In a recent interview by SASS Gaming during PAX East, Blake Dove, the communications and marketing specialist at Ironwood Studios has revealed details about their upcoming car building survival game Pacific Drive.

Pacific Drive is a run-based survival driving game, set in an alternate history version of the Pacific Northwest in the Olympic Peninsula. The government isolated the area from the rest of the United States and created what is now called the Olympic Exclusion Zone.

As the player, you become very curious about such an event and set out to explore it.

The longer you stay out on a run, the more hostile the zone becomes.

In this area, you find an old beat-up station wagon that you need to repair and upgrade over the course of the game. You set up camp in a garage and add different stations to advance the game over time. You take your car out on loot runs to find new materials and continue the narrative of Pacific Drive. You will not be constrained to the car, so you can get out and explore on foot, loot buildings, or repair your vehicle. The longer you stay out on a run, the more hostile the zone becomes. When this happens you need to race to the exit as fast as you can.

Making sure your car stays in shape is an important part of the game and this mechanic is highly detailed. One of the developers bought a real-life old station wagon to see how it functions and what would break by using it. The vehicle can also adopt random quirks, for example, when you turn on the radio it will also activate your wipers, or turning on the headlights also turns on the dome light. You could choose to either live with these quirks or fix them if you know how to do so.

Pacific Drive will release later in 2023 on Steam, Epic Games, and PlayStation 5.

Are you excited about the upcoming Pacific Drive release? Let me know in the comments.