DaRmaZat Pacific Drive was always a strange kind of survival game — one where you’re not the hero, but your car is. Your battered station wagon isn’t just transportation; it’s your partner, your panic button, and your lifeline. Since its early 2024 release, the game has come a long way. Performance issues and odd bugs that once plagued the PC version have largely been ironed out, allowing its rhythm of driving, repairing, and surviving to finally hit its stride. And now, there’s even DLC — and not just any DLC.
Lost and Found in the Zone
Whispers in the Woods — the first major, and perhaps ultimate, expansion to Pacific Drive — doesn’t just extend the formula, it deepens it with something darker. The new region of the Olympic Exclusion Zone, a dense and unnerving forest filled with symbols, murmuring voices, and cult-like rituals, feels different from the open highways of the base game. You’re given a fresh storyline and new systems to explore, but the tone has shifted: fewer storms, more psychological tension.
The narrative thread of this expansion involves a cult that worships the Zone’s anomalies instead of fighting them, fitting seamlessly within Pacific Drive’s strange lore. Expect eight to twelve hours of new content, depending on how thorough you are — and none of it feels like filler.
The DLC can slot into your existing save or be accessed just a few hours in. What stands out immediately is the atmosphere. The forest feels alive and hostile — fog lingers longer than it should, strange altars ignite when you draw near, and ghostly voices break through the static of your radio. Pacific Drive always had mood, but here it truly blossoms into something haunting.
Learning the Hard Way
Naturally, the core loop of this DLC remains the same: scavenge materials, upgrade your car, complete runs, and return to the garage to patch your life back together. Only now, Whispers in the Woods adds more risk and more mystery. New “attuned” car parts and artifacts offer strong bonuses, but often at unpredictable costs. Sometimes your headlights give you a speed boost when turned off; sometimes your horn starts blaring every time the trunk closes. It’s bizarre in the best way, but also confusing — especially early on.
The game has never been particularly generous with guidance, and this expansion doubles down on that opacity. There are moments when your objective is crystal clear, and others where you stare at the quest log waiting for an update that never comes. That unpredictability is part of the charm, but occasionally, it crosses into frustration. I’ll admit it — once again, I had to consult a guide once or twice to figure out what the game actually wanted from me.
Smoother Performance, Same-ish Handling
Technically, the difference since launch is striking. I clearly remember the original PC version struggling with framerate drops and stuttering loads at launch. But now everything feels — and drives — smoother. Even in dense forest sections filled with particles and dynamic lighting, the game holds steady. The physics glitches and stutters that annoyed me so badly in the beginning are mostly gone.
Still, Pacific Drive’s controls remain a mixed experience. The driving feels heavy in a satisfying, believable way — but menu navigation, crafting, and inventory management are still awkward, even with a controller. It’s that odd tension between sublime handling and clunky systems that continues to define the experience.
An Atmosphere That Gets Under Your Skin
Visually, Whispers in the Woods is both beautiful and unsettling. The new soundtrack by Wilbert Roget II underscores the sinister mood perfectly, and then there’s the sound design — still one of the series’ strongest assets. The game knows when to go silent too, and that’s when it’s at its most unnerving.
Exactly — once again, this expansion tests your patience. The thrill of mastering a run can quickly turn into irritation when progress feels opaque or your objectives unclear. Sometimes you feel like the Zone’s chosen survivor; other times, a tourist lost in a fog with a broken map. That uneasy balance between control and chaos is Pacific Drive’s greatest strength — and its biggest barrier.
Final Thoughts
Whispers in the Woods isn’t just more Pacific Drive — it’s a darker, stranger, and more mature chapter that reinforces what makes the game so unique. The new setting hums with dread, the systems twist in unpredictable ways, and every drive through the mist feels like a gamble with sanity. It’s not an easier ride, but it’s a more intricate one. For those who already embraced the weird rhythm of Pacific Drive, this expansion is an essential return to the Zone — headlights flickering, radio whispering, and all.
Additional Information
Release Date: Oct 23, 2025
Reviewed On: PC. Download code provided by the publisher and PR agency.
Developer: Ironwood Studios
Publisher: Kepler Interactive
Relevant links: Pacific Drive: Whispers In The Woods on Steam
