The latest trailer for the indie horror-adventure game Dead Static Drive makes a clever and exciting pitch. Developer Fanclub claims that Dead Static Drive is best considered "Grand Theft Cthulhu," a mix of the Grand Theft Auto franchise's action-adventure origins and Lovecraftian horror. According to the new trailer, Dead Static Drive will be "Coming Soon," though the game's Steam profile lists an ambiguous 2020 release window.
Dead Static Drive is described by its creator, Mike Blackney, as a comic book-styled, 80's-themed driving horror game. Blackney says that players will be driving through America, visiting strange locations, and trying to stave off the end of the world. Like in the classic Grand Theft Auto games, the camera is a third-person, isometric angle. Players will be able to swap vehicles at their leisure, or exit their vehicle and explore as they please. It's the apocalypse, so players can choose for themselves how best to survive or enjoy the time they have left.
The gameplay trailer teases some of what players can expect to experience in Dead Static Drive. Players will have to deal with a large variety of Lovecraftian monsters that can pop out of the ground, rush the player from off-screen, or transform a perceived friend into a nightmare instantly. Players aren't without armament, however. Cars themselves will do a lot of work, so long as players keep them gassed up. Exploration will also provide weapons and other useful items, though scarcity makes options limited.
While the gameplay shown in the trailer is fairly limited, as it's mostly just driving or running around with enemies on the screen, there are some hints about what else the game will offer in its Steam profile. "Sneak, scavenge, fight, befriend, barricade, and bunker-in, or steal a car and drive off into the sunset," are some of the ways gameplay in Dead Static Drive is characterized. It very much sounds like there're more survival aspects to this horror game than are immediately apparent.
Interestingly, the first video released for Dead Static Drive was dropped more than 5 years ago. Blackney's Youtube channel is otherwise empty beyond the brand new trailer, but it seems Blackney has been working on Dead Static Drive for quite some time. Despite the lack of trailers, Blackney has shown off Dead Static Drive plenty through 2019, including showcases at Gamescom and PAX. Blackney also confirms that his team grew from just himself to "nearly a dozen rad devs" in 2019. Hopefully, 2020 is even bigger for Dead Static Drive.
Dead Static Drive releases in 2020 on PC.