Pacific Drive acquired its “largest ever free content material replace” this week, one which introduces a model new method of enjoying Ironwood Studios’ vehicular survival sport. However you’d higher step away from the newswheel, bucko, as a result of I am hijacking this text for my very own devious ends. Whereas the headline addition of the replace is a few fancy-sounding expeditions, it is a secondary function developer Ironwood Studios has folded in, which truly made me take into account reinstalling the sport.
You see, though I admired a lot about Pacific Drive, from its anomaly-strewn slice of West Coast woodland to its surprisingly intense automobile simulation, I in the end bailed on the sport for one particular cause: saving. Beforehand, Pacific Drive solely autosaved upon entry to a brand new junction (the sport’s identify for its open-ended, driveable map chunks) with guide saving restricted to your storage.
The latter performance I used to be effective with, however the former meant for those who have been mid-junction and out of the blue needed to attend to life stuff, you can find yourself shedding an enormous slice of progress. This occurred to me a number of occasions, till ultimately I received uninterested in working via the identical chunk of world once more.
It looks like I am not the one individual to have suffered from this problem. “We firmly imagine within the core design of the Pacific Drive gameplay loop and the chance that comes from a possible misplaced run. Nonetheless, we all know that typically life occurs,” writes Ironwood in its Steam replace weblog. “Since launch, via suggestions and dialogue in regards to the sport, gamers have made clear that there’s an ask for the power to save lots of the sport at any level.”
Consequently, the brand new replace provides a “droop run” function that appears like a extra conventional save and give up, letting you keep your progress up to date you cease enjoying. It seems this was difficult to get working, as Ironwood says it’ll present a “extra technical clarification” sooner or later. However realizing that I can give up with out shedding any progress undoubtedly makes me extra inclined to play once more, as the sport was robust sufficient with out forcing you to play via total junctions at a time.
Proper, information hijack over, regular service resumes. The replace’s main addition to Pacific Drive is expeditions—offshoot driving adventures which have a extra standard roguelite construction. Ironwood explains how they work within the weblog. “Expeditions begin within the storage with an ever-changing set of challenges and restrictions, producing new routes, and ramping up the problem to make sure that each journey feels recent.”
These expeditions will function new junction sorts, together with Pit Cease junctions that present a protected space to restore your automobile and recuperate out of your travels. Expeditions additionally introduce a brand new store referred to as Ida’s Trade, an itinerant dealer who’ll seem at completely different factors alongside your journey. Intriguingly, expeditions should not a separate sport mode, however unlock at an early level through the marketing campaign, and may be accomplished in parallel with the primary story. In the event you purchase helpful gadgets and upgrades on an expedition, you’ll use them to progress your journey, which is fairly neat.
There are additionally just a few different issues the replace provides, like upgrades and new features for the plasma scrapper and thermal vacuum and over an hour of latest music comprised of 21 tracks from each new and returning artists. All of it quantities to a fairly beefy vary of additives. To coincide with the replace, Pacific Drive is at present on a 40% low cost, that means you may choose it up for $17.99/£14.99. The low cost ends April 15.
