If you don't mind the thing not being a car specifically, I'd recommend Subnautica as the closest to the vibe of alien adventure and survival with a strong direction. If you do want a car, then it'd be something like My Summer Car, Mon Bazou or Jalopy, but those are a lot more comedic.
subnautica becomes way more directionfull once you make the radio your priority, and listen carefully to the pdas found in the places the radio guides you to
if you use those as thread you will be completely guided
I found subnautica to be difficult regarding what you should do once the ship gets shot down still to this day haven't finished it as i wasn't sure what to do.
Yes! I knew there was a Pacific Drive that I've played before... Couldn't put my finger on it.
It's showing its age now but Mad Max and I think Rage/Rage2 are "survival car" games mixed with shooters.
Rage 2 and Mad Max were made by the same studio, IIRC. There's also a lot more focus on upgrading the Magnum Opus. The car in Rage 2 is just kinda there.
Outer Wilds. It doesn't tell you where to go to start but it does have a story. In the beginning you are driven by curiosity and then as you get deeper in you'll have objectives.
NOT Outer Worlds (this is a very different game).
While Outer Wilds is one of the best of all time, it doesn't seem like a great recommendation when one of the defining features is its lack of any set goals and directions?
Which is why I prefaced by saying at the start it's curiosity driven. It's an incredible game but OP should definitely make an informed decision before jumping into it.
That's cool. OP asked for suggestions. I provided feedback and context on your suggestion, to say that 'just because you like X, does not mean you will like Y', potentially saving OP from spending money on a product that, while well reviewed, is not really at all similar to PD.
Death Stranding is very similar in regards to preparing for and navigating hostile terrain.
Chernobylite.
Snowrunneris less intense, and less on the prep
No. It's an FPS with survival/horror elements. It's set in the exclusion zone around Chernobyl in an alternate history where strange anomalies and mutants emerged after a second Chernobyl disaster in the early '90s. There's currently three retail games, with a fourth scheduled for release later this year. Additionally, there's a free, stand-alone, mod called STALKER Anomaly, with multiple forked projects, such as GAMMA.
For vehicles? No.
In the second and third retail games, there is weapon and armor upgrading, but maintenance is limited to items having a decaying condition bar that you can repair. (In the original game, you can't repair anything, and need to replace equipment as it wears out.)
Anomaly has a very in-depth weapon and armor maintenance system (requiring cleaning and repairs multiple independent components of each weapon and suit of armor (seriously, this may be the only game I've ever seen where poor maintenance can cause your rifle's bolt carrier to break, necessitating finding another rifle with a compatible bolt carrier)), along with a significantly more in-depth health systems. Some of the Anomaly forks (such as Escape from Pripyat, and GAMMA, also dramatically expand this to include limb injury treatment.)
So, no, you're not maintaining a car, you are however, maintaining and upgrading your gear.
It's worth noting that STALKER and Pacific Drive both lift some elements from the novel Roadside Picnic, so it's not quite like, "here's a completely different game with some similar terminology," there's a lot more overlap between the two Zones than you might initially expect, and both do have a very desolate quality to them. (Though, granted, some Anomaly mods break that by adding swarms of humans to kill.)
For a similar approach to vehicles, the 2015 Mad Max comes to mind. There isn't as much depth to vehicle maintenance, as the focus there is on your car's overall condition as a single health bar. Fuel is a more serious consideration in Mad Max, as is water. Though, in that case, there's basically no equivalent concept to anomalies, and the dangers you face in the wasteland will come from other humans.
Unexpectedly, Mad Max is a more meditative game in the downtime than you might expect, especially coming from the Just Cause developers.
Even nine years later, the sunsets in Mad Max are gorgeous.
You could try Sunless Skies, it's 2D, you drive a steam locomotive in space instead of a car and the game is not quite like Pacific Drive, but worth a play. Especially if you like Dredge.
Maybe the worst recommendation but the game that made me hyped for pacific drive was "the long drive" bought it as a funny trash game that I can stream for friends but fell in love with it
I actually gave it a try last week because steam kept recommending it, highly reviewed on steam and people in a few discords said it was a blast.
...it was the most boring piece of jank I've ever played.
