After taking trips deeper into the Zone, I’ve reached the Pacific Drive ending. I was sad to reach the end, but it was well worth the ride. Even after the credits rolled, I spent additional hours in the garage and in the zone trying to unlock more secrets.
Going Green with the AMP Engine
After last time, I prepped my car for driving through the swamp areas in the zone. I needed the Swamp Coral to craft my AMP Engine. The Paddle Tires and Resource Radar really helped me gather all I needed on the next trip out into the zone.
I truly love arriving safely back at my garage in Pacific Drive, excited for what I can unlock and craft with my haul. After turning my car off and putting it in park, I wasted no time unloading my resources. Once those were in storage, I finally crafted my AMP Engine.
My days of worrying about gas in Pacific Drive ended, but it definitely renewed my battery anxiety. I knew battery drain was going to be my new issue, but I underestimated how much. Even though I crafted an XL Battery for the backseat, that just delayed the inevitable.
I already had Side Battery, Hydro Generator, Mini Turbine, Lightning Rod and Solar Panel. That combination was still not enough to keep my battery from steadily draining, unless it was storming outside to juice up power production.
Field Test Failed
After cruising through a few junctions and running into some anomalies, my battery died. I crafted several Battery Jumpers, but that was just a band aid. Worst still is the stability in that last junction collapsed and the instability storm restricted my options to salvage parts.
I tried and failed to scrounge enough to craft another Battery Jumper. In desperation, I even tried to push the car with no luck. I didn’t even have enough to craft a Carbureted Engine to swap out with my AMP Engine. When the instability storm completely covered the map, I took shelter in my car.
To my surprise, the storm actually charged my battery up a bit and I was able to limp to the exit portal. I was happy to not lose all my salvaged items, but that ordeal severely damages my car parts. It was clear I needed another solution to handle the all electric engine.
Multiple Power Backup Prepped for Pacific Drive Ending
I didn’t want to give up my Roof Storage and Resource Radar to install a XL Roof Battery. Instead of that, I crafted several Plasma Chargers that were each like the capacity of 3 Battery Jumpers. I also packed an Extra Side Battery as another backup.
That worked well for medium trips, but I still ran into problems on longer trips. The final trick that worked for me is packing extra generators of each type. That way, I could install the ideal setup for the current junction. For example, when it’s sunny, I’d remove the Hydro Generator and install another Solar Panel.
I wanted to add even more of a backup for the Pacific Drive ending. To accomplish that, I upgraded my trunk storage to the max and packed my gas guzzling Turbo Light Engine back there. From then on, if the worst happened and I exhausted my battery power, I could just swap out engines to make it home.
It’s actually interesting there’s no true hybrid engine setup.
Racing to the Pacific Drive Ending
Once I squared away my all electric engine setup, I committed to preparing for the Pacific Drive ending missions into the Zone. I took some resource gathering trips leading up to the next main mission goal in hopes of maxing everything out.
What I found though, is that main missions are often the best place to gather supplies. Those main junctions are typically more stable, so I just started working on the end game. Before I knew it, I was racing around roads, using my car to pass electric charge off to relays like a baton.
I found myself cruising to the end. There was an odd bit where I was walking around an otherworldly area, hearing people that died. At the end of my journey though, it was a mad race to the exit portal again in my trusty station wagon.
After dodging giant chunks of rock and a huge combo of anomalies, I escaped and returned safely to the Pacific Drive garage. With a bit of radio chatter about how my mission givers would spend the rest of their days, the credits rolled.
Spending Extra Time in the Garage and in the Zone
Even after the Pacific Drive ending credits rolled, I couldn’t wait to see what I could upgrade with my salvaged items. Figures that after finishing the game, I finally could craft some Olympian Doors. Those top tier doors would have been nice deep in the zone where anomalies are explosive.
For one of the upgrades I wanted to unlock, I had to die in the zone, then go back to that spot to scan my car corpse. Since I didn’t want to lose all my precious parts, I stripped the car all the way down. I then installed only enough parts to get me out of the garage, hence the picture above.
I spent more of my items to upgrade my garage and unlock additional vehicle upgrades. There’s plenty of upgrades to play with, but none of them were a requirement to complete the game. Maybe for other players some of the upgrades I skipped are more useful, like the Jump Jacks.
Fun Upgrades, but Not Necessary
Sure, being able to jump the car like K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider is fun, but landing damages parts. There is an upgrade for an anti gravity device for a softer landing, but I unlocked that way too late to be of much use. There’s even a device to slow time that I just never got around to trying.
I guess a bit of complaint I have after reaching the Pacific Drive ending is that a ton of the upgrades seem like just nice to haves. Would have been nice to have side missions or even main missions to try them all out. Although I did spend several hours playing after the credits rolled, now is the time to move onto a new game.
I actually uninstalled it from my gaming PC, but left it on my Steam Deck in case I get the urge to chase the last upgrades. The Pacific Drive Ending was also a bit abrupt. I loved the journey there, but I wonder if there could have been a bigger payoff in the end.
Now I hope Pacific Drive releases some story DLC to entice me back into the Zone and test some of those upgrades out.