If you’ve been thinking about getting *Pacific Drive*, just do it.

This game is not for everyone, but it’s absolutely good enough to pull you in for a long time if it clicks with you. Also, it’s not a AAA game, so keep that in mind.

Not everything is super intuitive at first. I’ve seen people complain that there’s no keybind to put your car in Drive/Park or turn the car off, but you actually unlock those keybinds as you play. Early on, you have to look to the right and do it manually, which honestly fits the game.

The atmosphere is insane. I played deep into the game a while back, so I already know the creatures and anomalies, but it still gets me. I still catch myself looking over my shoulder when I hear something. Rustling in the bushes, metal banging, weird sounds just outside your view. The game is *really* good at making you feel uneasy.

The start of the game feels **brutal** for some people. I spent a lot of time dying and repairing my car over and over when I first started because I didn’t fully understand what I was supposed to be doing.

The hardest part of the game, in my opinion, is **leaving**.

Once you have enough energy, you can leave. Hit a beacon on your map and **drive**.

That escape run is chaos. You’ll blast through the forest, hit trees and rocks, maybe pop a tire. It’s meant to feel panicked. It’s meant to be hard. But there’s a lot you can do to help yourself.

Stay on the roads as much as you can until you get better tires. Take it slow. You’re not some expert driver who knows the zone inside and out. It’s wet most of the time, and stuff can pop out of the ground. Slow and steady helps a lot.

And when you’re ready to leave, **don’t go uphill** if you can avoid it. I’m begging you. You’ll lose traction and slide right back down. Go around. Take your time. You usually have more time than you think.

That’s really the only downside for me.

I get that the game is mostly a driving/extraction loop, but compared to a lot of other games, I got way more sucked into the story than I expected. I listened to every audio log I could and read most of what I found. (There’s a *lot* to read, so yeah, I skipped some here and there.)

This is definitely a **“♥♥♥♥ around and find out”** kind of game. If you don’t pay attention, you’ll miss a lot of important information that would’ve helped you. Then suddenly you’re getting launched across the map because you ignored something.

Just give it a shot, and take it slow. Not every game needs to be researched and min-maxed.

*Pacific Drive* can be relaxing when it wants to be, and then suddenly turn into a creepy, heart-pounding nightmare when it wants to do that too. You can spend time just driving, listening to the radio, and watching the world. If you see something interesting, stop and check it out. Scan it. Read the description. You might find something helpful.

Not everything out there wants to kill you. Some things heal you, and some things give you useful items.