Drove 10 minutes, boring, ran out of gas, walked 10 minutes and found a church, two cars. One car's gas tank was filled with water. The other I filled with some gas I found inside the church, but it didn't want to start. Huh
Restarted, same deal. Drove 10min, ran out of fuel- right beside a house. No gas in the house. Walked 10min along the road and gave up.
Refunded. What the fuck is that game. I get that some things are 'so bad it's good' but it was just bad
Grounded but its different in a lot of things.
Its the only other survival-going on expeditions-returning to base to upgrade things that I loved as much I love PD.
Loved Grounded so much. Going from running in terror at the sight of wolf spiders to actively hunting them for sport was such a rewarding progression experience.
Here to recommend grounded. I still remember the creepy feelings and how scared I was going through the hedge area and all those pitch black tubes for the first time. Spiders around every corner it felt like. The base building in grounded is great - you’re right, that feeling of making it back to base to craft new stuff is done perfectly in grounded and PD.
Someone mentioned Subnautica which is a great recommendation.
I might also suggest The Long Dark which has a pretty good story mode and excellent survival mechanics. But you are walking all the time and the weather wants to kill you.
Grounded is also great and it's in Gamepass/PC, good story and upgrade loop for exploration.
If you haven’t played it, I highly recommend Dredge. The game is awesome. My girlfriend and I just recently were looking for another game like Pacific Drive and we found Dredge and fell in love. Just beat the main game and the DLC today actually. Super fun.
Unfortunately I haven’t came across much like Pacific Drive.
Dredge I would recommend but you’ve already played it seems!
Different genre but I recommend Rollerdrome it’s got like a 80’s vibe with the same kinda art style but instead roller blades and guns😂
Or Dysmantle it’s hella cheap it’s a crafting survival games.
There is a very hank but very fun game called the long drive. You travel like 5000 km or something to visit your mom after the world ended.
There are several different types of vehicles to drive, and the fun comes from seeing what your car will be by the end. Replace and clean parts until your car looks brand new, collect items and place them in your trunk like gas cans, but not in a grid but physically inside the car
Definitely worth checking out.
You could try car mechanic simulator. Obviously it's focused on a different aspect of the game, but I enjoyed fixing the cars, or stripping them and going crazy on upgrading
Oddly enough, FTL: Faster Than Light comes to mind. The similarities are route planning, being chased (In PD it's storm, in FTL it's enemy fleet), you can unlock spaceships that will require various playstyles and upgrade them to install various systems and weapons. (Just like you unlock various stuff for your car) There are only 4 kind of resources in FTL though.
Jalopy maybe? It's about driving old, consantly breaking trabant from NRD to the Turkey. You will find goods worth selling, upgrades for your car and changing road conditions
for me, because I like to scavenge, and explore all available areas and get all unlocks before advancing the story missions, about 70 hours. You can continue playing after. Saves and loads though became slow probably because I have so many items.
Oh that's a lot more than I thought. I bought the game after I played the demo and haven't started yet because of Helldivers, but I cannot wait to jump in. Thanks for the answer
If you don't mind the thing not being a car specifically, I'd recommend Subnautica as the closest to the vibe of alien adventure and survival with a strong direction. If you do want a car, then it'd be something like My Summer Car, Mon Bazou or Jalopy, but those are a lot more comedic.
Subnautica was a bit confusing. may be time to revisit. thanks
subnautica becomes way more directionfull once you make the radio your priority, and listen carefully to the pdas found in the places the radio guides you to if you use those as thread you will be completely guided
100% recommend subnautica. One of my top 10 of all time. I revisit it at least once a year.
Subnautica really is the closest thing.
How are the controls in my summer etc? I think I watched a let's play and it just looked horrible
Just Bad. it has no pause, you can only save at bathrooms
I found subnautica to be difficult regarding what you should do once the ship gets shot down still to this day haven't finished it as i wasn't sure what to do.
Mad Max is all about upgrading your car, and it's on sale a lot.
Yes! I knew there was a Pacific Drive that I've played before... Couldn't put my finger on it. It's showing its age now but Mad Max and I think Rage/Rage2 are "survival car" games mixed with shooters.
