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Kentucky Route Zero

  • Video Game
  • 2013
  • T
IMDb RATING
7.2/10
223
YOUR RATING
Kentucky Route Zero (2013)
Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition: Nintendo Switch Launch Trailer
Play trailer1:32
3 Videos
11 Photos
AdventureMystery

A magical realist adventure game about a secret highway in the caves beneath Kentucky, and the mysterious folks who travel it.A magical realist adventure game about a secret highway in the caves beneath Kentucky, and the mysterious folks who travel it.A magical realist adventure game about a secret highway in the caves beneath Kentucky, and the mysterious folks who travel it.

  • Writers
    • Jake Elliott
    • Tamas Kemenczy
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.2/10
    223
    YOUR RATING
    • Writers
      • Jake Elliott
      • Tamas Kemenczy
    • 2User reviews
    • 2Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Won 1 BAFTA Award
      • 2 wins & 5 nominations total

    Videos3

    Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition: Nintendo Switch Launch Trailer
    Trailer 1:32
    Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition: Nintendo Switch Launch Trailer
    Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition: PS4 Launch Trailer
    Trailer 1:31
    Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition: PS4 Launch Trailer
    Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition: PS4 Launch Trailer
    Trailer 1:31
    Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition: PS4 Launch Trailer
    Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition: PS4 Announcement Trailer
    Trailer 1:06
    Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition: PS4 Announcement Trailer

    Photos10

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    User reviews2

    7.2223
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    Featured reviews

    8ajneeago96

    4 Stars out of 5 Stars

    Recently, the more Ive been playing video games, the more I've been branching off in genres I usually wouldn't of touched say a year ago. Now that I've been a "gamer", treasures like this have been taking up my sweet sweet time, and honestly, no complaints here.

    This game is a trip. Not so much trippy as in mind boggling visuals and drug-inducing scenes, but the entire game feels like a strange dream where certain logic just doesn't make entire sense, kind of like how dreams may seem very real except gaps in logic. You play as a bunch of people in this game, most notably a man named Conway who's mission is to deliver a package in a mysterious highway called Route Zero. Also another notable character you play as is a girl named Shannon, who's character you find in a mine. There plenty other characters, including a kid named Ezra who becomes a big part of the story. Really, the journey of the game is very artsy, especially these prelude episodes set after each act. Sometimes the narrative changes completely and you might become a little confused in some parts, as I definitely was, but in the end, it all comes together.

    Look, I'll be lying if I said I understood every part of this game. I still don't understand the significance of the news station, or some aspects of act 5 (and it's prelude) but that's this game. It's a fever dream; maybe it does make sense, maybe it doesn't.

    After completing the game, I decided to wait a couple days until Tuesday to get the last 2 achievements (replay act 4, and win the claw machine on a Tuesday). Replaying act 4, I found that if you stay on the boat instead of going to shore each stop as your boat goes down the Echo, you basically get an entire new level, which was fun, and bridged some gaps in the story.

    In all, I had a great time with this. With 23+ hours put in my playthrough, the game does take its time with you, but if you stick with it, you will get a fever dream worth discovering. Recommended.
    8cpb-54589

    summer night

    Its impressive to see artists who can communicate so much with so little, and this production is a masterclass in such communication, with little emphasis on 'gameifying' it. If anything, the gameplay elements were a distraction to the art, and I'd rather they dropped it and played to their strengths.

    Story can be deeply affecting for many reasons, from nostalgia, to mortality, to small-town angst, to 'cracking the code'. The way the protagonist's hurt body parts glow skeletal is something any older player will relate-to, as well as how he insists "it's OK", while limping in pain. Clearly he's doomed, but must see his increasingly surreal quest to its conclusion.

    Characters were silent, allowing the player to fill the gaps with their own imagination, led by certain visual cues: a posture, s hairstyle, a type of prop... Doing more with less to great effect.

    The story does disappear up its own posterior towards the end, but I haven't played a game with a great 'final act' in ages. Once a game hits the chickenscratch end of the horse there's no shame in reciprocating with proportional effort.

    Music was highly memorable, and perfectly complemented the visuals.

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    Related interests

    Still frame
    Adventure
    Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway in Chinatown (1974)
    Mystery

    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      During Act III, Conway meets a character named Roberta, who says: "The kingdom is in danger", also naming three artifacts that can save that kingdom (a mirror, a shield and a box). This is a tribute to Roberta Williams, creator of the King's Quest series. In particular, she refers to the kingdom of Daventry that was in danger due to the disappearance of those three artifacts, so King Edward send Sir Graham to search for them in King's Quest: Quest for the Crown (1984).
    • Connections
      Referenced in The Stanley Parable (2013)

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • January 7, 2013 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Kentucky Route Zero: PC Edition
    • Production company
      • Cardboard Computer
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

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    • Color
      • Color

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