{"id":1251,"date":"2025-08-10T00:44:49","date_gmt":"2025-08-10T00:44:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aerowalsh.com\/mountaindevil\/?p=1251"},"modified":"2025-08-24T06:06:58","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T06:06:58","slug":"pacific-drive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mountaindevil.aerowalsh.com\/?p=1251","title":{"rendered":"Pacific Drive"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Pacific Drive is a car-based loot\u2019n\u2019scoot game. Loot\u2019n\u2019scoot is a term I have invented, but I think it captures the key essence of the genre. It\u2019s exists halfway between a Metroidvania and a survival simulator. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The closest thing I have played to Pacific Drive is Subnautica, which I also consider to be a loot\u2019n\u2019scoot and an obvious inspiration for the game. Both have the key gameplay loop of venturing out into a hostile alien world, extracting whatever you can carry from that world and returning to the safety of your refuge to craft better gear that allows you to repeat the loop slightly more efficiently. However Pacific Drive fails to capture what makes Subnautica so compelling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t be fooled, Pacific Drive is not an open world game. You traverse through various discrete areas, each one an open level in itself, but not meaningfully interconnected. The specific layout (items, enemies) and behaviour (weather, some weird effects) of each area randomly changes everytime you go through it, but each area remains broadly consistent. Unfortunately the levels are incredibly uninteresting and basically all just boring forests that feel dead. You\u2019re not convinced this is a breathing world and it feels overly artificial. This is a key difference from Subnautica. The map there was one massive ocean with a sprawling ecosystem of unique biomes that constantly surprise and intrigue you all throughout the game. You wanted to explore Subnautica. You could see areas that were too deep or too dangerous early on that you wanted to come back to. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This isn\u2019t saying Pacific Drive doesn\u2019t have atmosphere. It has a distinct semi-Lovecraftian Pacific Northwest vibe. This was interesting at first as you drive your car down winding roads with towering redwoods amidst unsettling mists. The 300th time the novelty has worn off. Around this Pacific Northwest baselayer, there is a coat of weird things. The region is tainted with a blend of X-files episodes that has resulted in it being sealed off. This had promise, but as alluded to, just didn\u2019t feel engaging. The same 10 enemies and phenomena repeat everywhere and exploring just isn\u2019t fun after the first few hours. A few more get added in later into the game, but they just feel like variations on what you have already seen and just result in a more chaotic world, but not a fun or interesting one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I mentioned earlier the game is car-based and this is a unique element that is done well. You have one vehicle (basically a slightly magical station wagon) that is key to moving around the world. Nearly all of your activities occur through this vehicle. It offers you safety, speed and love, but is satisfyingly mechanical. For example, you need to manually set the parking brake when you get out or it will roll down the hill. Fuel and battery both need to be carefully conserved and restored by scavenging from the zone during your outings. Owning a shitbox of a car myself, I can very strongly relate. Most of the loot\u2019n\u2019scoot loop is about making your vehicle better and it is feels rewarding (if a bit too slow at times given the limited fun that exploring has).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Music is really good. There are two types of songs: jams played over the radio (which you have to remember to turn on in the car or it won\u2019t play) and moody atmospheric ambience. The radio songs come through delightfully tinny and feel like something a cool Oregon radio station would be playing after hours. The ambient stuff fits the atmosphere well and complements the radio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/youtu.be\/Y3MACUEAimI?si=TN_PNm5-ptCzT_C3<\/a> – These tunes could have their own segment on RBM FM and some may be sneaking their way onto my drive playlist soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/youtu.be\/pxcDBolRBwo?si=g9Uc6V5QzSj0Bf3Y<\/a> – Soft, forest tunes to cruise the zone to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another unfortunate common element between Pacific Drive and Subnautica is the presence of bugs. In Subnautica my save got soft-locked when I was unable to enter any of my vehicles or bases at some point. In Pacific Drive I ended up in an area with a battery that I was unable to progress through without an upgrade, but all the exits to the area were on the other side of the barrier (the developers seem to have added cheats to the game for these reasons). It was at that point that the flow really stalled on the game. As I was turning off the Lose Items When Dying options I was granted time to reflect on if I was actually enjoying this game. I decided no.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I looked ahead at the upgrade tree for my car and none of them sparked joy. They all seemed like slight variations on what I was already doing. Subnautica promised submarines that can extend into the unreachable depths or prawn suits that empowered you to fight creatures previously the stuff of nightmares. Pacific Drive had armour with +20% Shock Resistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the first game I have consciously decided to not finish on the PS5 (there may be a few I am just in denial about though). I have deleted Pacific Drive from the hard drive, written this review and will not be looking at it in the rear view mirror as I speed onwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rating: 2\/7 functional parts remaining on my car as it limps home. Go play Subnautica instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This is your car in its natural home: the garage. The garage acts as the hub where you repair and upgrade your car and prepare for your next outing into the zone. Like all classic hubs, you can upgrade it with meaningless accessories like a basketball hoop.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Most of the game takes place from this view behind the wheel of your car. The driving mechanics are solid. It\u2019s not a racing game and the car is pretty sluggish and has some weight to it which feels right and encourages a more cautious approach.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Before starting each run into the zone you need to plan it out. As you always start from the same spot, you need to repeat the first few segments (or slight variations on them) a few times.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The first time I found a tunnel I felt relieved. This seemed like a slight variation with some novelty. I even discovered a new enemy type in there. I rapidly discovered that both the location and enemy were one of a handful of options only that could be experienced.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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This is actually just a photo of Blackheath while playing the game. You can see our RAV4 parked on the road down there.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hey. You’re in serious danger. The instability’s closing in, and it’s going to scramble you quicker than beef in a blender.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reviews_games","category-unfinished-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mountaindevil.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mountaindevil.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mountaindevil.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mountaindevil.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mountaindevil.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1251"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/mountaindevil.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1391,"href":"https:\/\/mountaindevil.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1251\/revisions\/1391"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mountaindevil.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mountaindevil.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mountaindevil.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mountaindevil.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}