Road 96 Review – I Would Walk 500 Miles

Petria, the fictional nation on the middle of Road 96, is in tough form. Throughout 1996, the nation is gripped by political turmoil–now, a moderate-leaning candidate is threatening the long-standing regime of a totalitarian dictator whereas a rising resistance threatens to ship the nation’s youth boiling over and right into a full-on revolution. Add to {that a} rising variety of youngsters searching for life exterior of the nation’s walled borders and you have a recipe for potential catastrophe on election day. This is what every of Road 96’s procedural journeys delicately construct in the direction of with some robust character writing and entertaining gameplay vignettes, even when the central battle is just too reductive with its general messaging.Each episode of Road 96 places you in charge of a faceless and anonymous teenager–one of many trying to escape Petria by making the damaging journey to its border and trying to recover from its oppressive wall. You’re given the selection between three teenagers earlier than a run, every with completely different beginning attributes that dictate how a lot money you initially have readily available, your general vitality, and your distance from the border. The first two are an important to think about as money can open quite a few interactions all through the run–such as buying meals, bribing cops, or paying off smugglers–while vitality governs whether or not you are in a position to proceed a run in any respect or not. If your vitality reaches zero, you move out on the facet of the highway and await arrest, sending your teen to a labor camp and ending your run instantly. You replenish vitality by resting or shopping for meals, whereas finishing small odd jobs or simply scavenging for cash, so discovering a steadiness between the 2 is essential to a profitable run.Gallery Each run is segmented into quick vignettes which happen in quite a few areas, corresponding to trailer parks, truck stops, or inside a automobile you’ve got determined to hitchhike in. The point-and-click nature of the gameplay makes every one comparatively breezy to get via, letting you give attention to the conversations with characters. You choose responses in conversations utilizing the sport’s first-person view, which is not all the time essentially the most elegant method to decide on the choice you need when a personality you are replying to is shifting a bit erratically. Choosing the tone of your response–whether it is in help of the violent actions of the resistance or aligned extra with the necessity for folks to vote for the opposition, for example–has a direct affect on how lengthy these vignettes can final relying on which characters are current, and, in some excessive circumstances, can finish a run prematurely if you conflict with somebody harmful. It signifies that selecting your phrases must be extra measured than simply selecting no matter aligns with the function you are selecting to play within the general story, so every interplay has an acceptable sense of pressure.Outside of dialogue, quick minigames are peppered into every vignette which do a very good job of breaking apart the monotony of conversations. Many of those are entertaining distractions, corresponding to extremely participating video games of air hockey, quick and chaotic site visitors dodging sequences, and straight-forward environmental puzzles that may be solved with a nail gun that has a satisfying kickback to every shot. These do repeat if you begin closing in on the later phases of the sport, however contemplating every one is short-lived and equally enjoyable, they by no means put on out their welcome.The most vital interplay in every vignette takes place between your self and Road 96’s core supporting characters, whose tales are deeply intertwined with each the historical past of Petria and its future. Although you solely work together with every of those characters one by one, you may shortly begin placing collectively how the tales of a few of these characters intersect even if you’re not round. This creates a central narrative thread that is satisfying to piece collectively, even when every character is not essentially conscious of one another. Each character additionally options their very own musical theme that helps you determine when they’ll seem. Each monitor, accessible as a collectible cassette yow will discover world wide, is improbable, mixing in fantastically with the period-appropriate mixture of synthpop and southern rock.Choosing your phrases must be extra measured than simply selecting no matter aligns with the function you are selecting to play within the general storyThese character interactions are the place the crux of Road 96’s political story performs out, with every one having completely different opinions on the present state of the nation and, extra importantly, what the right plan of action for its future must be. A beefy truck driver that’s launched early as a core member of the resistance (and lovingly refers to you as youngblood throughout every run) works via emotions of guilt over a earlier failed revolution try and the next lack of life, whereas additionally attempting to mood the rising frustrations of the resistance group he leads. Sonya Sanchez, the sport’s tackle a bought-out journalist that advantages closely from the present regime, has an over-the-top vitality and lashes out at any suggestion that the present authorities is unhealthy whereas taking pleasure in duping her viewers.The overlap between every of those characters does create a few of Road 96’s greatest moments. One of essentially the most participating narratives revolved round three most important characters: the aforementioned truck driver, a genius 14-year-old programmer in search of his organic mother and father, and a cop that takes concern with the severity of the pressure they’re anticipated to make use of. While these three initially appear totally unrelated to at least one one other, you shortly get perception into conversations between the trio with out every one being conscious of who they’re speaking to on the time, letting you fill within the blanks with what they may really feel ought to they grow to be conscious of the connections. It builds a powerful emotional attachment–not solely to their particular person tales, however to the trio’s eventual destiny, which is dictated closely by the way you deal with every of your particular person interactions with them over the sport’s eight distinctive runs.Disappointingly, this is not the case throughout your entire solid of characters, nonetheless. Jarod, a homicidal taxi driver utilizing homicide to course of the lack of his daughter, has some whiplash-inducing modifications of character when the story necessitates it. He appears effective with burning you alive in a van throughout one run however shortly throws away his complete vendetta in opposition to one other character after eavesdropping on a dialog that’s meant to be heartfelt, which itself comes throughout as a wierd change of character from the individual having the dialog. It’s annoying to comply with these threads intently all through every run solely to have them conclude so poorly in some circumstances, however fortunately it is largely relegated to the least fascinating handful of characters. Those deeply tied to the general story of Petria have fulfilling payoffs, which does not totally make up for the missteps, however definitely softens the blow considerably.Gallery While the smaller tales of every of Road 96’s characters are largely charming to comply with, its general narrative is tougher to take severely. It by no means manages to get previous its surface-level observations and statements, which make it clear that the present dictator is simply evil for evil’s sake and that the opposing candidate adorned in blue advertising is the only reply to all of Petria’s issues. Road 96 expects you to simply settle for that Petria has a large portion of youngsters searching for to flee its borders, usually inspired by their mother and father, whereas additionally believing that almost all of its inhabitants continues to be set on preserving the present regime in energy when youngsters are being despatched to labor camps to work till demise. There’s no outlined demographic that’s being oppressed, which could account for the discrepancy, neither is there any rationalization as to why the federal government would go to nice lengths to stop youngsters from escaping simply to systematically incarcerate or kill them anyway. There’s a story disconnect that oversimplifies the political dynamic in a two-party construction whereas additionally dialing up the extremities of every get together to nonsensical levels. In flip, this makes it difficult to grow to be invested within the general conclusion to the story, which is much too neatly tied-up to go away an enduring impression.It’s a disgrace that Road 96’s nice character writing is caught inside such restrictive framing, even when lots of its most memorable dialogue sequences solely work provided that the premise has allowed for this assortment of personalities to intertwine. It doesn’t suggest that there is not any reward for seeing a few of them via, however when you’re hoping for an introspective have a look at the complexities of revolting in opposition to an oppressive regime, then Road 96 does not ship on that entrance. It is, nonetheless, an fulfilling point-and-click journey exterior of that, with a neat procedural twist that retains every of your escape makes an attempt entertaining, with dialogue decisions that really feel purposeful and entertaining minigames to maintain issues diversified.