Road 96: Mile 0 Reviews
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 is a wildly disappointing follow-up to one of my favorite indie games of all time. Unless you love poor writing, acting, animation, dialogue, controls, and gameplay, pick another route.
A strictly-for-fans offering, Mile 0 offers up a disappointingly linear, middling prologue to Road 96.
Road 96 Mile 0 is a rather nice dive into the dystopian universe. The prequel suffers from its classical aspect and loses everything that made its predecessor so special and instead brings musical sections that are rather boring and imperfect on consoles. A game that nevertheless manages to shine at times thanks to its soundtrack, its pop atmosphere and its staging that is sometimes really impressive.
Review in French | Read full review
All in all, Road 96: Mile 0 feels like a missed opportunity. Rather than building on what the original game had done so well, it deviates to tell an uninspired story with a gameplay mechanic that just doesn’t really feel all that interesting to play. Road 96 fans will find something to like here, but don’t go in expecting an epic sequel. Even at just five-hours, it can feel like a bit of a drag to finish.
The script itself doesn't strike a good balance either, often transitioning from subjects such as a rumination on class inequality directly into a slapstick comedy sketch before interjecting a news bulletin about an impending natural disaster. It's, to put it mildly, a mess. And this happens over and over throughout the 4-5 hours required to complete the game. While pitch-black comedy can work, the writing in Mile 0 is awkward enough that it feels accidental rather than deliberately irreverent. What you're left with is a fun rhythm game surrounded by a plethora of questionable writing decisions.
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.
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 just felt like a waste of time, I got attached to these characters only to be left without a conclusion. There may be something in here for fans of Road 96, but I can’t say I would recommend it on its own.
I really hope that DigixArt can put their energy into creating a true sequel to Road 96 which returns to the incredibly rich narrative style which made the original game so much fun and satisfying. This prequel falls far short of the high bar they set previously.
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
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.
This game can easily be avoided without really missing out on anything, especially for fans of the original game for whom the narrative is already flawed. ...disappointingly, I cannot recommend buying it.
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 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 linear story of Romero and Juliette aimed primarily at fans of the original who miss the iconic characters.
Review in Russian | Read full review
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.
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.
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
The prequel to Road 96 introduced substantial gameplay changes, but not everything was for the better. The music rhythm challenges are decent and fun for the most part. However, the game lacks in its adventure format, especially due to the poor narrative and shallow characters.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review