This Driving Survival Roguelike is one of the Great Video Game Mash-ups
Pacific Drive is presented as an unusual blend of driving, survival, roguelike and science-fiction horror elements, now available through Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus. Set in an alternate 1990s Pacific Northwest, it asks players to explore a dangerous irradiated exclusion zone in a station wagon that becomes central to both the gameplay and the game’s personality.
Players undertake semi-randomised expeditions to gather materials, uncover mysteries and upgrade their vehicle, while managing hazards such as toxic waste, lightning and hostile scrap. Failed or abandoned runs cost collected loot and can leave the car badly damaged; escaping requires triggering a gateway and racing through a collapsing landscape, with no opportunity to save during an expedition.
- Pacific Drive combines survival, driving and roguelike gameplay.
- Your customisable station wagon is central to survival.
- High-stakes runs can lose loot and progress.
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Pacific Drive is a single-player video game set in a fictional version of the Pacific Northwest of the United States during the 1990s. The area is an exclusion zone, meaning it has been sealed off because of strange and dangerous events, and players must explore it from the safety of an ageing station wagon.
The game combines several styles of play. Driving is central, but players also collect supplies, repair and improve their car, and try to survive unusual environmental threats while learning more about the zone.
Its “roguelike” structure means each trip into the zone can differ, with layouts and dangers changing between expeditions. Losing a trip can mean losing collected equipment or returning with a damaged vehicle, so decisions about when to continue exploring and when to escape are important.