what made it work in the first place. The music is still very good and the characters interesting, but letting the player control their actions removes any potential agency and kills what could have been a great story.
So after all that… is it worth it? Well it is a decent price and no doubt will go on special from time to time. If you were hoping for more of the first games dynamics and fun… you may well be disappointed here, but if you simply want to know a bit more about some of the characters from before the events in Road 96… then it could be worth grabbing a copy. At the very least I'd suggest waiting for a sale because even at the low price… there are just too many elements of the game that are disappointing. A halfhearted recommendation at best I'm afraid.
Road 96: Mile 0 certainly takes risks - both in narrative and gameplay - but unfortunately it does not pay off. The trippy skating segments are amusing, but are probably not what traditional adventure fans wanted from this prequel.
Road 96: Mile 0 is a smaller, different experience than Road 96. While the game’s story helps fill in some blanks and provide some context for Zoe’s journey in the first game, the gameplay style mash-up between branching narrative and linear/on-rails gameplay leaves the experience lacking just a bit.
Mile 0 is the prequel to Road 96, a highly valued indie game. Sadly, this prequel cannot live up to the expectations. The choose your adventure mechanic doesn't work if the final result is already known, the game is short and marred with technical errors. Also, the game seems designed for mouse and keyboard with controller support added as an afterthought. Sadly, we cannot recommend this game in its current form.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
I enjoy this world, and returning for one more adventure was a short but worthwhile adventure. However, if I play another game with any of these characters next, it better be post-Road 96.
Even with the brief runtime, Road 96: Mile 0 ends just as the narrative becomes interesting, making it difficult to care about what does occur. These are issues that could have been potentially fixed with slight tweaks to the story, but there is enough that works to inspire some curiosity as to how the overall narrative can be expanded in a theoretical sequel. There are reasons to go back and do multiple playthroughs if one wishes to see all potential outcomes, but that can only be recommended for someone who already has an attachment to the characters and would like to spend more time with them.
This prequel ironically feels smaller in scope and ambition than the first game in the series. Road 96 Mile 0 suffers from similar issues when it comes to relying too much on clichés of an evil regime. Some of the choices put before players are downright insulting and boil down to whether we think oppression is "okay" or not. Despite its flaws, it offers some really interesting character moments in the last third and offers some world building that was missing from the original Road 96. Newcomers find a good entry point here, while returning players will find some innovations gone, while other things like the environments have been largely improved.
Review in German | Read full review
A surprising prequel that does interesting stuff with rhythm-action and fun for fans of Road 96.