Pacific Drive (2024)

Edited (4th Nov)

Nope. Not for me. I think there's a lot to be said about horror as a narrative device, the effect terror has on the body and the mind and how that determines the relationship between a story and it's audience. The parts of this game built around that feeling are my favorite as each new anomaly sparks a series of little questions in your mind all geared towards answering one of two big ones along your journey, will this help me or will this hurt me? Figuring out the answer while minimizing damage to your person and your car (which in this context may as well be one int he same) is fun in a very primal, very reflexive way and I commend this team for not only acknowledging that but building their world around that mechanic... it's everything else about this game that I just find, exhausting.

The loot economy of this game feels very artificial, as though designed to induce anxiety, keep you at the brink and punishing every miscalculation. The terror that I spoke of earlier fades away as you catalogue each new anomaly and map out their patterns, side stepping the Lovecraftian wonder of it all so you can loot and stash and craft and loot and stash and craft. It's as though the game presents you with this mystery and then buries it immediately after with a bunch of busy work. I thought I could get into it, because I really am the type of person that doesn't mind chores, in fact there is a comfort you can find in mindless repetitive tasks, but the game seems to take pleasure in making those tasks as annoying as possible, with additions like a closing 'instability' field that basically acts as a ticking clock, randomly generated quirks that fuck with how the car works etc etc etc. It's amusing at first but it slowly just urks you past the point of endurance as one complication is piled onto another.

Ultimately this is not how I would ever choose to spend my free time. I'm out.

...

Review in progress (3rd Nov)

Feels like the kind of experience you have to be prepared for before hand to really get into, thankfully I've been putting this off for months and I'm finally in the mood for something overly complicated and intentionally obtuse on multiple levels. 😂

Kinda reminds me of Kauffman's writing and that approach to narrative where the 'lack of meaning and cohesion' is the point, where you become a participant in the art, as you mine for meaning and take pleasure in whatever pebbles you can find. I can see myself putting 20-30 hours in this, wading through the jargon and unintuitive mechanics, connecting the dots over and over again until it becomes reflex, mentally mapping this world and it's anomalies out until it almost feels as though I've taken ownership of them. I'm looking forward to it.

It may sound strange, but I found it in a Valentine's Day video from a local YouTube channel...

I love car themes myself, and Pacific Drive can offer its own vision of the car.

It's not just a means of transportation - it is your actual loyal friend, companion, and often your savior.

Aesthetically, the game is also very beautiful, and the ambient compositions during outings when you forgot to turn on the radio complements the atmosphere in the best possible way.

~25 hours, unfinished main story

Pacific Drive is an interesting one to me. I started the game, and I was going so hard and then slowly, my enthusiasm just dried up. I won’t do my normal pro-con list. The pros are that the game is exactly what it looks like. It’s a car mechanic-simish, rogue-lite and that feeling of upgrading and progressing is awesome! The cons lie completely in the mid to late game. It becomes a tedious grind to the next story point and upgrades start to feel more like a hassle than a must.

List of improvements for pacific drive 2 if one should ever happen:

• More upgrade options.
• More depth for the middle to late game.
• More vehicles.
• Better story that has a real conclusion (I’ve read this ones not so good).
• Limit the tedium. Especially on things that don’t matter (why am I applying paint and decals this way and why are the consumable.

Rushed Conclusion: If this game is on a good sale, you’ll get at least 10 to 20 good hours out of it if you like this kind of game making it worth it. Full price is pushing the value.

Pacific Drive is a game that I really want to be able to recommend to more people, but I struggle to do so, due to its relatively slow pace and repetitive gameplay. That being said, there is a very real vision at the core of this game that is really good, but it needed some more to really grip me. I still think it's solid, all things considered.

The gameplay loop of Pacific Drive is essentially four elements - drive your car around, loot nearby containers and points of interest, listen to exposition from the radio, and then repair and upgrade your car. It's almost like a roguelite mashed up with a basic survival horror game, though that statement comes with some caveats.

When it comes to driving, the gameplay feels great. The station wagon that you pilot does a great job of "feeling right". When you take turns hard, you can spin out, especially if your tires are in disrepair or if you're on poor terrain. When you need to get something in the woods, there's great feedback as you plow over saplings while dodging larger trees. Ironwood definitely nailed this aspect of the gameplay. Sometimes, you'll need to replace or repair parts on the road, and these moments really made me feel like I was scraping by in a way that was fun.

The looting leaves more to be desired. There's rarely more to do than to use tools to break apart or into points of interest, and it doesn't ever get more interesting beyond adding new resource types, unfortunately.

When it comes to repairing and upgrading your car, the game feels more satisfying. As long as you fetch resources periodically, you'll usually be able to afford new parts or repair items for your car. And when you get better parts and unlock new mounts, it feels satisfying... but the pacing is completely off, in my opinion. Right after the 10 hour mark, upgrades felt like they were coming at a slow pace and my car didn't feel meaningfully better.

Your car can also develop quirks, which are just minor annoyances for the most part, and they can be fixed by diagnosing them at the garage. The first time you turn your windshield wipers on and watch the fuel gauge wave around in sync, you'll probably laugh out loud too. But, the system for diagnosing them can be annoying, and even if you don't really notice them, it's annoying to have them accumulate.

Lastly, there's the story and the atmosphere. I connected a bit with it, but at the same time, you don't have the opportunity to interact with the characters beyond listening to them on the radio, and for some reason, I didn't end up clicking with the characters or plot much. The atmosphere when you're driving around, on the other hand, is perfect. There's often a fear that something may be lurking out there, and that the only real safe part is inside the damned car - which often is actually the case, anyway.

I'd say the biggest issue with the game is the dropoff around the 15hr point. I got the feeling I wasn't seeing much new content, whether from new dangers, interesting location layouts or hazards, car upgrades, etc. I think this game is closer to maybe 15 hours of content stretched into about 20-25.

The game also has a really unsatisfying ending that left me feeling like the game wasn't even complete; as if I had run into some sort of early access ending. I wondered if I had missed something obvious, but it seems not. Also curiously, I managed to complete the game without needing virtually any of the endgame upgrades or gear easily, which I found a hair disappointing - though I suppose I would've hated grinding for resources even more.

That being said, I think Pacific Drive still has a great niche appeal. It can be relaxing to drive from location to location, servicing your vehicle, and taking the game bit by bit. I don't think this game is for most players, unfortunately, despite the moderate enjoyment I've had with it.

This game is good. The systems are engaging, the plot is mysterious, there's a lot of options to customize and improve your car and the controls are great.

But I suck at it.

I'm not made for survival games. I lost lots of progress and resources because of little mistakes or sheer bad luck and it was hard to willforce myself to try again. It was worth it because finally getting alive out of a map can be very satisfying... but exhausting.

You can read my review in spanish here.

This is a good game. I think survival games veterans will love it and it can be actually accesible for beginners (the fact its about a car and not a standard base helps to it). But its not for me.

This is one of the few game I'm reviewing without finishing. I see why is good. I see why some people can even love it. But for me its just stress and frustration.