Steam Next Fest, Feb. 2024 - An in-depth look at the Steam demos of this year

[Judge Dredd]

For example, being a police officer has a lot of drawbacks but if you can shoot a fleeing suspect with a dozen rounds to the head before reading him his rights, it can be fun. (I don't know of any games where you can do that and the game doesn't reprimand you for being too rowdy).

Urban Chaos: Riot Response on the PS2

 

[ShapelyMutton]

Pacific Drive

Pacific Drive

Anyone try Pacific Drive

I can tolerate a certain amount of Poz which is why I was open minded to Pacific Drive but on release it's appears that the car cosmetics includes a number of pride and virtue signal flags that are unlocked immediately while all others car cosmetics require discovery.

 

[Judge Dredd]

Fffffffuck. I was looking forward to that game too.

 

[Almighty Space Duck]

@ShapelyMutton I saw @FILTH Tourist's post in the what are you playing thread about Pacific Drive. It's a real shame and I'm glad I didn't buy it, the teeny tiny text on Deck put me off. Im sure that would have become less of an issue once I knew the controls and systems but it made for a really shitty onboarding where I almost died to the first anomaly squinting at the help text trying to work out how I was to refuel the car.
If someone manages to mod that noncesense out or replace it with something fun I may pirate it once its had all the patches it will ever see.

 

[Frosted Snowflakes]

I can tolerate a certain amount of Poz which is why I was open minded to Pacific Drive but on release it's appears that the car cosmetics includes a number of pride and virtue signal flags that are unlocked immediately while all others car cosmetics require discovery.
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And people just wanted to play video games in peace...

 

[Ughubughughughughughghlug]

@Biggie Smalls' Taint That's a good idea for a game, puzzle sniper. I heard of some edgelord game from back in the day, JFK Reloaded. You could kill JFK and you got scored based on how accurate your shots were to real life.

 

[Counterfeit Obol]

Welp, now I know where my money isn't going...

To the high seas!

 

[Sugriva]

I shouldn't have bought Balatro. Somebody help me stop playing or I'm going to turn into BossmanJack.

 

[Judge Dredd]

On the Pacific Drive wokeshit. I did some thinking, and none of the YouTubers mentioned it, none of the people who played the nextfest demo mentioned it. I think they knew this was a stupid move, or else they wouldn't have hidden it all until release day.

Someone on Discord compared it to YIIK. Both are games ostensibly set in the 90s but are full of current year bullshit. Why do millennial soydevs do this? It could easily be avoided by not setting your game in the 90s.

Welp, now I know where my money isn't going...

To the high seas!

My general policy is not to play wokeshit and just play something else. Though Pacific Drive makes it tempting to pirate.

 

[Night Crawler]

And people just wanted to play video games in peace...

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Indie games are full cringey SJW woke cancer just like the AAA games. Don't be fooled by the small dev teams and bad graphics.

Welp, now I know where my money isn't going...

To the high seas!

If the woke shit isn't worth paying for just don't play it. Don't interact with it at all. These types of games usually crash and burn anyway.

On the Pacific Drive wokeshit. I did some thinking, and none of the YouTubers mentioned it, none of the people who played the nextfest demo mentioned it. I think they knew this was a stupid move, or else they wouldn't have hidden it all until release day.

Someone on Discord compared it to YIIK. Both are games ostensibly set in the 90s but are full of current year bullshit. Why do millennial soydevs do this? It could easily be avoided by not setting your game in the 90s.


My general policy is not to play wokeshit and just play something else. Though Pacific Drive makes it tempting to pirate.

It's a shame because some of the videos it looked pretty interesting. But if you want to wonder around a wilderness area with weird shit going on just go play the STALKER games. It's the same idea just it isn't full of woke faggotry.

Try STALKER Anomaly.

 

[The Pulverizer]

Someone on Discord compared it to YIIK. Both are games ostensibly set in the 90s but are full of current year bullshit. Why do millennial soydevs do this? It could easily be avoided by not setting your game in the 90s.

It's because they were using Tumblr or Twitter before Elon Musk took over. Most indie devs couldn't care less about politics. The people that do are losers and I wouldn't put much stock in their ability to properly design a game.

 

[Asian tech support]

Copped a ban for tossing a few shit balloons into the discussions page. Worth it.

 

[Xarpho's Return]

Don't interact with it at all. These types of games usually crash and burn anyway.

It wouldn't be so bad if they weren't in cahoots with the big mod sites. Like even if you had a mod that disabled all the wokeshit and replaced it with nothing, NexusMods and the like would have a shitfit.

Besides, I kinda want a good comfy driving game that's only halfway between the "zombies/oppressive government" plot line and something like Truck Simulator but not as autistic as My Summer Car.

 

[Night Crawler]

It wouldn't be so bad if they weren't in cahoots with the big mod sites. Like even if you had a mod that disabled all the wokeshit and replaced it with nothing, NexusMods and the like would have a shitfit.

Besides, I kinda want a good comfy driving game that's only halfway between the "zombies/oppressive government" plot line and something like Truck Simulator but not as autistic as My Summer Car.

