Ahead of Pacific Drive’s February 22 launch date, Game Director Alexander Dracott talked about the inspiration behind the game and its development journey in an interview with PlayStation Blog last Friday.
Pacific Drive's Inspiration and Development Journey
Nostalgia Ultra Through the Pacific Northwest
Game Director Alexander Dracott provided insights into the game's inspiration and development process in an interview with PlayStation Blog last Friday. Dracott revealed that the initial concept for Pacific Drive stemmed from his personal experiences and hobbies, particularly his fond memories of driving through the US region of the Pacific Northwest.
He drew inspiration from the atmospheric elements of the region, such as foggy forests and abandoned mining towns, which formed the basis of the game's setting. Dracott shared, "The initial idea goes back to some of my hobbies and growing up driving station wagons to go camping and out into the woods of the Pacific Northwest. The seed came from the things I saw driving alone in the woods, fog, and rain, seeing things like mining towns that haven’t seen the light of day. "
Your Car is Your Protector
As the development progressed, the team integrated various gameplay mechanics, doubling on the game's survival-focused narrative. Dracott explained, "The game started as simple test car in the woods, and as we started inserting more mechanics, we decided you should be able to turn the car off and on. It should have gas like you should have to refuel your car."
"It became apparent that there’s this overlap between the maintenance of a car you would expect and the item juggling you want from a survival game. What we ended up doing is taking the pressure that is always on the player in a lot of survival games and pushed it onto the car, and it clicked," he added.
As opposed to other car-centric games that feature a myriad of vehicles of different types and models, Pacific Drive features only one car—your station wagon—that players take care of as it provides them survivability. Dracott elucidated, "You’re forming this relationship with this car that becomes your protector."
"Unlike a lot of other car games where a lot of the focus on those titles is, 'let’s take one engine that we’re building our game in and have 300 cars that feel distinct and unique.' For us, it’s the opposite," the game director said.
Reflecting on the challenges of designing the mechanics for its car physics, Dracott highlighted their determination to create a cohesive and customizable system for the single vehicle. Dracott explained, "We’re going to have one car, but that car has to be able to get customized in different ways as players express themselves."
Mysterious Anomalies Amidst the Mist
Rather than traditional zombie enemies, Pacific Drive features unique anomalies and supernatural dangers that players must discover and navigate which contribute to the overall mystery and allure of the game world, according to the game director. Dracott also emphasized the importance of creating a dynamic and immersive environment in the game.
"I’ve always been a big fan of zoned stories and players being isolated, but in a space filled with interesting mechanics. For example, a lot of the enemy anomalies aren’t zombies that you just shoot. They’re more interesting and unique, and discovering what they are is part of the experience," explained Dracott.
Pacific Drive takes players on a stranger-than-stranger-things journey as they face the supernatural dangers of the Olympic Exclusion Zone with the station wagon as their lifeline in the driving survival adventure.
Dracott further shared, "The idea behind the Exclusion Zone, something that the government has walled off, instantly clicked because it gave us the freedom to both tell an interesting story and build this world while also filling it with things like those anomalies that people are going to have to learn and discover through the game’s mechanics."
Pacific Drives launches tomorrow, February 22, 2024, for PS5 and PC.
Source:
PlayStation Blog Dev interview: How Pacific Drive tunes up the survival genre with a station wagon
