When it comes to enchanting narrative adventures, the folks at Annapurna Interactive are almost guaranteed to pull on your heartstrings. They will have you laughing with tears, and gritting your teeth with tension, often all at the same time. Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition on Xbox is one of their masterpieces.
We absolutely adored it when it was released on Xbox in January 2020. And now, it’s been given the Xbox Series X|S upgrade treatment.
Return to Route Zero
Xbox Series X|S and PS5, to be more precise. As well as finding a home on Xbox One, PS4, PC and Switch over the years, this iteration of Kentucky Route Zero is a native current-gen version of the storytelling adventure. Expect visuals that are best in class, therefore, making this the best way to enjoy the five-part thriller on console.
But, what exactly is Kentucky Route Zero? Originally released in 2013, this ‘magical realist’ adventure game has received four more acts in the intervening years, concluding the story of a group of lost travellers. Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition brings all of these acts into one package. In fact, it is found taking us through a journey on the disorientating Route Zero. What happens when a musical robot duo, a child with a giant eagle for a pet, a TV mechanic and a delivery driver travel a secret highway, immersed deep beneath Kentucky? Well, that’s for you to find out!
Playing out as a number of point and click areas, all scored with a haunting electronic score, those looking for action and madness may not find it within Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition. Seek a compelling narrative experience, and ye shall find.
Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition on Xbox Series X is Now Available
Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition for Xbox Series X|S and PS5 is now optimised. There’s Xbox Smart Delivery in place too. Check it out via the Xbox Store, where you can grab a copy for £20.99.
Make sure to read through our full review of Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition on Xbox here. We’ll have some thoughts surrounding that Xbox Series X|S version soon too. For now, check out the trailer.
Game Description
At twilight in Kentucky, as bird songs give way to the choir of frogs and insects, familiar roads become strange, and it’s easy to get lost. Those who are already lost may find their way to a secret highway winding through underground caves. The people who live and work along this highway are themselves a little strange at first, but soon seem familiar: the aging driver making the last delivery for a doomed antique shop; the young woman who fixes obsolete TVs surrounded by ghosts; the child and his giant eagle companion; the robot musicians; the invisible power company lurking everywhere, and the threadbare communities who struggle against its grip.
KENTUCKY ROUTE ZERO: TV EDITION is a magical realist adventure game in five acts, featuring a haunting electronic score, and a suite of hymns and bluegrass standards recorded by The Bedquilt Ramblers. Rendered in a striking visual style that draws as much from theater, film, and experimental electronic art as it does from the history of videogames, this is a story of unpayable debts, abandoned futures, and the human drive to find community.
