Dead Static Drive

I have decided to review my experience with the first confusing 80 minutes of this game.
This will be a long one, since I will list every problem I have encountered.
I would not have written this in review form, but instead reported them as bugs, had the devs opted to mark this game as Early Access which it very clearly is. It almost feels like an alpha, if I'm being honest.
So instead I write this in review form to inform others like me, who want to give this a chance despite the harsh reviews, so they have an inkling of what to expect.
So, I'm from Sweden. Meaning my keyboard layout isn't matching the tutorial inputs and as of writing this review, just post day 1 patch, there is no option to rebind keys.
Also, Tab and Esc does the same thing. Take you to the map.
What this means is that any time I want to access my inventory, I instead open the map. And when I try to leave the map, I open the map. Apparently "q" takes you back to the game, but not with the inventory open.
I fixed this by accessing the inventory through opening containers, and when your guns run out of ammo they will reload if you try to fire them empty. Given that you have ammo in your pockets.
There are monsters, randomly placed across the map when you leave the starting area so let's talk about the combat for a moment.
The feel of combat, and the controls for combat, does its job. The only thing I miss really is some kind of dodge/roll mechanic but it doesn't bother me too much. With that said, the combat plays and feels a bit like Silent Hill 2. No, not the new one. I don't mind. (Also there might well be a dodge thing, I just don't know about it.)
One thing I like is the mouse lock on, which gives an idea of the accuracy of the weapon you're using. And also, unless locked on, you will not fire the gun but use it in melee.
The monsters are weird and cool in design, and very very deadly. But dumb as bricks and often doesn't aggro unless directly attacked. So a group of five wendigos can be take out one by one, as me shooting one of them doesn't at all register with the others.
The controls in general are... Okay for what they are. Mind you, there is no way to see an overview of the controls. One of the devs claim they have written a manual for the controls, and put them on "the games page". I still haven't found it.
The car has no engine sound. This I have read is a choice made by the devs. I guess the thought was to not drown out the music while driving. The music isn't bad, but it's not good enough for that and one of the few settings they actually have are for balancing the volume of the games music, ambiance and sound effects.
There are some NPCs, who will just stand around. There are NPCs who will follow you, and one of them taught me I could vault over fences. That was the first and last time she vaulted over a fence.
There are two options for camera. Isometric and Chase. I don't like the Isometric camera for driving, but I don't really like the feel of the chase camera at all.
I like the inventory system, for what it is. It doesn't always make sense, but it's more or less the only intuitive thing about the game so far.
Last but not least, and the only thing that actually bothers me with the game: The roads.
The layout of the roads in the towns and areas make less sense than car play mats for kids. I don't mind the fact that all I have to orient myself is a general direction on a compass. Not at all. But when the roads don't make a lick of sense it's very frustrating.
A long and winding road in the general direction you're supposed to go ends in a roundabout, for no apparent reason. There are basically NO straight roads. It's all curves. And since most of the maps are flat and empty sparse woods, this makes zero sense. No sense at all.
Only straight roads would have been boring too, of course, but this is simply ridiculous.
Will I refund it? Probably not. I'll wait for now and see where the patches goes.
Was it worth the wait? Not in this state, no.
Is it fun to play? Kinda. I had a good time with it, mostly. I'm curious to see where it goes as I just reached Chapter 1. But I won't play it for a bit since I might need to refund it.
Recommend for balance, and also for attention. ♥

I'm having a good time with the game- it's more or less exactly what I wanted. The music and aesthetics are great, there's a lot of fun little details. I like the characters and the story progression. It's not perfect, but it's great so far. I'm baffled at the negative reviews on here right now and gotta say- I'm having a blast.
A couple people have complained about the lack of a story- but there is a story. It isn't just flavor text, it's there- there's a story. I dunno what to tell these people. Maybe it's too thin for their liking? But it unfolds like an old sci-fi/horror movie in my opinion. At the start of any of those films, you have just enough info to get you underway. So far, this feels like The Fog, or Road Games.
Some people complained about the basic dialog, but the reviewer misread the whole tone of the scene he calls out for basic dialog. I found the whole exchange funny and sarcastic. Ditto for a lot of the car dialog with followers. Some of it was surprisingly heartfelt and well written. I'm not saying the game's winning any literary awards right now, Disco Elysium this is not- but it's not devoid of solid banter and narrative thrust.
Sure the game has issues- I'd kill for a "take all" button, or to be able to take items back from people I've given them too, but beyond little technical hiccups like that which will inevitably be smoothed out in patches and whatnot, I'm pleased as punch. This is a fun little sandbox to play in and the vibes are immaculate. There's already an emergent sense of humor which I'm really fond of, and while it may seem low stakes for a hot minute- when the tension spikes, and your choices start to pile up, it gets very wild!

