QCF: Kentucky Route Zero: Act 3

or almost eleven months, I had assumed that the fine people at Cardboard Computer must have been lost on the Zero. It’s understandable, of course seeing as how eerie and mysterious that route can be. However that also meant that the status of the third Act was also unknown. That is, until recently when the game was updated, and the adventures of Conway and his group of mismatched travelers continued.

It required some research and replaying of the first two Acts to catch back up, but now we have come to the halfway point in this tale. I can say confidentially that the story has taken sharp turns along the drive, where a fallen tree and a run-down tavern opens up to some of the most beautiful and serene moments in any video game and the tale remains to be as bizarre and surreal as it is familiar and warm.

Click to read more ...

QCF: Kentucky Route Zero: Act 2

fter several months of waiting, we finally return to Kentucky Route Zero only to find that things are more bizarre than what they seemed. At the end of the first episode, as Conway and Shannon stare off into what must be Route Zero I imagined that the many questions I was left with would have some form of an answer after I hit the road. As I know now at the conclusion of Act 2, the answers will not come as easy, and that dealing with the questions is what makes this experience unlike any games on the PC right now.

Click to read more ...

QCF: Kentucky Route Zero: Act 1

fter watching the initial trailer for Kentucky Route Zero back in its infancy, I thought that the overall design was interesting, and according to its Kickstarter page would be “a magic realist adventure game”. Fast forward almost two years later and what Kentucky Route Zero has become is something far more than what I could have imagined. A meaningful presentation that keeps the narrative in the forefront, and a game that plays out like an eerie adult pop-up book. Interactive narrative may seem like a buzz word seen too often in the games industry in the last few years, but trust me when I say that Jake Elliott and Tamas Kemenczy of Cardboard Computer are doing exactly that. The result of which is some of the finest storytelling in gaming so far.

Click to read more ...