Pacific Drive

This review is going to be a long one, so strap in for a bumpy ride! Pacific Drive is a survival, exploration, story and driving game all in one. Set in 1998 in the Olympic Exclusion Zone of the Pacific Northwest, you’re linked with a remnant, random items with abnormal properties that draw a person's attention and eventually drive them mad. However, in your case, that’s your trusty station wagon, your lifeline in this alien wasteland, and the only thing keeping you afloat, so it’s in your best interest to take care of each other. As you journey through this strange area, locked down by the government and evacuated due to the presence of a wide variety of dangerous anomalies and inexplicable occurrences, you’ll uncover the story of the formation of the Olympic Exclusion Zone and everything it has to offer. The Zone is incredibly complex, made up of 3 different areas, separated by massive Expansion Walls, and consisting of a mix of constantly fluctuating junctions that you’ll string together for each trip before summoning a gateway to teleport back to the garage with your car's futuristic ARC device. There’s an incredibly large variety of potential trips, with 6 different biomes, over 75 different junction modifiers, 55 anomalies, and a whole slew of random structures, broken down vehicles, and occurrences, every run will be different, resulting in a surprising amount of replayability. This game is all about atmosphere. From the eerie bioluminescent mires, to the desolate and hostile radioactive wastes, to your peaceful and calming garage, every area is beautifully created to maximize immersion. Driving down a rainy road at night while your radio plays in the background is one of my favorite ways to spend time in this game, and with this game’s soundtrack and graphics, I'm sure you’ll find your favorite moments too. The game even boasts a photo mode, and there are countless opportunities to utilize it, resulting in some exceptional screenshots and memories you’re not likely to forget. Thanks in part to the soundtrack, the sound design contributes beautifully to the atmosphere. The track Parts and Labor that plays while you work at the garage is a solemn, soothing, slow track that matches the atmosphere of your only safe haven in the OEZ, while the heart-pumping The Gateway or Instability that plays during your make or break race to a gateway fits perfectly with the high stress situation of the encroaching instability. In addition, the radio in your car and garage have a very large list of great tracks to listen to while you explore, escape, and repair. The radio also has a random chance to pick up an unknown signal out in the zone, leading to some truly interesting insight into the lives of others in the Zone. The variety is really impressive, ranging from a group of buddies narrating a Dungeons and Dragons encounter, to a couple amusingly recreating an anomaly’s sound, to a guy peacefully humming and strumming his guitar, to hearing the stress in a man’s voice as he tearfully describes how his cat, Cedar, has been missing for a week provides such a meaningful glimpse into the people behind the static. The bits and pieces of humanity finding humor, enjoyment, and sorrow in this desolate wasteland speaks to the situation you’re in and provides a glimpse into how others live their life in the zone. The story starts when you first enter the Zone. You’re helped along by a few friendly strangers, who end up being your mentors in exploring the area. As you progress, you’ll be led deeper into the zone, uncovering many of the truths others fought to suppress. You’ll discover their backstories, learn about the creation of the OEZ and most importantly, start asking questions. Even once you’ve completed the story, there’s a huge number of notes, radio broadcasts, and logs that provide a deeper understanding of what’s at play scattered around in abandoned facilities, radio towers, and vehicle trunks as you scrap and salvage whatever you can before the ever encroaching instability arrives. Anomalies are everywhere in the Zone, and can do everything from spit acid at you, to remove your car parts, to reverse gravity and send you flying. While not seemingly malicious, they pose a serious danger to you and your vehicle. Luckily, your unique car and advanced technology you’re provided with doesn’t come without some unusual upgrades. Back at the garage there are countless ways to outfit your ride, along with an exceptionally in depth cosmetic system, to make the car your very own! Tracking floodlights, energy shields, lightning rods, and anti-grav generators are only some of the new additions that will make your vehicle a force to be reckoned with. As you explore the radioactive wasteland that is the Olympic Exclusion Zone, you’ll learn what it takes to survive, and maybe, just maybe, start to feel a little at home.

