The month of February (2024) has been very exciting in terms of video game releases. We have had everything from great joys like Helldivers 2 to great controversies like Skull and Bones. Not to mention the highly anticipated Final Fantasy VII Rebirth! This time, I leave aside the mastodons and the popularity highway to move along secondary roads with Pacific Drive.
I had been following Ironwood Studios' proposal for a long time: a survival and adventure video game that revolves around a Buick Electra Estate Wagon (40s-60s). Its setting also caught my attention because it has a vibe S.T.A.L.K.E.R. y Metro very interesting, although I never imagined it would have so many similarities. And I don't think it's entirely positive.
It was at the beginning of January when I spent around 10 hours on the demo of Pacific Drive and I told you how my experience was. I stand by my every word and even those in charge have fixed most of my complaints, especially those related to lighting. And perhaps my disappointment or confusion in playing the final version is because they have been very different experiences.
Pacific Drive: fury and fear on the road
Ironwood Studios has made me hate Pacific Drive as much as I love him. I am very happy to tell you that the graphics and performance in the PS5 version are almost exemplary. I have only had some very specific scratches in the framerate, but no crashes, jerks, loading of textures… In this sense, I can only speak wonders. Furthermore, its artistic section is beautiful.
Capture during exploration
The story is great and very original, although I am sure that many players will finish the game without knowing everything that happens. And I don't blame them: reading subtitles with paragraphs of three, four and five lines at the top of the screen while driving is the antithesis of comfort. Additionally, survival often makes it difficult to follow the story in many cases. It is always preferable not to stamp the car than to read subtitles. I have had to stop the car many times to attend to the dialogues, hence it has taken me longer to complete the story and bring this analysis.
Without going into spoilers or spoilers, just know that Pacific Drive puts us in the shoes of a woman who suffers the effects of an anomaly near a radioactive exclusion zone (Olympic Peninsula, USA). She becomes embroiled in a bizarre plot of failed experiments, government conspiracies, forces that defy logic, and a beautiful Buick Electra Estate Wagon.
Capture the subtitles
Surviving on the road
The experience of Pacific Drive It is very peculiar. At a playable level, everything revolves around two sections that are related to each other: advance through the map to discover what is happening and obtain improvements/materials for our car, and maintain/improve our car to be able to continue advancing through the mapping. Driving is the predominant action, but looting materials on foot and putting wrenches in the workshop for hours are two other actions that are not far behind.
If you are expecting an introspective, slow-paced adventure full of deep reflections like Firewatch, you are in the wrong game. This is being told to you by someone who has made a monumental bombshell against this reality. Ironwood Studios has managed to make me lose years of life and I must give them credit for their mastery in knowing where to cut in the demo: right where the hell of Pacific Drive.
Capture of the map (incomplete and without spoilers) of Pacific Drive
Advancing through the Olympic Peninsula has its roguelike vibe. The map is divided into dozens of zone points, which serve as intersections. Each one is a medium-sized map with its own structure, geography, characteristics and entrances/exits. To unlock the area you must stabilize it and activate a portal, which returns you to the workshop or starting point.
And here comes the funny thing! As you progress and return to the workshop, you must do the route again (without fast travel) to reach the next point. Let me explain: if you unblock intersection 5 on your route, you must go back through (physically enter/exit) intersections 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 to reach 6. The only shortcut is to unblock the highways (specific intersections ) that have their own mapping: a straight line without many obstacles, which does not mean that you do not consume gasoline and can damage the car with anomalies.
I have mixed feelings about this way of structuring the journey: I think it's an original proposal at a time when almost all video games make fast travel so easy and that it adds an interesting challenge, but it also feels extremely repetitive at times.
Capture of the remains of the car when a portal dies or fails
It doesn't help that progress isn't saved when you die or don't make it through the portal: you lose most of your inventory (or not, if you mark it in the options), several pieces of the car, and on top of that you have to do the entire journey again. like the mission. You can recover the inventory, but it stays where you die… so it's no consolation. Maybe it's my perception, but I think the punishment of dying or not achieving goals is disproportionate.
