Pacific Drive is a Love Letter to Lemons | Review

#PacificDrive #gamereview #ironwoodstudios #rpg #survivalgame
Key Provided by Publisher for Review
Get the game here: store.steampow...
Music Used (In Order of Appearance):
It's Time to Go - Oxenfree II OST
The Summit - Oxenfree II OST
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[@Hyratel]

that feeling of punching through the forest, dodging trees and fence rails, hoping you don't hit a Tourist and Damn The Torpedoes, Full Speed Ahead down a scree slope with the Red Death hot on your heels, YOWZA!

[@dingus2k]

this game is honestly incredible. i personally love the flow between high octane escapes, creeping around anomalies, chill looting, and the relaxing upgrading back at the garage.

[@Nikells]

Pacific Drive doesn't need to be turned into another shooter but I do agree another layer of gameplay outside the car would make it even more awesome.

[@Ghorda9]

i disagree, it just needs more chaos, give some anomolies a larger threat range and more damage, have more clusters etc, also make radiation more dangerous to the car

[@Justin-og9gu]

What it really needs it more anomalies and environments. "Looting is boring" thats why you get the vacuum. It cuts time looting in half. The game trying to split itself between a story-driven experience and a mechanics-driven extraction shooter was already too much. It didn't need to spread itself thinner. It needs to dig in even more on what works. The car mechanics and anomalies that make them meaningful. I fell in love with that car, not the rest of the game. Just give me more car.

[@Ghorda9]

@@Justin-og9gu i found the mid zone pretty decent with the threats, getting a door pulled off in the middle of an acid rain event with a belching barnical nearby was interesting

[@nitrolight1778]

Pacific Drive isn't about the zone. It's not about you. It's not about the Station Wagon. It's about the connection and attachment one can share with an object, and one that many can relate to. Their first car, far from ideal, but you make the best of it and through nurturing it, that attachment manifests. Making an in-game lore piece out 9f that attachment cleverly played right into the thinking of many players. I spent more time in the garage than in the actual world, taking parts off, putting new parts on, spraying different colors, decals, attaching new abilities, jamming to the radio, patching the car up, test driving it, diagnosing quirks, perusing the upgrade trees, etc. It's all about that attachment.

[@crinklyonion1410]

My first quirk that I encountered was that every time I went in reverse, the hood would pop open. I fixed it, and then it happened again.

[@LukasC2]

I think a good thing to mention is that the story drives a sense of urgency, as you progress, it is mentioned that your character gets more and more attached to the car to the point where it can become fatal. So you notice that the car itself starts to play little animations on the screen near the door, you get saved if you die by it's systems, it adapts to you as you do to it. That really sets the feel of how important this car really is to you. And they don't need to make the character talk or in any way portray that they are getting addicted to the car because YOU as the player are getting attached to it through the different elements mentioned. Same thing can be said for the instability barrier in a junction, it kind of ties into the story as well as it being and invisible barrier to the game world. It all kind of makes sense, so you get this huge sense of immersion as if you are the character instead of there being one crafted for you. Great Game, Buy it Great Short Review, Love it

[@theworkshopwhisperer.5902]

Another thing about the quirk system some are also positive. I get a speed boost every time I turn my headlights on, yes you can spam it. When the car is in drive it starts almost immediately. Every time you use the shifter all the doors swing shut they only latch sometimes though.

[@santarky]

I don't usually comment, but I had to for this. You are not just a talented reviewer; you are an incredible writer alongside that. As someone currently playing through Pacific Drive, the quirk system feels like the lifeblood of this game that sets it apart from everything else. Fire review, keep doing what you're doing, and something will hit.

[@joeschmoegames]

I REALLY appreciate the kind words! Absolutely agree with the quirk system. Such a fun system that feels so immediately immersive. I'd love to see it adopted into other games and see how it's interpreted

[@Kushicles]

What a great review. I was having trouble describing what I like about this game so much and did a excellent job of explaining why!

