Is Pacific Drive a Roguelike?

Pacific Drive is a game quite unlike most others. As we previously discussed in our content, we're looking at something along the lines of STALKER here, albeit not quite as hardcore and horrific as that game was. Still, players are faced with anomalous activity within the confines of the Olympic Exclusion Zone, and that means you're facing all manner of weird stuff throughout. In fact, the biggest anomaly of them all is the world of Pacific Drive itself, but why is that the case?

As you'll learn quickly as you jump into Pacific Drive, the very core of the game is centred around the idea of it being an ever-changing experience. No two levels are the same, for all intents and purposes, and that's because the Zone is almost literally allergic to things that do not change. Items that stay the same - Remnants - are an extreme rarity in the OEZ, which is why your jalopy is so important. Does this all mean that Pacific Drive is a true Roguelike, then?

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Is Pacific Drive a Roguelike?

In gameplay terms, Pacific Drive is decidedly not a true Roguelike. Instead, it's a rogue-lite, with certain changing and evolving elements but still mainly focused on providing you with an overarching sense of progression and improvement over time. Remember: Rogue did not have anything resembling meta-progression back in the day, and for a game to be a true Roguelike, it would need to do away with anything modern like that.

The vast majority of such games nowadays are rogue-lites, instead, and Pacific Drive slots firmly into this niche as well. Your car and the loot you collect all stay the same over the course of your runs, after all. The levels themselves shift around as per the Zone itself, but you get to keep your gear, loot, and upgrades whenever you leave your garage, which is not something that's present in true Roguelikes.

This means that Pacific Drive isn't nearly as hardcore as true Roguelikes have been, historically. Sure, there are some pretty hardcore elements to the game, and you definitely need to stay on your toes and prepare for failure when the going gets tough, but you'll never lose everything you've earned up until that point. In fact, we learned that Pacific Drive looks way more hardcore and intense than it actually is, serving up a decidedly analogue and stat-focused experience that gives you every opportunity to make it out of a ride alive.

Not a bad thing, mind: Pacific Drive is a deeply immersive and engaging game, and it doesn't need to be ridiculously difficult to achieve that goal. Turning the game into a true-to-form Roguelike would've been a mistake, and the rogue-lite approach is a far superior strategy for the developer!

Play Pacific Drive on PC today!