Iron Wood Studios invites us to recondition a car to survive in a reality where nothing is what it seems.
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Generally speaking, survival games, especially those related to vehicles, are always among my favorites, and since its release on PC, I had been eyeing Pacific Drive. A title that focuses on the relationship between the player and their “haunted” vehicle and on a journey that takes place in a closed-off area in the United States in the 1970s.
The player finds themselves trapped in the Olympic Exclusion Zone, a place surrounded by strange events. Along with three other scientists, the player must follow a narrative that constantly shifts between humorous tones and more serious or dramatic situations.
Get ready to make the most of your cross-country driving skills and gather some essential items, because you’ll need all your courage and mechanical knowledge to survive this four-wheeled journey through strange, otherworldly routes. Let’s get started.
Technical Aspect
The game’s graphics create a nearly constant atmosphere of terror, although it’s not explicitly gory. For example, mannequins (called tourists) appear throughout the game, which don’t move but whose presence and appearance cause constant discomfort. The environments are often dark or lit in unconventional ways, and the frequent rain creates a state of alertness in the player.
In terms of sound, the static from the radio, the noises from the exclusion zone, and the music that can be selected in the car were all chosen with precision. I particularly enjoyed driving without music, but the times I chose different melodies were also very rewarding due to the game’s rhythms.
Pacific Drive is localized in our language and done very correctly, although I think the quality control team missed a few things, as some text chains were not translated, and several items and their descriptions remain in English. However, since I didn’t play the PC version, I’m not sure if this is an exclusive issue with the Xbox Series version I analyzed or if it’s common to all platforms.
Gameplay
The game consists of making trips to different points on the map with your car. On these adventures, you’ll need to collect materials to improve your vehicle and even survive within the exclusion zone. The maps, worth noting, are generated randomly, making each trip feel different and adding a roguelite element to the equation.
Exploration is key, both inside and outside the vehicle, as well as inventory management, which constantly challenges the player to prioritize certain items and bid farewell to others, not without some sadness. After gathering the necessary materials, you’ll need to return to the base, either by activating portals or driving back at full speed, if the vehicle is still operational.
While the game’s formula is simple and limited to what’s described above, make no mistake, this is not an easy game, and it can be frustrating at first. The exclusion zone is full of strange phenomena called “anomalies” that can appear at any moment and destroy the car and the player in seconds. If this happens, you’ll return to the base, but with most of the collected items lost and the car in ruins.
Added to these peculiarities, another feature that doesn’t make things easy for players is the inability to save the game at any moment, but rather only at the base. While this is common in roguelites, some trips in Pacific Drive can take several minutes, and losing progress due to a software issue can be very frustrating.
Fortunately, items can be used to increase resistance and improve many aspects of the car, making it more tolerant of impacts or unaffected by electrical discharges. The improvements are also visible, as the vehicle can be painted and adorned with stickers that appear during trips.
Everything related to crafting parts doesn’t differ from other games in the same style; you’ll need certain raw materials to create an item, and from those items, other possible crafts will derive. Some items are easier to find, while others will require specific searches in certain areas and a bit of luck. To enable other constructions, you’ll need to visit a specific machine at the base, which, unfortunately, has a large number of menus and becomes cumbersome to navigate, especially considering the 1970s aesthetic, which, while immersive, isn’t very user-friendly.
One thing that caught my attention is that the team at Iron Wood Studios paid attention to small details, such as the need to turn the key to start the car or the importance of putting on the brake when stopping and remembering to turn off the headlights to avoid unnecessary battery consumption.
Duration
Completing the main missions in the base game can take at least 30 hours, so we’re talking about a game that offers a lot of content for a price that doesn’t exceed 30 euros in most markets. If you add the DLCs that expand the territory where the adventure takes place, we’re talking about almost double that time, a true beast of a game that’s worth every minute.
Conclusion
Pacific Drive is an open-world proposal with many interesting elements from other productions and genres. The title arrived on Xbox Series directly by joining the Game Pass catalog, with the latest version of the game coinciding with the release of the Whispers in the Woods DLC, an addition that takes the player to another part of the exclusion zone where a sect will have the protagonist’s story and incorporates elements that generate advantages and curses.
If you like survival games and cars, this is a game you shouldn’t think twice about trying; you should do it right now, although I warn you that it can be a bit frustrating at first, which doesn’t mean it won’t hook you. Quite the opposite.
Translator and video game localiser with a passion for retro titles and simulators. He has never let go of a controller since he was given an Atari 2600. He collaborates with different developers in the localisation of their titles into Spanish through Camelot Translations.
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