[@ShiroArctic]

I once dove through the gateway right at the climax of the song Liminal Drifter with the red zone right on my ass, and I'm still riding that high. Absolute 10/10 experience.

[@joan_of_craft4690]

1:32 and that's just the outer zone lol

[@lemmy4965]

By far my favourite anomaly in the game is the blacksmith just because of how imposing it is when it's readying up to slam down onto the ground

[@cheeseburgerapocalypse2604]

Blacksmith is cool Until the moment you trying to pick up Olympium on the ground

[@Eric4bz]

If i'm honest, what we need are more out of car scenarios for it. And I don't mean step out, scrap, loot, get back in and drive. I'm talking maybe you find a bunker that your car physically cannot enter, and can't get too close to. So you have to make a choice. Trust your car will survive without you for a bit and face the bunker for some rare goods? Or choose to let it be and keep driving.

[@crawfy48]

Anchors on steep hills serve a similar purpose, I often walked >200 m to the anchor

[@idkwhattoputhere134]

Not only the gameplay is good but the music just fits exactly especially the song “Puzzle Pieces” because it fits so well even the lyrics bashes the fact that you and that lemon are in this together. “If you want to, I can be there for you”

[@syndicalist-0]

Its REALLY good. I have over 20 hours in it and i love it so much.

[@gooberdog]

The first quirk I noticed was that the left rear door opened every time I turned on the radio lol

[@keanuortiz3766]

honestly the main thing i wanted added to the game is probably alternate endings and more serious anomalies, a lot are basically speedbumps if ur well prepared more unpredictability and intimidating anomalies like the blacksmith

[@Legomaniac-zu3qb]

Bruh my doors kept opening and I didn't know why so I turned on the radio and leave it on and it seems to fix its quirk for now lol

[@rosskarlson4272]

Thanks for the review, I wishlisted this👍

[@theundead1600]

I love how it’s kinda close to the ones from lampoons vacations

[@Cng215]

Pacific drive has been my favorite survival craft game since Stranded Deep. I'm only sad that once I'm done beating it I won't see another like it for a long time. Nonetheless I've enjoyed the crazy ride 😂

[@jakeholmes9296]

Just had my first failed extraction! Lost so much stuff but damn was it fun haha

[@poppamic]

Getting this tomorrow and looking forward to playing something original. Great review 👌

[@joeschmoegames]

Hell yeah! Thanks for the kind words. It’s got some familiar components but it stitches them together in ways that feel wholly original. I’ve been kinda bored by a lot of recent survival games but this one kept me hooked by abstracting out a lot of the concepts

[@poppamic]

@@joeschmoegames wicked mate. Will let you know how I get on 👍

[@philipclayberg4928]

1. It's a bug. 2. It's not a bug; it's a feature. 3. Are you sure you paid for that feature?

[@UptownGuz]

It’s truly a unique experience in gaming. It’s amazing.

[@varpornrat]

Another missed opportunity for VR and people with motion rigs😢.

[@dirtyjohngaming]

Nice review. Im enjoying it so far just because its so different. Tbh looks pretty dang good on ps5 too imo which surprised me a bit

[@GarryGnu]

MWZ feels.

[@yvesdaigle3840]

Its great but the save system sucks, 45 Minute into mission game crashes, need to restart the whole mission.

[@brentschmogbert]

Didn’t have a single crash in 40hrs

[@alexgunawan98]

wish longer

[@456012]

This game is good but extremely frustrating

[@darrell5363]

I thought the Black Lives Matter and the 78 different queer stickers was a weird touch for a single player horror survival game

[@neet-o-muskeet-o4521]

I thought the same thing but that bi flag is never coming off my back door. I never really realized the importance of that kind of representation until I realized I was bi. And I get it now, being recognized even with little things like a window sticker is a good feeling.

[@pcdeltalink036]

Agreed, it was completely unneeded in my opinion and when I first came across them it basically broke my entire immersion for a few minutes.