And the bugs don't help: I have died up to 4 times in very advanced places because the exit portal has not detected me. One almost at the end of the game. He returned me to the shop with no inventory and only two wheels. Another trying to get a trophy: asks to enter a portal while suspended in the air. I passed through the center and he didn't detect me, I fell right on the edge and died while reversing to finish putting the car in. You can see it in the last gameplay clip of the analysis (below).
It turns out that the survival section of Pacific Drive It's much more pronounced than it seemed in the demo. Things get more complicated as you go through the Olympic Peninsula, which means much more wear and tear on the car. It is something normal and correct. The improvements of the different branches in the skill tree (engine, protections, storage…) of the car help a lot to cope with the journey. And the radio! That gossip has saved my life.
Capture of the car after dying due to a portal failure
However, I think Ironwood Studios fails in many moments by balance challenge reward and punishment to move forward. I was a little disappointed by the absurd amount of anomalies that there can be on a map, causing deliberate wear and tear on the car and a consumption of materials that borders on being unfair.
It doesn't bother me that they force me to farm a little (which in many areas you can't either because the anomalies don't give you even a break) and thus add a few hours, but I'm a little disappointed that Pacific Drive was not what it seemed: a video game where our actions are the main source of penalty. Whether you make good decisions or not, you are punished only for attrition. Several of the dozens of anomalies will hit you only by chance and escaping from the unstable zone towards any portal usually results in guaranteed damage.
In conclusion: great game, but not what I expected
I think that Pacific Drive It is a great game and meets my expectations in most sections. The physics work incredibly well. I am fascinated by everything related to car mechanics: the system of parts, wear, materials and manufacturing is superb. Its setting is simply perfect, the graphics and performance are almost impeccable, the sound and the soundtrack (radio) have given me life during my travels, and the story has managed to steal several hours of reflection from me during my evening walks.
Capture of the transition from the first to the second zone
However, it has very obvious weaknesses: bugs, errors and guidelines that are not clear, some specific problems with trophies in the PS5 version, poorly planned subtitles and a journey structure that can feel repetitive at times.
Going into a much more personal field, I think that Pacific Drive has a balance problem in its experience: the reward of advancing does not outweigh the risk of doing so, specifically the punishment it imposes on you for failing. Nor does it offer respites in advanced locations to explore, loot materials or simply appreciate the landscapes, at least not as much as I expected.
I understand that there should be more hostility in the second and third zones, but I think that anomalies lose all their meaning when they stop being anomalous. Going for the amount to deliberately wear yourself out was the easy part. The difficult thing was to make fewer anomalies, but more complex and with greater impact, and that falling into them was the result of one's own decision and not of someone in panic because there are five others on their heels.
Workshop capture
On several occasions, I have reached the point where I don't care about history, appreciating the landscapes, exploring, or maintaining the car. My only objective was to quickly unlock the area to advance, because I didn't have a break and I didn't want to have to go through a real 1-2 hour trip again. I literally thought: “as long as the engine and wheels work, let the rest blow up.” I wasn't having a good time.
Maybe Pacific Drive It is not for me or I have played it at a time when I do not have an adequate predisposition. I don't rule out starting another game later during a vacation, when I can dedicate all the time in the world to it. Maybe I'll tell you in a while.
In any case, it is a great game and I reaffirm my words during the first impressions: it is not an experience to consume quickly and move on to the next. It requires commitment, dedication and a lot of patience. It is a much deeper and more demanding adventure than it appears. The expression “surviving on the road” has never made more sense.
Pacific Drive
Platforms PS5 (platform analyzed) and PC Multiplayer Non-Developer Ironwood Studios Company Kepler Interactive Release February 22, 2024
The best
The mechanics and maintenance of the car is the best part of the game. Its setting and story are great and very interesting. The driving physics are very detailed, regardless of the tires, terrain and weather conditions.
Worst
Progressing through the map can feel repetitive Errors and bugs that can tarnish the experience, some specific related to PS5 trophies Survival is based on overwhelming the player and not so much on punishing their decisions