![]() First of all, it rewards taking a slow pace and deliberately wandering. There is no wrong way to travel down “Route Zero,” but some paths through the game have felt more right than others. What arises instead is a complex, open-ended parable about loss and renewal that’s sure to linger long after the credits roll. If “Route Zero” were a conventional video game, Act 5 would consist of a rescue mission, a daring assault on the power company’s central stronghold, maybe a confrontation with the big bad boss. (In a Foucauldian twist, they’re in the business of literally snatching bodies and distilling spirits.) When the monopoly’s rigged game of debt and indenture swallows up a central character, the next scene is a mundane yet shattering tableau in which footsteps seem to echo too loudly, evoking the surreal unreality of grief. Several of those impossible situations along “Route Zero” arise through the doings of the Consolidated Power Company and its associated whiskey distillery, which appear in asides and quick name-drops until the terrifying extent of their reach is revealed in full in Act 3. ”It’s not like writing a tragedy about life in America now because life in America is a lost cause, it’s just an impossible situation that we still have to overcome somehow.” “I think in a tragedy, a lot of sad and negative things happen, but it’s not pessimistic,” Elliott expanded. The description on the box says it’s a tragedy,” one character hints near the beginning - talking about a convoluted board game in-universe, but hinting at the eventual conclusion of the game since 2013. Though they did leave room for changes and expansion, they hewed close to the path they’d set for themselves. “ trying to bring up these recurring patterns of exploitation and greed.”įrom the start, the Cardboard Computer team was planning for the end. “There’s all these different time periods happening at once,” Elliott continued, pointing out references to the 1930s and 1970s. It helps that time and geography operate on the logic of a lucid dream, albeit one with many twists that markedly resemble various American nightmares. “There’s some stuff specifically about the current moment, with hostility to immigrants and other kinds of racism being much more on the surface.” “We definitely have been responding to what’s been going on in the world,” Elliott said. Just as the plot is reflected in abstract via the old bluegrass hymns that float through the soundtrack once per act, many aspects of the game channel Cardboard Computer’s staunch anti-capitalist bent. Cardboard Computer (custom credit)/Courtesy Cardboard Computer Unlike in many video games, the player’s decisions don’t direct the actual plot of “Route Zero.” Player choice shapes individual experiences of a character more than outcomes. It’s not a surprise that so much coverage of the game includes personal stories related to its themes debt, fear, loneliness, the kindness of strangers, medical problems that start small but slowly consume your entire life and bank account. ![]() The story opens up with Conway at the center, but the focus quickly shifts and widens, beckoning players into a resonant world that invites them to lean in to empathy. Player choice shapes individual experiences of a character more than outcomes. Kemenczy’s art omits facial expressions, so those are up to us to imagine. For example, in one character’s first appearance, players direct the tone of a one-sided phone conversation - the character can be solicitous or stoic, tender or hardened. Unlike in many video games, the player’s decisions don’t direct the actual plot of “Route Zero.” Sometimes it feels more like an interactive play than a video game, with emphasis on the word “play.” However, the dialogue options allow players to detail between the lines. “I feel like I’m in a different world than I was at in terms of how I think about what I do and the tools that are available to me,” said Babbitt, who collected field recordings for “Route Zero” while touring the world with various bands. Babbitt’s atmospheric soundtrack and vivid sonic environments tighten up and branch out from a strong start - it’s frankly astounding from someone who never did sound design prior to this project. From act to act, Kemenczy’s flat vector designs increase in complexity and sophistication. ![]() The trio’s growth makes itself known as the story unfolds.
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