I was going to say just get My Summer Car. Not that I ever played it, but I did briefly watch some YouTubers play it and it made me sleepy. lol

 

[Asian tech support]

Besides, I kinda want a good comfy driving game that's only halfway between the "zombies/oppressive government" plot line and something like Truck Simulator but not as autistic as My Summer Car.

It's not really a driving game or at least the demo did an awful job of portraying it as one. Sure you drive the car around but there aren't prolonged stretches of comfy driving time. Plus the car controls like ass.

 

[FILTH Tourist]

It wouldn't be so bad if they weren't in cahoots with the big mod sites. Like even if you had a mod that disabled all the wokeshit and replaced it with nothing, NexusMods and the like would have a shitfit.

Besides, I kinda want a good comfy driving game that's only halfway between the "zombies/oppressive government" plot line and something like Truck Simulator but not as autistic as My Summer Car.

Jalopy might be what you are looking for. Basically you are driving your beater across Eastern Europe to Turkey. I never played it and from what I have read it still has a few game breaking bugs that never got patched. But I still want to try it when it comes on sale. Other than that the Long Drive is a food choice. It is dumb and janky but it embraces that. I think the dev is currently rewriting a bunch of code so it runs smoother. I played it and it is fun in bursts.

It's not really a driving game or at least the demo did an awful job of portraying it as one. Sure you drive the car around but there aren't prolonged stretches of comfy driving time. Plus the car controls like ass.

Early game is pretty stop and go as you are trying to get every little bit of loot. Later in the game you do more driving as you know what kind of POI has the loot you want and you need to drive though several maps to get to your destination. Also there are highway maps are just a single long quiet stretch of road that is just for cruising and vibing (idk why the devs didn't make this standard when going to new areas, it does wonders for creating that comfy/spooky feel. I also wish there was a dirt country road version).

 

[Pissmaster]

I can tolerate a certain amount of Poz which is why I was open minded to Pacific Drive but on release it's appears that the car cosmetics includes a number of pride and virtue signal flags that are unlocked immediately while all others car cosmetics require discovery.
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Good to know. I put that game on ignore. The developer is something called "Ironwood Studios", but they don't seem to have a proper page, so I can't blacklist them yet.

 

[Asian tech support]

Later in the game you do more driving as you know what kind of POI has the loot you want and you need to drive though several maps to get to your destination. Also there are highway maps are just a single long quiet stretch of road that is just for cruising and vibing (idk why the devs didn't make this standard when going to new areas, it does wonders for creating that comfy/spooky feel. I also wish there was a dirt country road version).

I can kind of understand why they decided to do it the way they did. The actual driving isn't that strong and forcing the player to taxi between POIs could get old really fast if there's backtracking. They can't compromise and make a tiny map either because that would sort of defeat the purpose of a "driving" game. I think the game might've needed a bit more time in the oven. Definitely will pirate it though.

 

[FILTH Tourist]

I can tolerate a certain amount of Poz which is why I was open minded to Pacific Drive but on release it's appears that the car cosmetics includes a number of pride and virtue signal flags that are unlocked immediately while all others car cosmetics require discovery.
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Having had a weekend to play it, I really don't understand why the devs went full throttle with the flag shit. The classic rainbow sticker would have fit right in with the other unlockables and the two guys that help you being a gay couple didn't feel forced and as characters I liked them. They could have had a solid game and story that stars LGBT characters in a positive light that didn't immediately turn off normies. All that shoving 22 lazy flag recolors not only clutters the inventory, but it is showing off how unhinged, pedantic, and retarded the LGBT+ community has gotten to people who only warmed up to the idea of gays a decade ago. Who can look at shit like genderfluid right next to genderflux and not think it is satire?

I can kind of understand why they decided to do it the way they did. The actual driving isn't that strong and forcing the player to taxi between POIs could get old really fast if there's backtracking. They can't compromise and make a tiny map either because that would sort of defeat the purpose of a "driving" game. I think the game might've needed a bit more time in the oven. Definitely will pirate it though.

The core issue was trying to shove the square peg into the round hole that is "a cool driving game, but you drive a piece of shit the whole time."

I do appreciate using portals to end runs and get back to the autoshop. I can't imagine how awful driving back in an almost destroyed car with a full inventory would be if they made it properly open world.

 

[Forgetful Kiwi]

On the Pacific Drive wokeshit. I did some thinking, and none of the YouTubers mentioned it, none of the people who played the nextfest demo mentioned it. I think they knew this was a stupid move, or else they wouldn't have hidden it all until release day.

Someone on Discord compared it to YIIK. Both are games ostensibly set in the 90s but are full of current year bullshit. Why do millennial soydevs do this? It could easily be avoided by not setting your game in the 90s.


My general policy is not to play wokeshit and just play something else. Though Pacific Drive makes it tempting to pirate.

Games that have shit like that but looks like I would enjoy I just end up pirating. And the games I buy where I find it in the game without knowing about it first I just refund, pirate and continue playing if I enjoyed the game.