Ironwood Studios’ new survival game Pacific Drive has been on my Steam wishlist for quite some time now. After its late 2022 reveal, I was immediately hooked on knowing everything about this game, constantly checking for new updates or seeing if any release date reveals were dropping. Thankfully, Steam’s Next Fest has kicked off, with a Pacific Drive demo just for me!
Well..not really, but it feels like it!
Pacific Drive is a game set in the Pacific Northwest, within the backdrop of the Olympic Exclusion Zone. This zone was marked for quarantine after whatever time anomaly (or radiation) stuff occurred in the area. It all started to spread, causing the situation to feel somewhat supernatural and wicked.
Out of the gate, I really enjoyed the feel of gameplay. Comprising of driving, I was using an XBOX controller, which always feels better suited for driving cars in games. The act of starting up my car, manually putting it into park, and using the windshield wipers is just a different kind of excitement for me, as it made the whole thing feel much more immersive. These details might not seem new or exciting, but as someone who appreciates driving/car games, it felt immaculate.
In the demo, you start off in your own vehicle, until you make it right outside the Exclusion Zone. Then, something wild happens, and you’re transported beyond the massive walls and inside the area. After that, you find a beat-up vehicle that you slightly repair and decide to use it to get out of the storm of radiation or whatever it is. Over the radio, you meet two new people, but can’t communicate back. I’m assuming this is just a way to not have a proper protagonist and just keep it feeling more like the player is actually in the game. The guys on the radio lead you in the direction of a safe haven. There, you learn how to repair your vehicle, add new equipment to it, and how important it is to scavenge for supplies.
Scavenging for supplies is definitely going to be a big aspect of this game, a process that involves breaking down objects and repurposing them for new items. Those all go towards upgrading my car, something I fear I’ll be pretty terrible at. Thankfully these gameplay systems are engaging and intriguing enough that I’m willing to power through and try my best. I can’t wait to see what other mechanics are in store in the full release.
One thing I was a little surprised by was that it seems like there are many areas, not just one large singular map. Most of the traversal seems to be simply fast traveling to different environments instead of just driving to them. It seems a little different from what I was expecting, as with the current era of games focusing on large, interconnected worlds rather than fragmented ones stitched together by loading screens. Regardless, I think this could end up being super helpful, considering I tend to use any fast travel option in a lot of open-world games. I appreciate something readily available to get me right into the next quest. It does feel like it could take away from the exploration aspect, but I think I’ll have to wait and see.
I did try to play the demo on my Steam Deck, just to see how it runs. It kept coming up with an error code when I would launch it, though. Not entirely sure if this is just something Steam does with demos, but I could not get it to run on either DX11 or DX12. Maybe someone who digs deeper into Steam Deck stuff can find a workaround, but I fully expect that the game will at the very least be playable on the Deck when it fully launches later this month, February 22nd.
Don’t miss out on the Pacific Drive demo! I recommend you check this one out before the game launches soon. If you’ve played it already, let me know what you thought of it!
The Tired Obsidian 
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