Pacific Drive

Amazing game!!! Also, here’s a tip: The game autosaves when you enter a new zone, so you don’t have to finish the whole run in one go. You can leave when you get to a new zone and then resume from where you left off.

This... This is a horror game.

I like cars and modifying them. I like drives in the wilderness. I like survival games. Yeah, I should play a survival game about modifying and driving a station wagon. There are some "obstacles" to avoid. No problem. I've played Mario Kart.

Flash-forward: It's dark with an eerie glow in the sky. Sounds of bending metal fill the soundscape. I'm in a clearing between some forested hills, I think. It's too dark to see anything unlit. There are electrified mannequins around me, my car, and a glowing energy ball. I had already filled up the car with parts I'll need to repair it. The death storm is actively approaching and I don't have enough energy to make it back without this ball.

I pick up the energy ball. The mannequins rearrange and start arcing electricity toward my car, clipping and electrifying me. I deposit the ball in the passenger seat and run around to the driver seat still getting zapped. My health drops to 1. I stop. I'm not currently being zapped and I don't want to run into another arc. I ate a candy bar. Health goes to 13. I'm out of med kits and I'm running out of time. The edges of my vision remain blurred. I sprint to the door and get in the driver seat . I frantically open the map and open the extraction point. Doing so accelerates the storm. A panel reading "DANGER" lights up and another saying "DRIVE". Multiple alarms sound off and the wind picks up around me.

I turn the car key. The car was already on, so it turns off instead. CRAP! I turn it back on. The starter cranks for what feels like minutes. I shift to drive and floor it! The car gradually accelerates as a station wagon would. GO! GO! GO! There's a pillar of light in the sky over a mile away and behind a hill. That's my exit.

While still in the clearing and driving towards the extraction, I take my eyes off the road to look at the map in the passenger seat. I got maybe a minute before the worst of the storm engulfs me. Behind the map, outside my window, there is a whirlwind of energy and chaos as the world prepares to tear itself apart. I look forward again and manage to dodge a few mannequins at the last second.

I start making my way up the hill. There is no direct path so I have to weave through trees and around rocks, plowing through some of the smaller trees. The car's health lights flash with every bump and hit. The hood is flashing red. The traction light on the dashboard lights up and beeps as the tires loose grip. I have enough momentum to make it over the hill.

I dodge the trees on the way down. I'm getting close. I decide to merge onto a nearby road, hoping to avoid more trees. As soon as I make a hard left to get onto it, my lights reveal boulders blocking the entire road. I break, stopping inches from the boulder. Reversing and turning to the side took forever. I check the map. Most of the map is painted in danger red. I got a few seconds before it reaches me. My 13 health would not last long in it.

I opt to stay offroad and drive toward the beacon of light. It's clearly visible and in front of me. I see no obstacles, but I've been fooled before. Come on! Come on!

I make it through.

A brief loading screen and I'm driving back into the garage. My health is still at 13 and my car is beat up. A voice on the radio says "Alright Driver. Stop showing off before you get yourself killed." I park and take a moment to ground myself.

This... This is a horror game.

Alright, time to get ready for the next trip.

The bones of a truly magnificent game are all here. It really is one of the most unique games I've played and something about the vehicle being the very core of gameplay was extremely satisfying. The loop of venturing out, scavenging, repairing and upgrading etc. is an addiction and some of my favorite moments of the game are spent in the garage repairing and preparing my car for my next outting.
After you venture into the world for 25ish hours, however, the game begins to lose the magic of its gimmick. And to be fair what game doesn't after that long? The anomaly variety isn't all that great and after you get some great parts and experience behind the wheel, the stakes aren't so high anymore. I also feel like there's an indescribable flaw with the way you are incentivized to gather resources. The loop explains itself. Drive to zone, gather items, use items to build tools or parts that help you get to next zone and better resources. But I felt like this process could have been more dramatic, more explicit. I was never found wanting for materials, resources, or tools so long as I hoarded enough and explored enough. And of course it can't be a review without mentioning that the ending leaves much to be desired. Those devs better be cooking up something great DLC wise.
It's easy to make the review sound negative hot of the heels of completing the game, but rest assured: if this game sounds like it's your jam, it most certainly is. It's unique, rewarding, a complete blast, and highly immersive. I haven't experienced a game with mechanics quite like it. It kept me well entertained for nearly 50 hours (given that a lot of that time was spent farming and stalling so that I didn't have to finish the game because I enjoyed it so much).