[@joeschmoegames]

@@pcdeltalink036 it broke your immersion that queer people can exist? Or that they can also like their cars? Quite a headscratcher there

[@pcdeltalink036]

@@joeschmoegames I play games to forget about real life. Seeing all those stickers just brings all that stuff into the game where it has no place. I'd feel the same way if there was a bunch of political or religious decals as well.

[@jakeholmes9296]

@@joeschmoegamesglad to see you stand up for it! Great take. Legend. Subbing!

[@tyr3xfn657]

With all do respect I fucking hate this game but I still play it😂😂🤬

[@vlad3k]

Grammar is lost with this one....

[@truth_hearts_1940]

no. it's really a tedious, punishing game. if you can't see it early on, i pity you.

[@kemanorel3110]

If you can't see that people have different tastes in games, I pity you.

[@joeschmoegames]

I will gladly take your pity! Thanks for the watch, too! 😘

[@JonathanTaylorW]

pityable take

[@GamerGuy51]

but it hurts so good!

[@librariantopokemon]

Its basically a rouge-lite, which are ALWAYS punishing

[@randomcro24]

im getting a lot of bugs on ps5 version i craft tools they dont show up i need too craft 3 4 times for it to register and give it to me tools randomly drop need to always backtrack to find them sometimes its in my hand but doesn't have the tool icon in quick slot then i change to something els and try to go back to it and its gone. also spare tires are beyond repair and it says i need some sort of tool i make it then go back to the tires and it says the weel is to destroyed for repair like wtf most of my resources wasted for stupid crap like that. and many more bugs. but the worst thing about the game by far is night time its hell every 15 seconds no jokes theres something destroying you or your car its very bad trying to do anything at night to the point were i dat to make nights quicker in game settings because i almost threw controller of the balcony its rough beware of it guys but after all that 30 fps on ps5 still boggles me why the game doesn't even look next gen it could run on a ps4 easily no question about it its not 4k no way i got a 65inch Lg c1 and games look incredible on it and tont start with that oh its the art directions they using no way the game looks 1080p to 1440 dont think its 4k especially when ps4 games look better in some cases also lode in rocks and trees dont look good sometimes it looks like nintendo switch graphics on certain things but relax guys when game works properly its good going around finding loot and crafting system is pretty big its a 7.5 out of 10 for me and i wasn't even on the hype train i saw it few month back and they mentioned it was coming to pc i just hope they fix the issues soon and hopefully we get 60fps then it might go up to 8 even 8.5

[@TimWngn]

Mate. Those aren't "bugs" 1: When you're trying to craft a tool that for example requires 2 cogs to craft, the game crafts those 2 cogs before it crafts the tool which explains the multiple clicks. 2: If you have a full inventory or are carrying something in your hands that is too big for your inventory and switch to a tool in your hotbar, you're going to drop that item. Where else would it go? 3: The rest of your zero punctuation yapping are just skill issues. Get good.

[@randomcro24]

@@TimWngn so what about when I got only 2 items in a space of 4 slots and items is invisible in 3rd slot then change itam from 2nd to 3rd and back to same itam is not there did u understand anything I said a lot of people experiencing bugs not saying game is shit saying game has bugs and what u think about the 30fps on consoles if u on ps5 also its quite stupid to craft an itam 3 times to get it I know it's crafting different things to get to final product but it's silly to do it that way some things in game aren't coded right and it's my opinion so if you got nothing god to say don't open your mouth mate I've been playing video games when you're parents were deciding to have you or not so sit in corner and shhh leave it to the big boys

[@jR78Gaming]

I play on PS5 for 30 hours plus. And I saw not a single bug! What you're describing is working as intended. Don't call it bugs, just because you don't understand the systems. This game is simply awesome.

[@rosskarlson4272]

@@randomcro24 .

[@FrickYourHandle]

And I even if you have a real bug this game came out 4 days ago from a studio that started in 2019. If anything it’s a miracle all this stuff runs. Has a ton of moving parts and it works well.