Games worth discovering

What if Life is Strange had skateboarding levels? - Road 96: Mile 0 Quick Review

2K View2023-04-05

PLAY IT OR SKIP IT?

Play it, but don’t expect a traditional adventure game. While Road 96: Mile 0 mostly consists of story and exploration-driven gameplay, it also has skating challenges! The game’s teen protagonists can’t always say what they’re feeling through words, so they occasionally express themselves through surreal musical skating levels. This combination might sound strange, but it works surprisingly well. Mile 0 is a prequel to another adventure game, Road 96, but newcomers should be able to jump into this title with ease.

TIME PLAYED

I played Road 96: Mile 0 for around six and a half hours, which gave me more than enough time to finish the main story. There’s no way to create manual saves or replay specific parts of the story in Mile 0, so I had to start over from the beginning once I was done. However, I was able to replay all of the skating levels I’d completed, and all of the collectibles I’d unlocked, like stickers and cassette tapes, were available in my new file.

WHAT’S AWESOME

• Surreal skating challenges. The skating levels in Road 96: Mile 0 caught me off guard at first, but they wound up being one of the highlights of my playthrough. While every challenge had me skateboard or rollerblade through obstacles and rack up points, the levels are pretty varied. At one point, I skated up a skyscraper and evaded attacks from a giant bodyguard while “No Brakes” by The Offspring played in the background. The skating controls are solid, and I would have been happy to spend more time on wheels.

• Character-driven story. Road 96: Mile 0’s world is filled with political turmoil, but the story it tells is far more personal. Mile 0 focuses on the unlikely friendship between Zoe, the daughter of a politician, and Kaito, a kid from a poor family that has revolutionary ties. There are some dramatic scenes, and even a few creepy moments, but a good chunk of the game is just two teens hanging out. I was able to watch the story unfold through the eyes of the character, which made things feel a little more real.

• Slice-of-life gameplay. When I wasn’t busy skating or pulling off heists, Road 96: Mile 0 kept me occupied with all kinds of goofy activities. Not only did I get to play mini-games with other characters, like Connect 4 and Truth or Dare, but I had the chance to decorate my hideout and spray paint a terrifying blue hedgehog on the wall. These little moments added more variety to the game and made the friendship between the main characters feel more real.

• Nuanced choices. I like when games give me choices, but I’m often frustrated by the options that I’m given. Sometimes it feels like my decisions have no impact, or that a character is jumping between two extremes. I had varied choices in Road 96: Mile 0, and my options always felt true to the characters. There were a few points where I was locked out of certain choices because of my past decisions, which I appreciated.

WHAT SUCKS

• Limited replay options. After I beat Road 96: Mile 0, I wanted to go back and see what would happen if I made different choices, but my only option was to start over from the beginning. While part of me appreciates that the choices you make are final, I was still disappointed that I couldn’t replay specific sections of the game. I’ll probably do another playthrough at some point, but for now, I’ll stick with the ending I got.

• Inconclusive ending. Road 96: Mile 0 doesn’t end on a cliff-hanger, but there are several plot points that aren’t wrapped up. The game is a prequel, so the lack of resolution makes sense, but the ending I got was a little unsatisfying. It looks like the original Road 96 picks up where Mile 0 leaves off, so I might play through that game to get a few more answers.

💬 Do you want to skate through the world of Road 96: Mile 0, or will you be leaving your wheels at home? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Mentioned games