PACIFIC DRIVE

Xen and the art of automobile maintenance

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At some point in the recent past, something weird happened along the Pacific Northwest coast of the United States. Now there are strange phenomena among the tall pines: clusters of rocks that bob in mid-air, unnatural glimmers of golden light emerging from the earth, stone pillars that rise from it seemingly of their own volition – and these are the examples with less obviously hostile intentions. This space has been designated the Olympic Exclusion Zone. And you’re trapped on the far side of it, with only a beaten-up station wagon to get you home.

In order to do that, you’ll first need to map out the Zone, one trip at a time. It’s split into smaller areas, each containing a randomised selection of anomalies as well as resources to keep your car ticking, most of them stripped off wrecks that attempted this journey before you. Pacific Drive has a Roguelike run-based structure, essentially, and Ironwood Studios invokes Spelunky’s level-timer ghost as a comparison for the storm that closes in when you’ve spent too long in the Zone. That game’s constant evaluation of risk versus reward is evident here too, but structurally Pacific Drive seems closest to the post-