I'm not a writer, but this game is in such an interesting spot both concept and recommendation wise I had to write a small review. The main thing that I'd advise against out the gate is worrying to much about upgrading to super high gear before completing the main story. Collecting hundreds of eggs and shards WILL bore you to sleep if your not already foregoing the story do collectathon tasks for the love of the game. I personally didn't see myself enjoying that. At around 22 hours the game, for me, had become slightly frustrating and overstayed it's welcome. I'll admit part of this was me choosing Mechanic's Road Trip, which is a preset difficulty that is intended to make the game harder overall. But for me the gameplay loop had just gotten stale. I stayed that last hour for the story, which was very sweet and sentimental for me personally. [h2] The "Bad" [/h2] --- It's not a game for everyone, you'll spend HOURS looting buildings and chests around each area. You'll grind hours at a time on each run looking around for items you need. Sometimes you'll find yourself in an impossible situation and die when you did your best. You will find yourself doing repetitive tasks and having to go back out onto another hour+ run because RNG didn't give you enough of something. It's honestly nothing wrong with this game more so this is just the cost of playing a procedurally generated rogue-lite. [h2] The Good [/h2] --- The driving. You can and will lose traction, spin out, do lil drifts, and you can trail brake/counter steer successfully. It's not a driving sim or anything close to that. But for a game that's target audience is NOT looking for one, it's extremely well done and kept me engaged as a car guy. You can tell the devs put work into the driving balance as to not scare away people wanting a rewarding collectathon/exploration game while also making it require some tact to really get the most out of your old Buick around hairpin turns. It won't challenge you if you play a lot of racing games, but it won't bore you either. The upgrades. The tier 2 resource gatherers are well designed and cut down on late game grind significantly. It will take over 10 hours to start unlocking them, but once you do you'll be glad you did. They offer vast QoL improvements while feeling earned, not given. You will get them well before finishing the main story so you don't have to grind unnecessarily for them like you do the final armor upgrades (which are not required to beat the game at all). The story. Simply put it's very sweet. It will hit harder and closer to home if you've lost a partner or chosen loved one. It's told through dialogue solely and does anything but overstay it's welcome or bombard you needlessly. The storytelling is direct and always worth listening to, it's really the secret highlight of this game once you get used to the car and can drive it in your sleep. My only criticism, without spoiling it, is the ending is to open for my liking. If they don't make a sequel continuing the story I'd be disappointed. There's definitely more to tell and the story's strong enough they could've added another 3 layers to the map and told another half of it in this game if they had to. The modifiers. Each region you visit can have modifiers that change mechanics about the AI, environment, and gameplay mechanics. I won't list them off or spoil anything, but they are well done and never feel forced. There will be a few combos you'll want to avoid like the plague though. [h2] The Best [/h2] --- The atmosphere. Simply put it's seriously unmatched. My first 5 or so hours playing at night had me afraid to get out of the car. It's not a horror game. You will grow used to everything and that's when the gaming really begins, but the atmosphere never gets "worse" you just become used to it. The sound design is superb. I have nothing bad to say about this aspect of the game, without it this would be another "sale only" very mid title I'd likely not even bother to review. [h2] The Summary [/h2] --- This games absolutely worth it if you don't hate the idea of an exploration heavy, environment looting focused gameplay loop that uses a vehicle mechanic to keep things fresh. Fantastic atmosphere, great story, but the optional final upgrades take so long to get the game overstays it's welcome for most by the time you can unlock them. Worth finishing, but don't force yourself to grind out things post story, there's not much more to discover.

Really fun gameplay loop, if a little repetitive towards the end. I love the visual style and music and driving through the exclusion zone in the rain is kinda cosy in a weird way. Some of the quirks are a bit annoying to deal with but overall I had a great time with this game.

good game. intersting if you wanna play extraction but not shooter

I live in Washington and drive an old car and I can confirm this is exactly what it's like.

a unique and captivating ride through the unknown Pacific Drive is one of the most unique and captivating gaming experiences i’ve had in a while. it throws you into a surreal, atmospheric world where your car isn’t just a vehicle – it’s your lifeline and your best friend. the game blends exploration, survival, and rogue-lite elements in a way that feels truly unique. the gameplay can be repetitive at times – you drive out, scavenge, survive, and return – but it never really gets boring . there’s something oddly satisfying about prepping your car, navigating strange weather, dodging anomalies, and making it back in one piece. the changing environments and threats in each zone keep things interesting. what really stands out are the anomalies. they’re not just random obstacles – they’re intriguing, unpredictable, and genuinely eerie. from map to map, these phenomena change, making every run feel different. whether it’s a bizarre gravitational, metior shower or creppy exploding dolls, the zone always has a surprise waiting. and let’s be real — if you’re a loot goblin, you’re going to love this game. the scavenging loop is incredibly fun and rewarding. every run is packed with opportunities to find rare materials, weird tech, and vital components, and the thrill of making it back with a trunk full of scrap never gets old. the game also nails its style. the visuals, THE sound/music design, and overall vibe create a moody, almost hypnotic atmosphere. it feels good to play, the fact that you can tweak your own difficulty such as adjusting damage, crafting requirements, and more – makes the game even more accessible and replayable. highly recommended

The only bad thing about this game is optimization. PRO TIP: Run on high instead of ultra, game looks identical yet run twice as fast on my hardware.

