Meet the Exclusion Zone

During the 90s, a fictional American city was plagued by a series of paranormal phenomena, as well as various anomalies generated by a failed experiment in a laboratory, which led the government to take drastic measures to build a wall around the region in order to isolate the sinister events that were happening there, after numerous attempts to contain it.

You, as a true stalker, are on a trip to deliver documents around the now-known Exclusion Zone, when suddenly you are sucked into the mysterious and dangerous area, making your objective to get out of the region as quickly as possible before the worst happens.

Upon waking up right after the teleportation to the dangerous zone, our character realizes that he is inside a car and that a mysterious voice is contacting him through the radio, explaining a little about the place and what can be done to escape with life. But of course, some big favors will be necessary, as well as a lot of luck to avoid certain things that must be avoided.

With this theme of supernatural phenomena happening while traveling mysterious roads, it is impossible not to imagine what you would do in a situation like this. The inspiration in works like Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Annihilation, Roadside Picnic, Twin Peaks, among others, is very clear, addressing the theme of creating a world in which there is a reason and supernatural events exist in a daily way.



I consider it a great background, which takes me back to my childhood, where on any car ride with my parents I was always imagining what could exist in those dense and deep vegetations, but for some reason caused the feeling of danger and agreeing that it is safer to stay on the road and inside the car.

Trusty Sidekick

As mentioned earlier, our character mysteriously wakes up inside a car, and because it is a region more or less comparable to Chernobyl, all and any protective equipment is necessary. The feeling that Pacific Drive gives us as soon as the scene happens is that we were chosen by the car, somehow. Not only that, but without it, it will not be possible to last more than five minutes.

We can't say that the car is in mint condition, so as your journey requires the highest level of safety possible, it will be of utmost importance to check the condition of the vehicle, if the battery is working, if the tires are not too worn out, check the windshield, among other small repairs. And soon you realize that these cares must be done manually, meaning you will have to leave the car and make the necessary checks. Nothing here is automatic. Not only that, but the game doesn't explain anything, besides very basic concepts.

To make things a little easier, not all areas are dangerous, as explained via radio. I will explain more calmly during the gameplay analysis, but a large part of the repairs and equipment changes can be done calmly in a garage, immune from any possible threat (at least until the publication of this review), allowing the vehicle to be increasingly prepared for imminent dangers. It is worth noting that once again we are harmed by the lack of more detailed explanations. 



A Game and Many Elements

Pacific Drive can be described as a survival game, with traditional elements of a good roguelite, such as the permadeath factor, in which if you die in the middle of a mission, all items are lost and the return to the garage is immediate. Not only that, but since the game map is generated procedurally, anomalies, rare items, radiation zones, among others, constantly change places, which can be both good and bad for the player. I don't know about you, but nothing annoys me more than being close to completing an objective, failing miserably, and having to start practically from scratch.

Throughout the journey, you realize that you are not "alone" and other "people" end up asking for some favors in exchange for good rewards. It is worth noting that the difficulty is very gradual, but there is no correct way to achieve an objective. You can choose to leave the car and be contaminated by radiation, but be closer to your final target, or choose to preserve your physical integrity and take another path inside your faithful companion, but of course, as long as it is minimally prepared for such a feat.

It is worth noting that besides the garage being one of the few safe environments, it is where the magic happens. I say this because it is possible to test your new equipment, test them, approve them, and even disassemble them, aiming for something more useful to be manufactured. It's a true amusement park, but in the form of a workshop bench.

After each run, most likely the vehicle will return with a series of damages, making the need for collecting resources very important, and believe me when I say that all kinds of objects found can be useful at some point in the game. Not only that, but besides finding these future equipment, we will also find documents telling a little more about what really happened for the area to be excluded from the American map.

It is worth mentioning that being a survival game, item management is essential here and everything must be carefully studied before being used to escape from something unexpected. Discard items and you definitely won't be able to advance in the story in any way.



With precise mechanics (although a bit confusing at first), unfortunately the game significantly falters in terms of accessibility, with the absence of subtitle enlargement and a confusing menu, with information that could be better distributed.

The Materialization of the Exclusion Zone

Featuring charming graphics and no bugs of any kind (at least until the publication of this review), you will certainly go through a certain kind of déjà vu when traversing the scenarios and risk areas of Pacific Drive, if you are a fan of series like The X-Files, Twin Peaks, Chernobyl, among many others.

The various areas of the game are covered with details and aim at a certain aura of mystery amidst so many trees and thick, dense vegetation. Not only that, but when supernatural phenomena begin to appear and anomalies surround the environment, it is worthy of taking off your hat for so much information on the screen, but at the same time feeling that they are all part of something greater.

Indeed, Pacific Drive impressed me a lot with its unique atmosphere, in which even an empty and lifeless environment is capable of conveying a profound sense of insecurity, that even the most fearless drivers will certainly feel a certain fear of entering a path full of mental question marks about what can be found.

I must not forget to suggest using headsets to fully immerse yourself in Pacific Drive, which are meticulously disturbing and every spark of noise will certainly cause chills even in bald players.  



Peaceful and Chaotic

I confess that Pacific Drive got me in a way that I never imagined a survival game would. Firstly because it deviates a lot from the traditional formula of the genre, but still manages to maintain its essence. It's even hard to explain with words, but my feeling is that I am transported to another place and a series of memories come to mind.

Even with a plot somewhat considered shallow, what would a good story be without events and discoveries throughout the journey, right? Traveling each road of the Exclusion Zone is an enigma that can only be solved once, since after your death, everything can change places and the effect of repetition occurs. Perhaps this can be a bit frustrating, but it is part of the experience.

Pacific Drive was kindly provided by the Publisher for this review, which was done on the PS5.