It's dark. You're low on gas. You've made a pretty good haul so far, but you're feeling worse for the journey. Just one more anchor and you can all it quits. And then you hear it; storm sirens. Only this is no ordinary storm - you are now in the shrinking eye of a radioactive storm of unmaking. You have to go. GO NOW.
Your car is a piece of shit. Truly. You've replaced every part a dozen times, the radio turns on whenever you close the trunk, and when you first found it, it couldn't do things like "turn left". And right now it's your only hope of survival.
The gateway opens up - a luminous pillar of yellow light in the distance that is your salvation. The eye is closing and if you stick to the road you won't make it in time. Reluctantly, you veer into the treeline. Your ride jerks uncomfortably as you mow down flora. Suddenly there's a loud THUNK as something hits your car - an anomalous, unthinking entity, affectionately named a Broken Bunny. Suddenly your headlights start blinking on and off. The doors all open at once. The radio turns on again for no reason and through distorted static you hear a preacher yelling at you about Jesus. The wheel jerks out of your grip and you veer into a ditch.
Shit shit shit! Crowbar in hand, you leap out of the car and smack the thing into a million pieces. You car is exorcised, but now you're facing the wrong way in a hole. You get back in and try to drive out, but the angle is too steep.
An angry yellow light covers the sky. You're now past the threshold and the storm is closing in on you. You're taking damage just being out here. This is bad. Getting out at this point is lethal.
You turn your wheel and manage to get some grip on the dirt sideways rather than upwards and after the longest 20 seconds of your life you're finally on level ground again. Through the trees you can see the gate way! You hit the gas with everything you've got. Anything you hit no longer matters as long as you keep moving.
The sky has now become red. The eye has totally collapsed and the radioactive storm is now in full effect. You can see the trees - the ground! - all disappearing. From somewhere there's a sound of screaming that you can't tell is from your car or the air itself.
You're yards away from the gateway now! The light almost filling your vision completely! Something cracks around you. Your radio, headlights, doors, all are going haywire. There's radiation everywhere and you feel yourself dying!
You're here! You're at the gateway! Light envelops you entirely! There's the sound of electricity and a blinding flash-
- And suddenly you're back. Back at the auto shop. Both you and your ride barely survived, but you did. Somehow. You breathe out. You pull in to the familiar comfort of your home in this strange land. The next little while is going to be spent repairing the damage, taking stock of your booty, and upgrading your ride so that you can go ever deeper, into more treacherous waters, and facing deadlier terrors. To find your only hope at escape.

Intriguing Game, Wish I could save
This game looks fun and intriguing with a unique style and interesting hints to a story. The anomalies in particular are a great edition. The driving element of the game is direct and well laid out. Id love to be able to recommend more, however,
while this game looks amazing and has an interesting world build it lacks in some design areas. The biggest issue I found was the inability to save unless certain points had been reached, making it impossible to progress if you cant sit to play for extensive periods of time. I would love to play the game with the option to save outside of level changes. If you have the time to sit through and play then it looks like an interesting story and cool world. Just hope some of the design issues are fixed then might play again in future.

This game's experience (which is already fun) is VASTLY improved by the fact the devs allow you to slap a streamable URL into the car's radio. I was able to put an FM radio station from my country and listen live to the program as I picked up anchors and dodged bunnies
I also STRONGLY recommend using a Dualsense (PS5) controller to play this WITHOUT steam input. The game is very well optimized for this controller, using a lot of the features like the trigger vibration or sensitivity. This makes stuff like slamming the brakes, accelerating, using tools, etc much more immersive and responsive.

Good game, but the lack of a proper saving system and the fact that the game crashes often takes a lot of fun away.