Over the years, we have found that a game’s soundtrack can make or break a game. When it comes to games that revolve around music, a bad soundtrack can suck the soul out of a game; meanwhile, an amazing soundtrack can draw players into the action and cause them to lose track of time. At PAX East 2023, we met with Digixart to preview their now-released game, Road 96: Mile 0. For fans of the original Road 96, the prequel was released on April 4th, 2023, on PlayStation, Xbox, PC (Steam), and Nintendo Switch. Because of our time with the game, we awarded Road 96: Mile 0 a Writer’s Choice award.
So what made Road 96: Mile 0 special enough to earn a Writer’s Choice award? At PAX East 2023, Digixart had two levels for the player to complete. The open-world aspects of the game were not showcased. Instead, the developers decided to give players a chance to skate through the levels. The first level gave players the basics of the game while allowing them to skate to music by The Offspring. The second level was more of an intermediate difficulty and featured an in-house composition. The music and composition sucked us in and kept us focused on the action.
Changing Levels
While playing through the two demo levels, going from beginner to intermediate and then back to intermediate really threw us off. Knowing when to push the buttons based on visual cues felt a lot slower when going back; however, we were able to learn from our experiences and get better at the game. Visually, the levels are colorful and each prompt was clear for the player to see. The only time we failed was when we were trying to go for as many points as possible. If we only went for key points we would not die.
Takeaways
Looking back at our time with Road 96: Mile 0, we wish that there was more to play through. The two levels could easily be completed in 5 minutes making for a great short demo but revealing very little. For those who know nothing about it, you walk away having fun but know very little about the game’s story. Walking away from the booth, you have to research the game, the demo is only a teaser compared to what the full game has to offer.
The levels are well-designed and the continued movement keeps the players focused. The overall controls were easy to understand and make it easy for players to jump in and just play. Hopefully, we will have the opportunity to play more of Road 96: Mile 0 soon. It will be interesting to see how the story plays out and how it ties into the previous game.
Road 96: Mile 0 is now available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
