REVIEW: ‘Pacific Drive’ Cultivates Unique Narratives For Each Player (PC)

Pacific Drive by Ironwood Studios continues to unpack a surreal first-person driving survival experience since its preview build. A seemingly simple drive becomes a sci-fi road trip adventure that crafts unique narratives for each player and their vehicle. It’s just you, your station wagon, and the open roads. Kind of. 

The United States government occupied a stretch of land in the scenic Olympic Penisula and, for undisclosed reasons, abruptly abandoned operations. What remains is essentially a quarantined zone. Inoperable rust-stricken vehicles, abandoned shacks and trailer labs, and peculiar mannequins scatter about the zone. Somehow, you, Driver, are in the middle of it all and must drive to survive while figuring out what is happening.

While your excursions in Pacific Drive are with your vehicle, players are not entirely alone with their thoughts, thanks to the unidentifiable sounds the wilderness holds. Periodic incoming radio signals voice four individuals with knowledge of the zone. They act as guides to further uncover the story and slightly navigate players through the game’s crafting systems. Before each ride out, however, you’ll have to properly prepare for what each location and drive may bring. 

Expect to spend a hefty, obsessive amount of time properly caring and readying your faithful four-wheel companion. It’s an obsession that slowly creeps in for players as each drive presents obstructions, anomalies, and unforgiving weathering storms, to name a few.

A failed drive won’t necessarily kill you; rather, it will scrap any progress you’ve made in collecting materials. Additionally, it heavily wrecks your vehicle, making for stricter runs as you’ll have to gather those resources again if you don’t already have some handy in storage. This leans towards a roguelike side of things — punishing but doesn’t trap players in a loop that feels inescapable.

At the abandoned workshop, feel secure and safe tending to your vehicle. While repairs and upgrades can also occur on the roads, anything can happen. Undoubtedly, Pacific Drive exceptionally conjures tender, nostalgic feelings that long road trips bring. It holds you comfortingly for a moment. You almost forget the unpredictability of the zone as a calm washes over your gaze of orange-kissed dawn peaking through surrounding evergreen mountains.

I was captivated by the beauty and wonder of the reimagined Pacific Northwest. Regardless of whether I was behind the wheel or siphoning gas, the impact was present. The sound of wooden branches cracking within earshot of brustling brushes—snapping me back to feelings of anxiousness. As confident and secure as you feel about your excursion preparations, anything can still happen. Anaomlies scatter the zone and behave uniquely.

Some are unearthed in clusters that tether to each other with electric volts, while others simply razor the Earth, leaving a trail of fluorescence. Crossing their paths causes significant damage to your vehicle that will have you out on foot again, scavaging whatever remains.

Tools are just as important to your survival as your car’s upkeep. The Scrapper is your primary method for scavenging materials. It saws through most objects to dismantle them into their core essence, like fabric, scrap metal, and rubber. The Scapper lays a solid foundation to craft other crucial tools like a Pry Bar that is required to break chained cabinets with scarce resources.

Time out in the zone can feel quite long when players begin traveling to multiple destinations in one outing. Not all locations hold the same resources, which complicates your journey. Through the Route Map, a detailed legend indicates whether a location is low in fuel, has vehicles, and spiking radiation levels. Additionally, the Route Map acts as a weather forecast that tracks any heavy storms. Getting caught in these storms adds another layer of difficulty. They affect how you press onward, with driver visibility and skidding tires. Utilize the Route Map wisely to ensure higher chances of survival.

Pacific Drive feels isolating in a reflective and oddly comforting way despite its sci-fi undertone. It’s just you and your car creating a personal journey about life’s unpredictabilities and how you choose to navigate them. It’s perseverance and survival. It’s finding beauty and comfort in the mundane, all while cleverly crafted under the eerie veil of the unknown.

Personally, long drives of any caliber serve as moments of contemplation. It is a space held by a time that is liberating, comforting, providing, and just about whatever the individual wields their four-wheel champion to be. Pacific Drive thoughtfully translates simple yet overlooked human aspects through an experience that is truly unique and unforgettable.

Pacific Drive is available now on Steam, Epic Games Store, and PlayStation 5.