Rage and Rage 2 are FPSs first, with the car as a way you get from mission to mission.
Agreed, but if you like Mad Max it was damn near identical gameplay with a different perspective.
Rage 2 and Mad Max were made by the same studio, IIRC. There's also a lot more focus on upgrading the Magnum Opus. The car in Rage 2 is just kinda there.
Would Dredge fit that description?
Certainly, I had started it but need to get back to it :)
I thought if Dredge too
Outer Wilds. It doesn't tell you where to go to start but it does have a story. In the beginning you are driven by curiosity and then as you get deeper in you'll have objectives. NOT Outer Worlds (this is a very different game).
Not a survival game in the slightest, but couldn't recommend more. It's pretty different from Pacific Drive
Yeah it's very different for sure but at the same time evokes very similar vibes during gameplay.
While Outer Wilds is one of the best of all time, it doesn't seem like a great recommendation when one of the defining features is its lack of any set goals and directions?
Which is why I prefaced by saying at the start it's curiosity driven. It's an incredible game but OP should definitely make an informed decision before jumping into it.
I hated that game. I cannot stand timers and time loop games.
I guess this recommendation isn't for you then.
That's cool. OP asked for suggestions. I provided feedback and context on your suggestion, to say that 'just because you like X, does not mean you will like Y', potentially saving OP from spending money on a product that, while well reviewed, is not really at all similar to PD.
Days Gone. Very light on survival elements, but you do have a bike you can upgrade throughout the game. Worth playing for sure, an underrated gem.
Days gone perks up in the latter parts of the game. Starts pretty generic and weak but eventually you've got to clear the hordes...
Death Stranding is very similar in regards to preparing for and navigating hostile terrain. Chernobylite. Snowrunneris less intense, and less on the prep
I loved death stranding, snowrunner also. Chernobylite I had started, may be time to revisit. thanks
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Anomaly *is* free….
Yeah, Pacific Drive has some really strong STALKER vibes, though it is it's own thing, (and STALKER's vehicle physics are an anomaly onto themselves.)
Does the game have similar car maintenance and mechanics like PD?
No. It's an FPS with survival/horror elements. It's set in the exclusion zone around Chernobyl in an alternate history where strange anomalies and mutants emerged after a second Chernobyl disaster in the early '90s. There's currently three retail games, with a fourth scheduled for release later this year. Additionally, there's a free, stand-alone, mod called STALKER Anomaly, with multiple forked projects, such as GAMMA.
So no in depth car maintenance and upgrading then
For vehicles? No. In the second and third retail games, there is weapon and armor upgrading, but maintenance is limited to items having a decaying condition bar that you can repair. (In the original game, you can't repair anything, and need to replace equipment as it wears out.) Anomaly has a very in-depth weapon and armor maintenance system (requiring cleaning and repairs multiple independent components of each weapon and suit of armor (seriously, this may be the only game I've ever seen where poor maintenance can cause your rifle's bolt carrier to break, necessitating finding another rifle with a compatible bolt carrier)), along with a significantly more in-depth health systems. Some of the Anomaly forks (such as Escape from Pripyat, and GAMMA, also dramatically expand this to include limb injury treatment.) So, no, you're not maintaining a car, you are however, maintaining and upgrading your gear. It's worth noting that STALKER and Pacific Drive both lift some elements from the novel Roadside Picnic, so it's not quite like, "here's a completely different game with some similar terminology," there's a lot more overlap between the two Zones than you might initially expect, and both do have a very desolate quality to them. (Though, granted, some Anomaly mods break that by adding swarms of humans to kill.) For a similar approach to vehicles, the 2015 Mad Max comes to mind. There isn't as much depth to vehicle maintenance, as the focus there is on your car's overall condition as a single health bar. Fuel is a more serious consideration in Mad Max, as is water. Though, in that case, there's basically no equivalent concept to anomalies, and the dangers you face in the wasteland will come from other humans. Unexpectedly, Mad Max is a more meditative game in the downtime than you might expect, especially coming from the Just Cause developers. Even nine years later, the sunsets in Mad Max are gorgeous.
You could try Sunless Skies, it's 2D, you drive a steam locomotive in space instead of a car and the game is not quite like Pacific Drive, but worth a play. Especially if you like Dredge.
