The Alters at its core is a narrative-driven jaunt combining base-building, survival and exploration mechanics to tell the story of Jan Doleski (voiced by Alex Jordan) who has found himself in perhaps one of the most classic tropes in Sci-Fi: a man stranded on a planet and trying to find his way home. My rating is based on the fact that 10 doesn't mean perfect but that it's masterpiece, and 11bit has done that through wonderful story telling and atmosphere. Your alters, are replicant crew members who represent alternative decisions that our Jan Doleski could have made, and tell a very grounded story about the fundamentally flawed human condition. Whether a workaholic but unequivocally gifted researcher who drove everyone away to achieve success to an alcoholic, hard-nosed miner who always is trying to prove himself, Alex Jordan convincingly fills the roll of multiple Jan Doleskis each with complex idealisms, beliefs, flaws and attitudes. each Jan is a culmination of his choices,a differing internal engine that drives them, which leads to several different versions of yourself with drastically different moral compasses. 11bit should be praised for its convincing representation of fundamentally human moral ambiguity within the scope of the game. Combined with a tense balance of keeping everyone fed, self-fulfilled and most importantly, out of the sun, the gameplay loop of ever expansion and resource mining to keep your base movingly forward is rewarding as you find ways to more efficiently explore, keep your alters (and yourself) sane, and maybe even change the fate humanity. 11bit has truly nailed some core aspects of Sci-fi, isolation, exploration, unbelievable technology, all wrapped together with a truly breathtaking soundtrack by Piotr Musiał. This game didn't take $200 million to tell a story, and if you lement that this game could be "so much more" or "it doesn't feel AAA", it doesn't take away from the fact that 11bit managed to tell a wonderfully human and atmospheric sci-fi tale of a man trying to understand himself and make his way back home.
Pacific drive is a game of figuring it out and pushing your limits. The game offers so much depth in the design of the zone, the great characters and voice-acting, eeriee feel and crafting and customisation. Does it have a learning curve? Sure, but you are rewarded with modules to make your car better and conquer challenges. Can't save mid run? No one is forcing you to go out on a massive run, it can be as short or long as you like. I think focusing on minor issues is a poor way to look at the scope of this game. It created an addictive gameplay loop, rewarding with your time, and creates memorable moments in both it's story, it's gameplay, and learning to love and cherish the crappy wagon turned pseudo companion. The car is suppose to ****, look at it, but you turn it into the wilderness atv it can become through upgrades. If you give it more than the 1 hour most people seem to be grading it on, it'll give you alot more back.
