Pacific Drive isn’t About Driving

I was first introduced to Pacific Drive from the Game Awards show. The trailer was very atmospheric but what piqued my interest the most was that the trailer made the game look like it was mostly you and your car against a hostile world. Your car wasn’t just a mode of transportation, it was your home, your shelter against an ever changing and uncertain landscape.

And since the focus appeared to be on the car, it looked like there would be a lot of driving. I’m not making a stretch here or projecting what I want. If you go and take a look at the earlier trailers, all of them make it look like you spend a significant amount of time driving. There was something charming about the idea of driving alone with only the picturesque and sometimes otherworldly scenery to keep you company.

As soon as I saw the demo for Pacific Drive available, I rushed to try it out. Lo and behold, the game is something completely different, much to my chagrin. I’ve been hoodwinked by the trailers.

This isn’t to say the game is bad, but it definitely is not what the trailers portrayed. You don’t actually spend a lot of time driving. In fact, most of the time is actually spent on foot. The game is designed in such a way where you pick missions from a map and then FAST TRAVEL to that location. This takes all the romanticism out of the game immediately.

The game takes it even further and crushes any notion of an actual driving game by making the main focus on looting buildings which can only be accessed foot. It’s a loot goblin game. The game is called Pacific Drive, not Pacific Fast Travel or Pacific Foot Loot.

Even the item icons for the loot feels very lifeless. It’s just rectangular icons with colors. It doesn’t really feel like I’m scrounging through a post apocalyptic wasteland struggling to survive. It’s like hitting a loot lama and it bursting into colorful loot confetti. It doesn’t quit fit the tone the game is going for.

That said, is it a bad game? Personally speaking, I don’t think so. I actually quite enjoyed looting everything in sight. I like hoarding things. But is it the game I was looking for? Definitely not. The driving aspect was the main reason I was attracted to the game and finding out it’s just a generic looting simulator was definitely a bummer. There are plenty of games with looting mechanics that are more engaging than Pacific Drive.

One other complaint is that there is no iron man save. If you save or quit half way through a run, no progress is saved and you start at the very beginning of the run. This is not the way fellas. People have lives and obligations and you need to respect their time.

Anyways that’s going to be it. I’ll have a companion video of unedited gameplay to help you form your own opinion. Were you guys hoodwinked by the trailer or were you pleasantly surprised? Thanks for dropping by and reading. As always, hope you guys are staying safe and sane out there and catch you guys next time.