Pacific Drive
Preview

Pacific Drive is an action-adventure game where you drive through a strange, twisted world that collapses around you. As you travel, you encounter hazards to overcome and slowly unravel the mystery surrounding you. It's tough and you often die, but can then try again learning from your mistakes. The car-bound drama creates a claustrophobic horror atmosphere (drawing on S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and books like Jeff Vandermeer's Annihilation) that only gives up its secrets after many attempts.

When top-secret United States government experiments in the Pacific Northwest go awry, an exclusion zone is created to contain strange beasts and collapsing reality. As the sole surviving member of an exploration team you find an old estate car and use it to continue your mission to the centre of the zone. Along the way, you discover an abandoned garage that becomes your base of operations and lets you upgrade your Volvo-like vehicle to help you probe deeper into the darkness.

Gameplay consists of driving around the heavily forested zone, avoiding traps and hazards as you go. When you encounter an anomaly or impassable obstacle, you need to get out of the car to check and use your many tools to take readings, collect items, or overcome the obstacle manually.

However, being away from your car also makes you more vulnerable to attack or injury from predators and the danger lurking in the darkness. When you die or fun out of fuel, you get sent back to the garage, where you can make upgrades to your vehicle and equipment using objects you've found. Each time you set out, you're slightly more prepared for the dangers you face, or know which areas to avoid, and can progress slightly further.

The result is a highly tense and unique take on a looping gameplay challenge with the unusual twist of two modes of play - in and out of your car. Although the car is safer, players are driven by curiosity to take increasingly dangerous risks away from their ride in the hope of uncovering the truth.

Our examiner, Ben Kendall, first checked Pacific Drive 14 months ago. It was re-examined by Andy Robertson and updated 2 weeks ago.