Pacific Drive is an upcoming horror game that will have gamers relying on their vehicle as they cross the Pacific Northwest. The game turns the classic road trip story into a horror game, and the setting appears to feature prominently. Ironwood Studios, like many studios prior, seems to be taking a lot of inspiration from their home, which is certainly not a bad move.
Drawing inspiration from one's hometown is a good way to ensure authenticity, especially when it is a setting, such as Seattle, that is already bursting with personality. Pacific Drive will not be the first game to be set in Seattle, but the personal touch could help to differentiate it from the other games on the market. It is scheduled to release next year.
Pacific Drive Takes Gamers to Seattle
Pacific Drive made an appearance during the State of Play, revealing itself to be a first-person horror game where players will have their car as their only companion as they navigate a strange world. Developed by Ironwood Studios, players will have to rely on their car to survive, and they will have to scavenge for a resource to keep their car running and ensure it continues to protect them. The studio's communications and marketing specialist, Blake Dove, has briefly explained the game's plot. Following government experiments performed in the Pacific Northwest, bizarre phenomena occur that involve radiation, supernatural horrors, and environmental decay. To protect the public, the government establishes the Olympic Exclusion Zone, which becomes shrouded in secrecy.
Players, driven by their curiosity, seek to explore the Olympic Exclusion Zone. However, things don't go as planned, and players find themselves stuck inside. To make it out alive, players will have to overcome strange anomalies and maintain their vehicle. It appears that gameplay will involve plenty of scavenging, as well as tons of exploration, which will be made more interesting by the fact that the land will shift with every passing storm. As perilous as exploration is, it is worth it, as the various biomes that players discover will offer valuable rewards.
It appears that the game will offer a terrifying take on a road trip through Seattle. It is not unexpected that developers would take inspiration from Seattle, as Ironwood Studios is based there. This puts the studio in a good position to craft an authentic experience, and this method has served plenty of other developers quite well.
Developers Who Have Been Inspired by Their Homes
The developers at Ironwood Studios aren't the only ones who have been inspired by Seattle, which is a location that has popped up quite frequently in gaming. Sucker Punch visited the location in Infamous Second Son, released in 2014. It was decided that the game would be set in Seattle because it is the studio's hometown, and developers felt they would do justice to a location they were familiar with.
Many other studios have also set their games in their hometowns, including Bend Studio, which took inspiration from Oregon when crafting the world of Days Gone. Consequently, the game is filled with dirt roads, orange leaves, and tall pine trees. Fans of the game have noted how much effort has been taken to ensure that the game's world feels authentic, and side-by-side shorts seem to reveal that some in-game locations have been lifted directly from the real world.
Developers like Bend Studio stand to gain many benefits from setting a game in their hometown. Working with a familiar location makes it far easier to deliver an authentic experience, and it gives them the extra motivation needed to include the much-appreciated minor details that make a game special. Pacific Drive's location appears to be quite important to the game, and it will be interesting to see how Ironwood Studios has transformed the setting into a place of horror.
Pacific Drive is scheduled to release in 2023.