Road 96: Mile 0

The team at Digixart has successfully added even more worthwhile storytelling to the world of Road 96, and we loved revisiting this series and learning more about Zoe's story. While Mile 0 is smaller in scope and lacking in the same levels of gameplay and narrative variety as Road 96, it's absolutely worth a playthrough - especially if you were into last year's game. This series has made us smile, laugh, and tear up all in equal measure and that isn't easy to pull off. Whichever way around you access both Road 96 and this prequel, make sure the series finds its way onto your 'games to play' li...

We cared deeply for both Kaito and Zoe throughout our time with Road 96: Mile 0, wanting to make the best choices for both of them. Their journey may be brief, but it’s filled with sincere moments, whether emotional, funny or tense – and it’s a story we simply couldn’t put down once we’d started. This is an excellent addition to Road 96, adding extra weight and context to the events of that game, but also standing strong on its own two feet, as a tale of two teenagers struggling to make sense of the complicated world around them. Once again, Digixart has created something wonderfully unique, a...

At just over five hours long with scope for additional playthroughs depending on whether you're sympathetic to Petrian regime, rebel against it or fall somewhere in-between, Road 96: Mile 0 belies its budget price with a surprisingly choice-stuffed narrative that doesn't match the broad calibre of Road 96 but is nonetheless still worth playing all the same.

A prequel to Road 96, that adds skating mini-games but removes the procedural generation of the original – but it’s still engagingly written, and has a lot to say.

Road 96: Mile 0 presents a predictable yet relatable tale about teens pushed to the brink under an oppressive system. The energetic soundtrack, quality voice acting, and comedic moments help balance the heavier themes and darker undertones of the story. The newly added Rides serve to amplify Mile 0’s catchy tunes while adding another means of gameplay interaction beyond dialogue choices and minigames. Despite its shortcomings, the prequel does a decent job at laying the narrative foundation for the events of Road 96 while introducing new gameplay mechanics that cater to a new audience of playe...

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 from DigixArt was one of last year’s biggest surprises for me. For a game centered around politics, it was far more intriguing than one would initially think. From displays of oppression, uprisings, and the people caught in the middle of it all, Road 96 was a game that I found endlessly fascinating. So much so that I’ve played it numerous times since its release, and it hits a little differently every time. As much I found myself enjoying it, I was never really expecting a sequel,...

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 th...

Rounding things off, Road 96: Mile 0 may be an interesting experience to anyone new to the universe but can hardly be classed as an essential play.  Mixing rhythm gaming sections into the standard walking simulator gameplay is somewhat jarring and frankly unnecessary.  It may have been a better idea to release a standalone title for rhythm fans than taint the gameplay style that had worked so well previously.  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.  If it comes to Game Pass it is...

Road 96: Mile 0 is a prequel following the original release of Road 96 in late 2021. The original game was essentially a road trip experience, working to travel to the border of the fictional country Petria and eventually escape. It was a game with a lot of heart and fun characters that sadly lost me with its heavy-handed political messaging. Mile 0 focuses on one of the main characters from Road 96, Zoe, and tells the story of how she eventually finds herself on the road alone.

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.