Pacific Drive - Open World Driving Horror Game?

[hepcat]

I actually didn't see that last line in his post. So it's just coincidence due to my not reading everything.

[jztemple2]

Review from PC Gamer

86/100, A novel and challenging survival game that puts you in the driver's seat of one the best cars in videogames.

[jztemple2]

Review from PCGamesN (9/10), Pacific Drive review – an essential driving sim for roguelike fans

Pacific Drive offers a road trip like no other, boasting immaculate sound design and a classic '90s conspiracy delivered through a compact survival-crafting roguelike loop.

The game is currently 10% off on Steam till February 29th. It is also on sale on Green Man Gaming, my discount is 28%.

[hepcat]

Excellent, sounds like I should just buy it now.

[jztemple2]

I just finished the demo... I'm not 100% sure on this one. There was a lot of looting parts for crafting and I felt it was a bit tedious after a while. But then I found it tedious at times in the Fallout games so maybe I'm just predisposed to be iffy about it. Otherwise it is a very clever game.

[Max Peck]

This review certainly didn't sell me on it.

The other day I read an old interview with Hidetaka Miyazaki, the FromSoftware director behind Dark Souls and Elden Ring, and it seems particularly relevant here. "I'm a huge masochist, so when I make games like these… this is how I want to be treated," he said. "'I want to be killed this way!' That's how I make it! It's just that sometimes other people don't understand it; it's for my pleasure." His interviewer interjects: "Really? You want to be killed deep in the forest, getting punched by a huge mushroom?"

"Yes, yes. And the curse area… When I get cursed–"

Interviewer: "You want to die from a barrage of arrows?!"

Miyazaki: "It's gratifying. I like that, I just wanted to emphasise it!"

Hidetaka Miyazaki would love Pacific Drive. On my roadbound quest into the heart of this game's cursed and recalcitrant Zone I've been battered, smashed and crashed. Zapped, snagged, blasted with radiation, lobbed into a ditch, fired into a tree and also, more than once, lightly bonked on the head by my own car's boot when trying to close it.

You can see why that Miyazaki line's been stuck in my head. Pacific Drive starts as sadism, a series of cruel brutalisations at the hands of just about everything developer Ironwood Studios can manage - environments, enemies, atmospheres, systems, mechanics, menus and the actual user interface itself. Eventually, if you push on through, it becomes masochism. Lucky you! Pacific Drive amounts to horrible pain, but at least it's pain you opted into.

[jztemple2]

Hmm, the user interface and the menus weren't that bad. It took some getting used to and as another review mentioned, the game doesn't hold your hand through all of it, you do have to poke around and figure things out. But I only had to go to the interwebs one time and that's because I missed something so glaringly obvious that I really felt my age . Otherwise however I was able to figure things out. I got through the full demo in about two and a half hours.

It's a shame that the progress in the demo doesn't transfer over, no doubt due to changes made after the demo's release.

[hepcat]

Ah heck, I'm in. Waiting for tomorrow when I can load it.

I do this for you all. I'm a giver, man.

[Unagi]

So, the biggest complaint I'm reading is that you can't save 'Mid run' - and that this is upsetting people "with lives". For obvious reasons, I'm not sure if I will have a problem with that aspect - so I will be curious what you all make of it.

[hepcat]

While annoying, I'm used to that particular "feature" in games. There are numerous ones that do the same thing. I won't be able to play until after work tonight though. So I may change my mind if it turns out that you lose hours and hours of play due to the save points being way too far spaced out.

Although I always add the caveat that JZTemple is my preferred game reviewer on OO, so take his word over mine on these things.

[Blackhawk]

So, the biggest complaint I'm reading is that you can't save 'Mid run' - and that this is upsetting people "with lives". For obvious reasons, I'm not sure if I will have a problem with that aspect - so I will be curious what you all make of it.

This has always been a problem for me in games. I'm not ever guaranteed the option of being able to play the entire thing in one go unless it's carefully planned ahead of time. I've got too many games where I either end up having to quit and lose progress, or leave it paused for hours, tying up the system.

It also means that it's unplayable anytime I have less than 'a run' worth of time in front of me. I have an hour to kill? Can't play.

[jztemple2]

Although I always add the caveat that JZTemple is my preferred game reviewer on OO, so take his word over mine on these things.

I've decided against getting the game at this time. Sadly for the devs, while I might have considered getting the game before, now that I've played the demo I know myself and I know I would quickly get tired of the constant need to loot. Maybe sometime later...

Also the lack of a mid-drive save would deter me as well. That first mission in the demo for me was about two hours. With experience it might be shorter, but I imagine later missions are more complex.

[hepcat]

Well...too late.

[Unagi]

Personally, I'll pay $25 just to drive a simulated woody station wagon around for a while, so I'll bite.
And I'm the only one on this system, so I imagine I can just pause mid-run and be okay with that, provided that works.

[jztemple2]

Big patch dropped for the game today so for those who volunteered to buy the game now and take one for the team, we salute you and be sure to get the update. I love all the redacted stuff in the patch notes

[TheMix]

Just in case you aren't aware, "redacted" is probably not appropriate. Since they are just spoilered. Unlike truly redacted materials, you can just highlight to read them. But I do agree that at first glance it looks pretty amusing.