Best game to play to tune out your parents arguing about a divorce next to your room in the kitchen. Have completed the story like 9 times during it. (Please send help, as I have completely lost my sanity and attached to this car during that time and became obsessed with it. The Remnant is real.)

There are some design decisions that annoyed me & almost made me skip the game: lack of inability to quicksave/quickload during missions & the constant need to refer to out-of-game guides, to fully understand some of the equipment & items are the two notable ones. But in the end, the story, voice acting, atmosphere, & visual design won me over; I'll likely finish all the achievements in another calendar week. Recommended; I'm definitely interested to see what other games this studio puts out going forward.

I got sucked into this one so hard. Probably the first game I have played since the release of Skyrim that I actually want to replay again. If I could describe this game with one word I still couldn't it is so out there, yet it makes sense and nothing feels like it takes away from the story. Only takeaway is the final mission has nothing on the missions leading up to it.

Not nearly enough unique, scary, or dangerous anomaly types. That's really my only problem with the game. Quirks are also super annoying so I turned those off. Besides those two, it's a pretty solid game and anyone curious about a car survival game should give it a try. I don't know if they'll keep updating it but I hope they do.

The game itself is splendid, I like the creative design with the highly customisable station wagon and enjoyed the time when i am fixing my car, paining its exterior. But I think the there is at least fifty per cent part of my garage don't play a big role [spoiler]while sometimes I would go to the bathroom for opening a shell[/spoiler]. Scavenging is not a demanding job, loads and loads of materials can be collected while completing main task. But if you want to up grade your wagon completely, some particular travels for resources in the zone are needed. The bigger stacks mod can help with gather resources easier. The environment is not friendly,but exquisite graphics and diverse anomalies give a immersive game play. This game gives you the best experience when you escape from the brink of death, followed by a long sigh of relief once you return to safety. If I could buy insurance for cars in this game, I would probably have made a fortune after several times travelling back from the deep zone already. 8.5/10

Gameplay is good, set up and build up is good, atmosphere is great, but the ending is meh/underwhelming.

This game is just a mess. If you want to go out enjoy the scenery and scavenge the be ready to just rush out and just be bombarded by so many things that just become more than annoying to just outright game breaking. This could have been better if they had many more areas with different aspects of these "phenomenons" instead of cramming them in a small map hitting you from every direction with storms and such. Feels too rushed with very little reward when you get back. The story mixed in on top of that when they are in your ear while you are rushing and avoiding death is just a bad choice for engagement. Why not just have them hang around the shop so it doesn't feel boring at base, at least any npc to relay the story. Not a bad concept just done poorly in my opinion.

I guess I am just too casual, playing for two hours collecting stuff fallout style, then, twice loosing all my loot. Why am i playing this? I just hold a grinder on things, collect resources, try not to loose them in a mad rush to a portal thing, then improve car and go again? I also despise the save rules, at least give me resident evil style save ribbons. just not for me.

unlike any game I've played. Very fun. Like a mix of stalker and a driving sim. The dark and tense world is countered by lighthearted banter with the NPCs on the radio. Love upgrading my rig and going for a quick drive now and then.

Beautiful, frustrating, rewarding and genuinely different from anything you've played.

Its like micro manige simulater (thumbs up) the game is like scrap macanic if it was a survival story driven game, overall very good but it can feel slow on lower dif

I am actively enjoying the game BUT it feels so utterly wasteful and annoying to see the quest say 'get near' and when you sit there on the ground close to it, it changes to 'get up to the bridge and..' pretty much killed myself and wasted a good hour and all my gathered loot and motivation to continue right now. Sidenote - In a game where information is key and using it correctly can save or doom your entire run, it feels only stressful for the game not to pause, when you look at newly gathered information or read prior notes.

An absolute delight. Exploring this world is so fun, the amount of detail blows my mind. How well this world is fleshed out through found documents and radio is extraordinary. A must play for anyone that loves a crafting/exploration/survival game!

Pacific Drive feels so close and yet so far from a truly phenomenal experience. It's environment, art style, and music are all truly memorable with a truly novel and captivating gameplay loop. Unfortunately Pacific Drive falters in a few ways. Most importantly is in its lack of diversity. While there are a large number of anomalies to discover, most require a similar reaction from the player: "Don't drive there!" or "Avoid that obstacle!". While these can be fun at first, over the course of the game most of the anomalies blur into the same simple obstacle to avoid. Pacific Drive is absolutely worth your time. I think it's a fantastic lesson to game designers holistically. Just expect to be left wanting a more.

