An unconventional adventure game that is deeply aware of the history of adventure games. Kentucky Route Zero is a multifaceted American story shaped by deep concerns about debt, capitalism and the collapse of society. It’s also a rollicking road trip tale about an unlikely group of traveling companions who find themselves on quite the adventure and learn that a better world is possible if we learn to break old habits.
Originally published in acts spanning the better part of a decade, Kentucky Route Zero‘s’ release schedule tested my patience, but its long duration also made it more meaningful as it seemed to comment in near real time on the rifts in our society that were becoming increasingly apparent as the 2010s progressed. Kentucky Route Zero is a great American epic that defies characterization and certainly cannot be adequately summed up in a slideshow blurb. There are too many moments of lyrical beauty, wondrous strangeness, despair and hope, loss and renewal.
But when I think of America and all the complex, contradictory feelings I have for this country, and the simultaneous admiration and fear it inspires in me, this is certainly the game that expresses all of that most deeply and truly brings. Kentucky Route Zero knows that this country exploits and dehumanizes so many of us, uses us and casts us aside. She also knows that it is worth working together to realize the ideal of promise and equality that is at the core of what this nation stands for, and she dares to imagine in her own way what that might look like. It’s an American masterpiece. – Carolyn Petit
What games do you think gave insights, intentionally or unintentionally? about the American experience? Let us know in the comments!
