Highway 96: Mile 0 Overview (PS5)

Highway 96, the procedural hitchhiking sport, was a title with an fascinating presentation and a slew of excellent concepts. Developer DigixArt took that nice basis and spun issues off into Highway 96: Mile 0, a narrative-focused prequel that strips away the procedural components, changing them with rhythm gameplay.

The world introduced in Highway 96 is an fascinating, albeit depressingly prescient one. Residing below the thumb of President Tyrak, you play the twin position of greatest buddies Zoe, a personality from Highway 96, and Kaito, a personality in Misplaced In Concord (additionally from DigixArt) as they fantasise about operating away collectively from the nation of Petria. Coming from wildly totally different upbringings, the chums have a stable bond, and their relationship is much and away the strongest part of the title, although they’ve their share of disagreements.

Gameplay is introduced uniquely, largely functioning like a Telltale sport, morality system and all. You observe the surroundings and speak to individuals, normal stuff. However periodically, the sport interjects some infinite runner rhythm segments. The environmental design on these ranges is inventive, providing some standout visuals, they usually all really feel distinctive whereas making use of some killer licensed music. Nevertheless, it additionally shines a lightweight straight on the largest difficulty plaguing the sport: tonal incongruity.

Whereas the musical sequences are introduced as a type of escapism from the rigours of existence for Zoe and Kaito, the script does a poor job of inserting a buffer between the enjoyable of those ranges and the extra sobering narrative components all through the remainder of the story. Whereas it is one factor to debate Zoe witnessing a terrorist assault in her youth, it is one other to current it as a enjoyable musical set-piece.

The script itself does not strike steadiness both, usually transitioning from topics reminiscent of a rumination on class inequality straight right into a slapstick comedy sketch earlier than interjecting a information bulletin about an impending pure catastrophe. It is, to place it mildly, a multitude. And this occurs time and again all through the 4-5 hours required to finish the sport. Whereas pitch-black comedy can work, the writing in Mile 0 is awkward sufficient that it feels unintended slightly than intentionally irreverent. What you are left with is a enjoyable rhythm sport surrounded by a plethora of questionable writing selections.