Really fun so far. This isn't a horror game, per se, but they really nailed the atmospheric horror vibes. Walking through the woods and hearing those strange noises makes my skin crawl. Also, great tutorial system. Really teaches you how to play organically. Haven't felt lost yet, I feel I always know what I need to be doing.

I've heard of this game for a while and I thought this is something I've been waiting for. But after I finished the game, I'm leaning toward neutral. There nothing I really like nor something I don't like. It's just a bit boring and too repetitive. The atmosphere is intended to be creepy but most anomaly are basically harmless. There is plenty of time to escape after the siren is sounded. Each map is virtually the same and the game play fall into something like this....grind for resource, fuel up your car, and then escape. The amour are not particularly useful in the game. All I need to finish the game are 2 off road tires on the back, 2 summer tires at front, nitro boast to climb uphill, LIM shield to get rid of the bunnies and put on the ION shield when the storm is closing in. It would have been more fun if they've made this into a zombie game with mounted 50 cal machine gun. The game is half decent but there is no replay value. I guess this is not my type of game. I still recommend it because this game is kinda unique.

This game has never been boring. There were times where I would play a run and have no stressful events. But on the next run I would barely survive, multiple times. This game is fun, never too hard, always keeping you interested. What I liked in this game is that it would help you either on the runs or after if you had bad luck. And it will do less when you are lucky (which stung when I became better at playing it). Another thing that I liked was that it managed to scare me even after I figured out most of the mechanics. Even though this game has some bugs they were not game breaking, mostly visual stuff. TL;DR: This game has scares, keeps you on your toes and is very much fun.

Great game. Love the story and the game play loop in enjoyable. I recommend this to anyone who likes resource management, survival situations, and beautiful scenery.

Great game so much to do and to upgrade. Definitely a learning curve because of so much to do and learn but an awesome game all around.

I absolutely love what little I have played of this game. My only complaint is how poorly it plays currently on the Steam Deck. But, that will likely be fixed eventually.

Are you bored of driving in a world filled with safety and rules? Do you like scavanging for parts to upgrade your car in an unforgiving land? Well this game is for you, for everything will want to destroy you and your vehicle. The music is very nice too!!! 8/10

Game is great! Highly recommend this game to others. Story is good and the concept is as well. Driving and maintaining your car is a fun aspect, you'll get attached to it as you upgrade it and get into more dangerous locations. Some issues I have but isn't the games fault, is that it gets too easy. you'll end up with a lot of resources and fill out your lockers fast. Besides the Storms that will kill you as they engulf you, there isn't really too much urgency in the game. with the right upgrades your car can survive a while even in the disintigration storm. Over all this game is great for relaxing, just don't get to greedy because you might end up panicking during a storm and accidentally cause severe damage to your car and make your panic worse. you could lose all the supplies you gathered if you die on the run. My mishaps. i got an electric engine, really good speed. i didn't run it on the test track. it sucked up my battery so fast, i didn't properly prepare. used all my charging items and only survived because i had Anchor energy exchanger Had to run to one and back. Storm got to me and by the time the car and I exited the map, i had missing pieces others were breaking and i nearly left some of my tools behind panicking trying to fix my tires. I love it

Artstyle? I think it's pretty. Environment/Bioms? Can really rain when it does, and can be so dark that you need to have a light source at all times. Soundtrack? All of dem are a banger in game as it would be when you're IRL driving. Enemies? Mixture of helpful, spooky, dangerous and adorable at the same time. It even has an endless mode where you can live your fantasies of being on the road for the rest of your life. Each successful run getting harder and harder as you progress through the game mode. I recommend it when it is on sale, but would not be disappointed if I had decided to buy this survival car game at full price.

I bought it even though it runs like crap on the steam deck game is great the optimisations are bad even at 800x600 low settings across the board and frame generation mods on I was averaging around 19fps. If anyone has any way to make it run better please help

Out of everyone that finished this game, 270 of them completed the game without Tobias' favorite cryptid on their dashboard. They have been added to a list and will be dealt with accordingly.

