The car’s the star
Devs Ironwood seem to be going for something in the ballpark of Tales From The Loop andStranger Things. It feels like there’s a bit of the bad-ass concept of Escape From New York in there too, and the team credit S.T.A.L.K.E.R. among their influences. Pacific Drive is set in the abandoned Olympic Exclusion Zone, an area of the Pacific Northwest that was used for weird scientific experiments by the US government starting in 1955. That’s now an abandoned minefield of preternatural oddities that you’ve become trapped in after going to investigate, you nosey parker.
You’ll have to zhuzh up a handily unoccupied station wagon at your garage base as though you’re an off-brand Egon Spengler, driving it on runs around the Exclusion Zone’s various biomes while avoiding radiation and strange anomalies. Ironwood say that each storm that passes through shifts the landscape around though, so every run should be different. They recommend being aware of the area’s reputation for “old tales” and “urban legends” too.
I’m intrigued by this one. Ironwood say that you can “form a unique bond with a fully customizable car that develops its own quirks and personality”. I get very attached to my cars in real-life, not that I name them Christine or anything. I can totally dig the idea of a supernatural road trip where you’ll need to rely on your motor for survival, tinkering with it back at your garage along the way. Just no beaded seat covers, please.