This is a recommendation with a few ifs.
The rec
Something about Dead Static drive is just cool to me. It has a je ne sais quoi that popped in the trailers and still pops in the game proper.
That's hard to accomplish and, yeah, a real YMMV thing. But it's also the product of a particular authorship and vision and I'm down to: (a) support that, (b) recommend that, (c) meet the game where it's at now to explore that.
There's something here that really works and I'm curious about that journey. I'm also happy to drop money on that (in much the same way I'll happily spend $15 on a quirked-out zine because something about the artistic intent intrigued me).
It's some combination of the art, the energy, the inexplicable optimism of jumping into a random car and just tearing down the highway despite the terrible monsters around you. The combination of eldritch horror and the Americana freedom of a car and a sun-drenched road is appealing. It works.
The ifs
A lot of stuff is real uneven. Other reviews have pointed out the UI weirdness – having to cycle through every possible screen resolution to set yours is a good, and emblematic, example.
The game is obtuse in both the eldritch horror way and a "oh I don't know if that's necessarily intentional" way. At launch, the only way to figure out the buttons was to find the manual on the story page. The narrative hook is vague and thematic hook more so.
Bits and pieces don't quite hang together. It's a scavenger game with an abundance mindset – there's stuff everywhere and I don't know why I need any of it. Every fuel pump I've seen works and I can steal any car. My character is a librarian which, hell yeah, but I don't think it matters?
(Up top, I said the game's optimism and eldritch/Americana combo is a plus. And it is. Buuuuut the game might be a bit too liberal in that sense of freedom to really work it, ya know? There's not a lot of tension, as is.)
The horrors seem chill and the NPCs chiller. I walked into a pizza place and my companion said "Where did she come from?!" I didn't see anything so I assumed something skittered by outside. Three minutes later, I noticed a monster just crouching on the floor, hanging out by the door. You can shoot NPCs, revive them, and just go back to chatting.
Like I said: uneven.
But also: still cool. Right now, this is a rough game with a vision that works for me and that I'm down to support. Not everyone approaches games like that and, sure, I get that.
I can totally see why people would run into the above issues and hit "Do not recommend". I'd do the same for a lot of other games. But something about this one works enough for me to land on the side of "Recommend, if..."
I like it when people make the thing they want to make and crush parts of it, even if other elements aren't there (yet). I wanna see where this goes.

Ok, I am not sure what to rate this game at present. THIS IS EARLY ACCESS because if it isn't, they're in trouble. There is no tutorials, NO KEY BINDING (this game seriously needs it), conversation start up without you noticing and you only catch the last thing they said, so unknown if important. Ground items are fickle to pick up at the best of times and not noticeable. 20 minutes of kicking the crap out of the room you are stuck in with no idea what you're suppose to do was my first experience. I'll save you the trouble, the key is on the floor... at least the room is trashed. The kids? outside near the car said something to you to go rob a store for / with them for some reason. Those two characters shown their clothes only. No bodies. So thinking that's a bug and not actual ghost people. So went with the coat and boots that didn't animate.
These are just some problems I encountered BUT all can be fixed. Once fixed I think this could be an absolute gem of a game. Devs Please stick with it and keep updates coming regularly and I'll be with you all the way. Keybindings so you have an idea of what controls are in the game is a must. I found camera rotation is 1 and 3 key for keyboard. Needs a target lock and next target and crouch toggle too. I'm going to recommend it with a caution, that this is early access and if you can't stand the wait for patches, wait a little longer but this has potential and could be a great game.

*Edited for post-day-one-patch.
Still janky as hell, I don't know what the controls are or where I'm going... but I'm having fun doing that. Fantastic art style. Very atmospheric, very chill. No urgency, so I can just explore this darkening world. I like that.
It's better than day one, but it's still a bit off in the UI aspect of it. ESC or TAB to map, I to inventory and can't be changed - exit from inventory is marked as ESC but that throws you to the map where you'll hunt around until you find that Q kicks you back to the game properly. That doesn't flow well.
Inventory stacking is the reverse of what you'd expect - drag a bandage from a bag into your inventory and it stacks in the bag. Then you drag it back to your inventory.
Stacking properly expects you to drag that bandage from your inventory to the item you want in your inventory and then it magically happens. Backwards.
For reference I use a 65% keyboard, a tartarus pro and a naga pro. So please, let me rebind those keys. I'm not looking to buy a new keyboard for a better experience in one game. Yes, I could set up a new profile on my gear but there's still no full list of keybinds and there are still those weird issues with the arbitrarily chosen ones.
But, please please please:
- I still need to be able to rebind the keys
- give me a proper exit game menu item (there isn't one that I can find and alt-f4 is a workaround not an exit game menu item) *they fixed this pretty quickly
- let me select screen/display resolution and _then_ let me choose to apply it when I'm done.

I'm really enjoying this game. It's not perfect, it could use a little more polish, but I'm having a lot of fun and enjoying exploring the world :)

Been waiting about 8 years for this game. Love the aesthetics, the vibe, the music, the art style, pretty much everything about it. I can already see I could spend hours just driving around.
It is everything I expected and more for an indie game. Glad the see all the character creation options. Having fun playing with the driving physics and mechanics as well. Not usually one for isometric viewpoint games, due to issues with directional travel and aiming, but really haven't had any issues with this game so far. Controls are fairly intuitive.
Not sure what the complaints are about with the interface and whatnot. Only took a few minutes to get everything set up right and then playing the game, and I wouldn't even say I'm that smort.
Looking forward to spending many more hours playing the game.