I'm only 10 hours in and i can say i love the spirit of the game, it's a lot like the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series with all the anomalies but since it's in the USA it's car centric, the customisation of the car and upgrade system is a bit difficult to get a grasp of in the early game but once you are a bit more familiar with it it's really fun and engaging, a really good find and an easy recomandation

amazing and fun game and all of the music is amazing i added a lot of it to my play list especially " Drawing Down The Moon"

its good survival game with a lot of good elements but the games doesn't seem to be optimized very well my computer is able to run games like cyberpunk with max graphic settings but it seems to struggle with this one and i had to turn down several setting in order to get a good frame rate.

very good and funny, shows you to always dubble check stuff

I would love an update to enable path tracing or at least RTGI or probes for emissing light sources. Most of the time I have to crank up the brightness just to see something in the shadows, even in outsides with the sun as a source or in interiors with 3 windows

I'm not a huge gamer despite having tried a lot of games across the span of several years in scattered attempts to Get Into the hobby. That being said, this game got me hooked-- great writing and general atmosphere, and I appreciate the queerness sprinkled in. I only wish I had more free time to actually park my butt in front of my computer to play it. I initially started out playing on a steam deck, but I have to say that the experience was exponentially improved by switching over to a Real Computer-- especially with my silly little playstation controller (trigger resistance got me kicking my feet going teehee). It does work on the Deck in the sense that it runs and that you know what's going on, and if I knew enough about this sort of thing, I'm sure I could go into the game settings and fiddle around enough that it could be a similarly delightful experience to being on Big Computer (different account with more hours I prommy). On an entirely different note, I do want to share that playing this game made me a better driver irl. Getting into so many (albeit simulated) accidents of both the wacky and the mundane variety and dealing with the aftermath has definitely made me less of a scaredy cat. Catch me driving a cute 3-5km/h below the speed limit rather than 10 😎 Having grown up in the PNW, I found the atmosphere stunning. I'm moving away soon, but it's nice to know-- in the event that I find myself missing...the fog? the damp?? big tree???-- that I have this game in my back pocket. Praise and oversharing aside, I wish this station wagon was a horse. #PacificHorse2026

This game occupies a niche of vehicle maintenance sims, rogue-likes, anomaly recovery, and Pacific Northwest brand weirdness. This game does a good job of nailing the vibe of the region. The car maintenance and crafting is done right (chest crafting) and each run feels like you made a little progress, even if everything goes bad. This game rewards good planning, resourcefulness, and good driving. If that sounds like something you'd enjoy, go for it! Also, the car customization is really fun.

Robust and engaging crafting trees with unique settings and mechanics. It is more and better than I expected. I'll be looking for anything this developer comes out with.

The game loop is fun, best part if there is an element of the game that frustrates you or saps the fun out of your experience, there is likely a setting to mitigate or remove that frustration. I for one despise "Dark : the Dark game that is dark and dark", there is a setting that allows you to see things, without washing out the entire game by increasing Gamma which is what I'd do anyway. Props to the developers for realizing not everybody interacts with art the exact same way.

This game is amazing, the storyline the mechanics, all of it plays very well and is an extremely unique game to come across my one issue with it is it does not run well on steam deck the graphics have to be turned almost to the lowest setting but it is still usable

Definitely one of my favorite games. Great atmosphere throughout the game and gameplay that doesn't get boring even after a few hours. Also one of the few games where I'm actually interested in the lore.

LOVE the game, and the updates!! The Endless Expeditions update is awesome, where I can gage how intense I want to travel through the expedition with the added challenge of what I can and can't bring with me before heading out. I especially enjoy the ability to add my own music to listen to on the car\garage radio, because the synth\electro music playlist I have reeeeaaaallly goes well with the game's overall theme, setting, and visual appearance! (for those who wonder what kind of synth\electro music I use or where I got the music from, I had downloaded some from YouTube Studio, chosic.com/free-music/all/, freetouse.com/music, pixabay.com/music/. All are royalty free and copywrite free music.)

A bit repetitive at times, but overall fun creative and innovative game with a good narrative and decently paced.

Pacific drive is a HIGHLY original and enjoyable experience that is simple leaking soul from every crevice. Dodging anomalies in your beat up station wagon with only a slim chance of outrunning the electrons scrambling behind you is an exhilerating feeling which I would highly suggest to anyone who asks and to some who don't. Give these devs your money they need and deserve support on this their first game, you won't regret it.

this is an absolute W game, i love it, we NEED a multiplayer game mode pleaseee, other than that i love playing this game, the sounds are AMAZING, and i much enjoy the radio music system in this game. 10/10 would recommend getting it, even if its not on sale (which is what i waited for)

I cannot recommend this game enough. Great, satisfying gameplay. Deep story (no spoilers), and fitting music. Get this game.

An original game? In this day and age? A good original game with a really good OST that makes you want them to release even more music? Great voice acting with some suspiciously "Car Talk" like characters? Yes, some variation in the game play is needed after awhile since the missions can get "rinse and repeat", again with repetition, however the originality is a breath of fresh air.

A wonderful game! Great story and voice acting. Honestly some of the best car physics out there.