Pacific Drive (video game)
| Pacific Drive | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Ironwood Studios |
| Publisher(s) | Kepler Interactive |
| Director(s) | Alexander Dracott |
| Producer(s) | Alyssa Askew |
| Designer(s) | Seth Rosen |
| Programmer(s) | Zak Blystone |
| Artist(s) | Larry Vargas |
| Writer(s) | Karrie Shao |
| Composer(s) | Wilbert Roget II |
| Platform(s) | |
| Release | Early 2024 |
| Genre(s) | Survival |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Pacific Drive is an upcoming survival game developed by Ironwood Studios and published by Kepler Interactive. The game is set in the Pacific Northwest, which the player traverses on-foot or in a station wagon as they attempt to find a way to escape. The game uses a first-person perspective; the player must attempt to avoid metal monsters which latch onto their car. The vehicle can be repaired and customized at the player's garage.
Development of Pacific Drive began in 2019 after the founding of Ironwood Studios. Creative director Alexander Dracott conceived the idea while driving through the Olympic Peninsula. He considered creating the game independently but soon realized he would need a team, which he began building during the COVID-19 pandemic. The game was announced in September 2022, and is scheduled to release for PlayStation 5 and Windows in early 2024.
Gameplay
Pacific Drive is a survival game played from a first-person perspective. The game is set in the Olympic Exclusion Zone in the Pacific Northwest, which the player traverses on-foot or in a station wagon. The player can customize their vehicle in their garage, which acts as their base of operations.[1] Vehicle diagnostics are carried out using a headset;[1] the car will occasionally develop quirks to be repaired, such as the horn sounding when the wheel is turned.[2]
Some repairs can be performed while traversing the world, such as swapping flat tires and mending with a blowtorch, though complex repairs are handled in the garage.[1] The garage's Inventing Station harvests resources and creates machines, including some that discover new routes, add fuel to the car, and destabilize a zone.[1] A buzzsaw can be used to harvest scrap metal from other wrecked vehicles.[2] Weather elements alter the vehicle's handling.[1]
As the player traverses the world, metal monsters will latch onto their car and chew at the metal; they can be removed with the buzzsaw. Other obstacles include electrical anomalies and barriers that disrupt the player's electronics. Additional locations become available to the player as they continue their journey. Throughout their travels, they can discover crafting recipes and blueprints to improve their vehicle, and find notes, audio logs, and communicate with non-player characters to escape the Olympic Exclusion Zone.[2] In each level, the player collects energy cores to open gateways,[1] which returns them to their garage; doing so makes the world more hostile, setting off enemies and starting a destructive storm which will eventually envelop the player.[2]
Development and release
After working at video game development studios like Sony Online Entertainment, Sucker Punch Productions, and Oculus VR, Alexander Dracott founded Seattle-based Ironwood Studios in 2019 to create his own video games.[3][4][5] He conceived the concept of Pacific Drive while driving through the Olympic Peninsula; he felt driving through the Pacific Northwest "on a lonely road ... and the radio is playing a certain tune, it can be really memorable", comparing it to his childhood in Portland, Oregon.[3] As he began developing a prototype of Pacific Drive, Dracott considered remaining solo but realized he would need a team as the concept began to grow.[4] He began building the team at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020; they moved in to their Seattle office in 2022.[4]
The team wanted the player's relationship with their car to be the most important factor of gameplay; lead game designer Seth Rosen said "the car's health is generally a better indicator of how a run is going than your own health".[1] They attempted scripted moments of "character building" for the vehicle but determined unscripted gameplay resonated better with the player.[1] The team designed enemies and events with simplistic behaviors independently, and more interesting scenarios when combined. They wanted enemies to be "pretty dangerous" but still allow the player to solve problems creatively while overcoming threats.[1] Initial experiments of enemies controlled through artificial intelligence were scrapped as their behavior was too difficult to read while driving. The randomization of the world was inspired by Derek Yu's work on Spelunky and his subsequent book for Boss Fight Books.[6]
Pacific Drive was announced on September 13, 2022, during PlayStation's State of Play presentation, alongside its debut trailer.[7] It is set for release for PlayStation 5 and Windows in 2023.[5][8] A gameplay trailer was released on February 9, 2023.[9] In June, Ironwood Studios announced it had partnered with Kepler Interactive to publish the game.[10] In August, the release window was delayed to early 2024 to allow for additional development without excessive overworking.[11]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Castle, Katharine (February 9, 2023). "Pacific Drive is shaping up to be an electric mix of roguelike and driving survival". Rock Paper Shotgun. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on February 9, 2023. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
- ^ a b c d Livingston, Christopher (February 9, 2023). "The star of this 'driving survivalg ame' is your quirky, customizable car". PC Gamer. Future plc. Archived from the original on February 9, 2023. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
- ^ a b Francis, Bryant (November 1, 2022). "The secret sauce of Pacific Drive's spooky vibes: maintaining your car". Game Developer. Informa. Archived from the original on November 14, 2022. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
- ^ a b c Francis, Bryant (November 1, 2022). "Lessons from the founding of Ironwood Studios". Game Developer. Informa. Archived from the original on November 14, 2022. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
- ^ a b Middler, Jordan (September 14, 2022). "PS5's new 'driving survival game' Pacific Drive revealed during State of Play". Video Games Chronicle. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on September 13, 2022. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
- ^ McClure, Deven (February 14, 2023). "Alexander Dracott & Seth Rosen Interview: Survival Game Pacific Drive". Screen Rant. Valnet. Archived from the original on February 15, 2023. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
- ^ Dove, Blake (September 13, 2022). "Pacific Drive welcomes you to the Olympic Exclusion Zone". PlayStation Blog. Sony Interactive Entertainment. Archived from the original on September 13, 2022. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
- ^ Marshall, Cass (September 13, 2022). "Pacific Drive is a road trip through cryptid hell, due out in 2023". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on September 13, 2022. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
- ^ Good, Owen S. (February 9, 2023). "Get behind the wheel of the world's baddest station wagon in Pacific Drive". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on February 9, 2023. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
- ^ Romano, Sal (June 10, 2023). "Pacific Drive to be published by Kepler Interactive". Gematsu. Archived from the original on June 10, 2023. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
- ^ Romano, Sal (August 18, 2023). "Pacific Drive delayed to early 2024". Gematsu. Archived from the original on August 19, 2023. Retrieved August 20, 2023.