Analysis of Route 96 – Highway to Hell

Embark on an adventure to escape a totalitarian country.

It takes a lot of nerve to announce that your latest game is inspired by the cinematic works of guys like Quentin Tarantino, the Coen brothers and Bong Joon-ho. We know that this type of “bravado” opens the door to a lot of hateful comparisons and is practically like saying your product it will be nothing less than a masterpiece. However, there are a few developers who can pull this off, and DigixArt might be one of them, having proven their storytelling abilities with games like Valiant Hearts and 11-11: Memories Retold (both reviewed in xbox community). But his new first-person adventure game, Highway 96led them to leave the trenches of the First World War to Third World desert landscapes in an alternate version from 1996.

Route 96 plot is weirdbut intriguing. We are facing a road trip in which everything is procedurally generated through the fictional country of Petria in the 1990s (based entirely on the USA), in which you play as a teenager who try to cross the border. With thousands of possible routes to take and a colorful cast of characters

with whom to interact, no two journeys will ever be the same. It’s an ambitious concept that somehow the game more than delivers. Road 96 is a game with a great narrative load in which the characters and the dialogues are the points that shine the most. Thus, we will control a mute protagonist who interacts with others and whose decisions affect the world change the outcome of your story.

We start from one of the many possible starting points, thousands of miles from the border of Petria that each character wants to cross. To do this, we will interact as we say with the many characters, places and scenarios of the game, convince people to take you, explore different areas and live in the first person a few memorable scenes.

The most intriguing thing is that most of the time it doesn’t take long to get to the border. and I hope to cross it. Probably just a few hours, less if you hurry. If you choose to continue, you return to the start, but from a very different point thousands of miles from the border. We have to start over but you meet some familiar faces along the way.

However, while your characters reset, the timeline does not, and you often find that the consequences of your previous actions carry over to the next game, where your new character can now interact with this legacy world. Although not everything we do has an impact, each game contains a lot of shocking moments which have far-reaching consequences in both this game and the next. It’s amazing to see the outcome of different elections but from the other side or to see exactly how certain characters react.

There are also rewards for returning to Petria and collectibles to discover. In the following games you can find upgrades that give you an edge in aspects such as lock picking, social skills, and even the odds of dice rolls, which determine the outcome of various chance-based encounters. Even though there are many different areas to explore and discoverthe added value of additional capabilities means that as you rediscover familiar places, you’ll have new tools to explore all the rooms and all the possibilities.

The characters of Road 96 are one of the best points of the title, since each of them explained very well and carried out motivations in conformity with his thought. The political landscape of this fictional country is especially interesting when fully explored and to witness and influence some really important eventsas well as delving into the past of many of the characters encountered.

Although Petria is a fictional place, there is a deep american influence in all aspects of Route 96. The muted blue and blue color scheme recalls the work of the coen brothers

, as well as places that come to life, like country restaurants and trailer parks in the middle of nowhere. Additionally, most events in the game result in some crucial political elections and most of the character’s motivations revolve around them.

One of the most negative aspects of Road 96 is undoubtedly its technical part, with character designs pulled from a game a generation or two earlier, stiff animations, and the occasional glitchy texture. The title is fully optimized for Xbox series X|S, although it wasn’t, as we didn’t notice much improvement. It is true that this is compensated by a very good artistic section, especially with regard to the scenarios and the great variety of these. Also mention the great overall audio design and soundtrack. It’s a very cinematic experience and the developers have gone to great lengths to make it feel like one. The game has good English dubbing (subtitles in perfect Spanish) and a truly wonderful soundtrack that gives us that road trip feel of the title.

Ultimately, Road 96 is an ambitious game that, somehow manages to deliver on its promise with a well-told story, brilliantly told from many different angles, and its unique procedural approach. The fantastic characters that are introduced and the abilities to unlock always make you want to come back to play once more after finishing your first game in about a few minutes. 6-8 hours.