[jztemple2]

Just in case you aren't aware, "redacted" is probably not appropriate. Since they are just spoilered. Unlike truly redacted materials, you can just highlight to read them. But I do agree that at first glance it looks pretty amusing.

Yeah, I knew they were just spoilered (Spellcheck says not a word ) but it was rather surprising to see so much of the notes covered up, which isn't usual. Kudos to the devs for trying to keep the mystery of the Olympic Exclusion Zone intact.

[TheMix]

spoilered (Spellcheck says not a word )

It did that to me too. I decided to ignore it.

[jztemple2]

spoilered (Spellcheck says not a word )

It did that to me too. I decided to ignore it.

I circumvent Spellcheck by adding words like that to my dictionary because if they aren't in there, they should be

[TheMix]

spoilered (Spellcheck says not a word )

It did that to me too. I decided to ignore it.

I circumvent Spellcheck by adding words like that to my dictionary because if they aren't in there, they should be

Funny off-topic story about that. In grad school, I helped a classmate one time with an essay. I kept finding words that were incorrect. When I asked him, his response was that he added them when they got flagged. The crazy thing is that he was also very aware that he was a terrible speller.

[hepcat]

Okay, 40 minutes in and I have thoughts.

It only took me about 10 minutes to find a save point. Hopefully that’s a good sign as I thought it was going to take much longer to get to that point at the start of the game after reading some impressions.

The interface is…eccentric. I honestly found it somewhat confusing at times. But I’m getting the hang of it,

The game has heavy Subnautica vibes for me. Since that’s one of my favorite games, that bodes well.

My car seems a little light so far. In that any time I stop, it starts drifting backwards. Even when I’m not on an incline. But that may change as I upgrade the Griswold Mobile.

I think I’m going to switch to using an Xbox controller. It really feels like this game was built around that.

[Punisher]

Big patch dropped for the game today so for those who volunteered to buy the game now and take one for the team, we salute you and be sure to get the update. I love all the redacted stuff in the patch notes

I'm in the same boat as others.
Not being able to save when I want means I'm out.
I just can't guarantee any sort of time for playing games.
Some days I can go for hours as ling as I frequently takes 10 to 15 minute breaks.
Some days I can barely do an hour a day. I technically have plenty of time but not the stamina or abilities to play all the time.
I might mess with the demo since it's free.

[jztemple2]

Okay, 40 minutes in and I have thoughts.

It only took me about 10 minutes to find a save point. Hopefully that’s a good sign as I thought it was going to take much longer to get to that point at the start of the game after reading some impressions.

Did you play the demo? I'm trying to remember if I saw a save point at that time in the game. Anyway, as I understand it, the issue is that once you start a drive, a mission, you can't save until you get back to the garage. The lack of an "in-mission" save would be tough for me not only for the time needed but also I felt like I needed to step away from the game at times since it can be rather intense.

Huh, I was just about to reinstall the demo and I see that there is no longer a demo . Maybe it was so out of date, or maybe it was that the progress in the demo wasn't saved towards the full game.

Really looking forward to more impressions

[hepcat]

I didn’t play the demo. I should have, I’m sure. But so far I’m enjoying it.

[naednek]

I didn’t play the demo. I should have, I’m sure. But so far I’m enjoying it.

well I did tell you

[hepcat]

You also told me to invest heavily in betamax back in the 70s, for christ's sake.

[Punisher]

You also told me to invest heavily in betamax back in the 70s, for christ's sake.

Their time will come! Just look at all the old trends that came back like Poloroid! You'll be able to say you're an OG BM users and not some poser!

[hepcat]

I put in a few more hours yesterday with it. Most of that time was spent trying to figure out how to open a goddamn gate to get back to the garage after completing the first scenario's missions. But, as with most things, I was probably just making it harder than it really was, as I realized that what I needed to do was actually spelled out at the bottom of the map when I was looking for these points of egress.

I have to admit to being disappointed in the UI overall. It's just too difficult to find things. At least for me. And the game does not hand hold when it comes to figuring out how to do some things. There is an in game encyclopedia, but I find it difficult to sort through it all and figure out what I need to know. Mostly because I'm not really aware of what I need to know until it's already too late.

But I like the game and don't regret the purchase. As I mentioned earlier, it reminds me of Subnautica. But it also has the same story vibe as Control, which I absolutely loved. So I'm looking forward to learning more of this world.

[Daehawk]

[hepcat]

I’m playing it in between trying to figure out Solium Inferno. The biggest gripe I have is the interface. I know they’re going for a retro look, but it’s just too much. I’m constantly searching for how to do even basic stuff it seems.

[WYBaugh]

What say you OO, is this a yea or nay? Trying to ignore a lot of review/play videos due to spoilers but have heard that this is an extraction looter with timed zones? So you have to get in, loot, then get out...rinse and repeat?

[Daehawk]

Still dont own it so cant say yay or nay. Its keeping me interested though through videos and lets plays.