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Pacific Drive aka The Simon Stålenhag Picture Book Lookalike Game by Fullofkittens 01/02/2025, 7:07am PST For some reason the Steam sale thought if I wanted Animal Well I also wanted this; I got drawn in by the aesthetic and am giving it a chance. Review of first 48 minutes: They really nailed the aesthetic of those Simon Stålenhag picture books. (A quick websearch indicates that the devs are big Stålenhag fans and that this was a conscious choice.) 5 minutes into this thing you drive by a big spooky border wall and the look of that thing as you drive past it in the twilight rain is 1000% on the money, much moreso than the so-so Amazon series and MUCH moreso than the upcoming Chris Pratt (!?!? ?) series. Synthwave songs should not have lyrics or vocals. This is a personal hangup but it is something I feel strongly about. For this reason I do not like the soundtrack so far. My first tool was a DESTRUCTIBLE TIRE IRON. Seriously?!?!? It broke breaking into a single trunk! Oppy must buy her tools at the same hardware store that Zelda does. >:( The premise of the game: there's some kind of ANNHILATION-esque Anomaly Zone that was caused by Rogue Science Gone Wrong, and the scientists of the Pacific Northwest have walled it off such that innocent bystanders don't wander on in there. However, during the events of the intro tutorial you do, in fact, wander on in there. The gameplay then consists of: you've got a little station wagon and you drive it around exploring the anomaly zone. This feels very much like driving a car through a synthwave version of PUBG, not least because the environmental antagonist is a roving variant of the PUBG circle / Fortnite Storm called "The Instability" which does a bunch of Half-Life cross-dimensional atom smasher shit wherever it goes; you spend the game running away from this thing I guess. And learning about the story of the anomaly? There's a rudimentary crafting system and your inventory screen seems to indicate that there are lots of opportunities to trick out your station wagon with upgrades. The DLCs are also all, like, skins for the car, which seems a little pointless since there's no third-person camera so you can only see the outside of the car when you're not driving it. Overall first impression: I am a total chickenshit with regard to horror games and back in PUBG days I did get my blood pressure pretty cranked up while driving around lonely roads wondering what form my death would take: this game recreates that vibe while absolutely nailing that Stålenhag aesthetic which I adore. I am looking forward to playing it more. I do not expect to care about the story. Whether this game turns out to be fun hinges entirely on whether the missions are exciting and I haven't done one yet BECAUSE: it doesn't have save-anywhere. Once you start a mission you are in for the whole mission (20+ minutes) and there is a penalty for bailing early. For that reason alone this is automatically a negative review for Caltrops purposes even if I end up liking the game because I know ICJ in particular considers that a dealbreaker.

Pacific Drive aka The Simon Stålenhag Picture Book Lookalike Game by Fullofkittens 01/02/2025, 7:07am PST     The ultimate DAD game, starring the Griswold family truckster by Clark Griswold Yesterday, 2:40am PST         I died immediately on my first run, I have no idea wtf I'm doing NT by Fullofkittens Yesterday, 6:30am PST     I wanted to like this, but the writing just didn't work for me. by blackwater Yesterday, 3:45pm PST         It's no ordinary station wagon, it's an ANOMALY. by Fullofkittens Today, 5:24am PST             It was fine on the 2nd run, I thought the time limit was much shorter. NT by Fullofkittens Today, 9:56am PST