Organization: Cardboard Computer

We've been driving back country roads of rural Kentucky for over a year now, although it's only been one night in-game.  What started as the final delivery of antiques truck driver Conway and his straw-hatted dog, Blue (or Homer), has turned into a circular expedition for an ever-growing group of nomads with nowhere preferable to go.  Shannon Marquez remains determined to see Conway to his destination after her mysteriously vanished cousin Weaver led them to each other.  Young Ezra and his gigantic eagle companion, Julian, have joined up with the trio when they're not transporting cabins between the forest and museum.  And shortly into Act III, two new additions appear, rounding out the group to seven souls in search of Dogwood Drive off the Zero.Like Act II's interim chapter Limits & Demonstrations before, developer Cardboard Computer provided fans with a free, short lead-in to Act III with The Entertainment.  Arranged as an amateur play written by Lem Doolittle and set by the now-recognizable Lula Chamberlain, The Entertainmentis the perfect appetizer to what Act III will offer players.  It's flooded with dialogue and new characters who pour their mundane woes into the bottom of a whiskey glass.  Much like Conway's simple desire to make his final delivery, the barflies of this pre-chapter have modest dreams: a poolside vacation, a faithful husband, an honest living.  It's only in brief snippets describing the "strange boys from Hard Times" Whiskey that we are reminded of the surreal world Kentucky Route Zero is set within, and the reality of what awaits these characters outside their seemingly average troubles.  

The Zero: the mysterious interstate in central Kentucky that everyone seems to know about, but no one completely understands.  Act I of Kentucky Route Zero introduced our protagonist, Conway, to the existence of the Zero and set him on a persistent path to find it.  Act II follows up on Conway's discoveries and experiences as he continues trucking about the surrealistic backwoods in an attempt to make his final delivery of the night.

Before starting this review, I spent a good ten minutes trying to decide how best to categorize Act 1 of Kentucky Route Zero. That was a complete and total waste of time. This is not the kind of game that can be neatly placed in a box, which will make it something of a pain to own if you ever move to a different house. But you need to get over that, because we may well have an early contender for 2013's game of the year on our hands.