Road To Nowhere: Talking Heads (Not The Band)

Road To Nowhere is going somewhere; a place of intrigue, style and relatable themes as we join a troubled protagonist who appears to have been ditched by his ex and their social circle. Cue a road trip of what – finding oneself, isolation, or simply not knowing what to do next?

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Uh-oh, mature content. Sometimes when you read that, that’s the sensible wording for boobs and violence, but in the case of Road To Nowhere, from 15BIT Games, it’s the themes, choice of language (c-bombs that aren’t crisps), and how the lead is dealing with it all.

You play Cohle Bishop. His girlfriend has outed him as an abuser on social media, and the hordes have chimed in and attacked him, all because they have an opinion they feel is important to share publicly, at the expense of whether this is true or not.

Road To Nowhere (Teaser On Steam)

From his side of the story, it’s a much more sympathetic one in that he was supportive of his partner – the antagonist, at least, from his perspective. We can, of course, conclude with high profile relationships in the media how these things pan out. Sometimes they’re melodramas, other times beyond the comprehension of anybody who wasn’t part of the issue. I will keep my uninformed opinions to myself.

Think of cancel culture and Cohle’s apparent history of medication, and it’s evident that this story needs to be played out to get any closure on what the real issues are here. As it’s available to play as a demo on Steam, I’d recommend you try it for yourself.

In the meantime, how does this play out as an interactive experience? As can be expected, you have multiple choices in the form of dialogue trees. Unfortunately, they’re timed, and some of the dialogue boxes disappear automatically. When you’re invested in a real story, you want to ponder and gather the facts a bit before committing, and despite real themes, it is a game. There’s plenty of opportunities to replicate fast decision-making in real life.

Cohle is played by the writer of the game, and he does a good job. Sometimes the writer has this fantastic idea, but is unable to project that when it comes to acting it out, but he was a convincing lead, though reactions can be a bit erratic at times. Early on, he has the gravelly voice you’d expect from Solid Snake, but the emotional tension rises accordingly, as do the others in the cast.

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The presentation is very unique – hyper stylistic to some eyes. It’s almost like an FMV in that it uses real actors, but the framerate is similar to stop-motion animation, and this works well as movements jerk like the movement of a bird, which is aesthetically pleasing. There are plenty of bleeds, blooms and filters used, too, making Road To Nowhere eye candy throughout.

While voice acted, when a character speaks, it does not sync up. This works for and against the feel as, without it, there’s the flexibility to use repeated actions and that classic line of ‘show, don’t tell’. However, it does result in a few too many Power Rangers gestures. I’m not one for animated hand movements when people talk as it feels a little insincere. It’s a personal thing – perhaps you’ll like that element. 

Moving Cohle around is a little Thunderbirds fused with Twin Peaks – that’s the nature of animating a real person as Road To Nowhere switches to point and click territory. It borders on the actors being on sedatives, such as when Mike leaves the diner and looks like he’s an extra from a Harryhausen adventure (I liked it).

There’s a lot of talk about mental health in the gaming industry, and these do get represented well in titles such as Lydia, ITTA and many more. Often these are showcased as fantasy or abstract allegories, but this demo was much more literal and could appeal to a broader audience. That said, this isn’t a laugh a minute experience, nevertheless, I enjoyed it and subsequently added it to the wishlist.

There’s an element of me that hopes that this gets a little darker as it progresses and looking forward to when it’s released. Add to your wishlist too, but give the Road To Nowhere demo a go and see what you think.