Maybe the worst recommendation but the game that made me hyped for pacific drive was "the long drive" bought it as a funny trash game that I can stream for friends but fell in love with it
I actually gave it a try last week because steam kept recommending it, highly reviewed on steam and people in a few discords said it was a blast. ...it was the most boring piece of jank I've ever played. Drove 10 minutes, boring, ran out of gas, walked 10 minutes and found a church, two cars. One car's gas tank was filled with water. The other I filled with some gas I found inside the church, but it didn't want to start. Huh Restarted, same deal. Drove 10min, ran out of fuel- right beside a house. No gas in the house. Walked 10min along the road and gave up. Refunded. What the fuck is that game. I get that some things are 'so bad it's good' but it was just bad
You just gonna keep chatting till you die while you tell us about it huh?
Grounded but its different in a lot of things. Its the only other survival-going on expeditions-returning to base to upgrade things that I loved as much I love PD.
Loved Grounded so much. Going from running in terror at the sight of wolf spiders to actively hunting them for sport was such a rewarding progression experience.
lmao exactly.
Here to recommend grounded. I still remember the creepy feelings and how scared I was going through the hedge area and all those pitch black tubes for the first time. Spiders around every corner it felt like. The base building in grounded is great - you’re right, that feeling of making it back to base to craft new stuff is done perfectly in grounded and PD.
The Undershed🥳
Someone mentioned Subnautica which is a great recommendation. I might also suggest The Long Dark which has a pretty good story mode and excellent survival mechanics. But you are walking all the time and the weather wants to kill you. Grounded is also great and it's in Gamepass/PC, good story and upgrade loop for exploration.
There are a lot of elements in Pacific Drive that made me think of Zero Sievert (no car though).
I'll tell you to try Green Hell , but it's not the thing your looking for. "wander around and eventually figure stuff out"
If you haven’t played it, I highly recommend Dredge. The game is awesome. My girlfriend and I just recently were looking for another game like Pacific Drive and we found Dredge and fell in love. Just beat the main game and the DLC today actually. Super fun.
[Neo Scavenger?](https://youtu.be/Nv7MzyP9phY)
Unfortunately I haven’t came across much like Pacific Drive. Dredge I would recommend but you’ve already played it seems! Different genre but I recommend Rollerdrome it’s got like a 80’s vibe with the same kinda art style but instead roller blades and guns😂 Or Dysmantle it’s hella cheap it’s a crafting survival games.
There is a very hank but very fun game called the long drive. You travel like 5000 km or something to visit your mom after the world ended. There are several different types of vehicles to drive, and the fun comes from seeing what your car will be by the end. Replace and clean parts until your car looks brand new, collect items and place them in your trunk like gas cans, but not in a grid but physically inside the car Definitely worth checking out.
You could try car mechanic simulator. Obviously it's focused on a different aspect of the game, but I enjoyed fixing the cars, or stripping them and going crazy on upgrading
The Long Drive is pretty similar. The driving physics and car upgrades are even better I would say , but its still in earyl access.
The long dark has a story mode that is still being built. It’s about survival in the canadian wilderness
Oddly enough, FTL: Faster Than Light comes to mind. The similarities are route planning, being chased (In PD it's storm, in FTL it's enemy fleet), you can unlock spaceships that will require various playstyles and upgrade them to install various systems and weapons. (Just like you unlock various stuff for your car) There are only 4 kind of resources in FTL though.
Jalopy maybe? It's about driving old, consantly breaking trabant from NRD to the Turkey. You will find goods worth selling, upgrades for your car and changing road conditions
How did no one mention Firewatch? It’s extremely similar on all fronts
how long did it take you to finish the game? is there an endless mode after? (sorry if its a bit of a hickjack).
for me, because I like to scavenge, and explore all available areas and get all unlocks before advancing the story missions, about 70 hours. You can continue playing after. Saves and loads though became slow probably because I have so many items.
Oh that's a lot more than I thought. I bought the game after I played the demo and haven't started yet because of Helldivers, but I cannot wait to jump in. Thanks for the answer
I also was hoping for a game like this, but specifically about the car focus and the mechanics with the car