Slathered in several layers of pixelated pulp, The Drifter is an upcoming point-and-click adventure game that cites King, Carpenter, and Crichton as influences, something clear in its synthy score and genre fiction setup. Its demo (which will be available during next month’s Steam Next Fest) begins as Mick, the protagonist, delivers his backstory via hard-boiled monologue: he’s a drifter returning home after a five-year absence to attend his mother’s funeral. But as he begins to disembark from his freighthopping trip, something shocking happens, and he watches as unseen assailants open fire and riddle a man full of bullets. Terrified and confused, he dives out of an escape hatch, landing with a thud in the underpass below. From here, he works to recharge his dead cellphone so he can call his sister and get to the funeral on time.
Despite this hardcore introduction, things slow down a bit as Mick works through a series of adventure game-style puzzles, finding items that allow him to interact with the environment and acquire even more items. On a mouse and keyboard, interfacing with the world is what you would expect. You hover over objects of interest and then click to make an observation, pick something up, or use an equipped item on that object. It’s very standard stuff, but where things get a bit unique is that there’s a great twin-stick setup on a controller that allows you to easily move to key spots and skip out on pixel hunting if you so choose. While none of these initial puzzles were out of the ordinary, they were also intuitive without feeling overly simplistic: I had to figure out how to get an abandoned car running well enough to pump out some electricity, which involved a refrigerator, a self-defense weapon, and quite a bit of convincing. And perhaps most importantly, these tasks have you investigate this strikingly presented world and meet the people who live there.
Much like their work on Crawl, Powerhoof once again delivers gorgeous pixel art that sets the mood, essentially putting us in a digital paperback novel. Not only does the retro aesthetic tie in perfectly with the specific era of games it’s drawing from, but it also is an ideal match for the throwback qualities of its pulp aesthetic: there’s a skyline set against a moonlit night that would fit in nicely in a detective film, and later there’s an underwater graveyard filled with swaying bodies that hits like a hair-raising horror punchline in a King book. These atmospheric sights line up nicely with Mitch’s neo-noir narration, as his gravelly voice describes near-death experiences and disturbing sights.
However, an interesting element is that despite the pulpy aesthetics and intentionally self-indulgent soliloquies, the writing is surprisingly classy in other places. In particular, this first area has Mitch working through an encampment of houseless folks living beneath an underpass. An insensitive journalist pokes and prods these people for sound bites until Mitch, who is also houseless, rips into this recent college grad for her callous behavior. Meanwhile, we also meet Mitch’s old buddy Bill, a kind, houseless man who lends an ear to our rattled protagonist. Essentially, although this tale is dedicated to its ‘80s horror moments, it does more than just regurgitate old tropes with little consideration.
After Mitch performs a series of interactions that fill up his inventory with a gas canister, a knife, and tubing, he’s finally ready to charge up his phone and find his way out. However, there wouldn’t be much suspense if things went exactly as planned. As he’s about to finish his task, he hears a scream, runs toward the sound, and is assaulted by soldiers in night vision goggles. After being knocked unconscious, he wakes up underwater with his arms tied and struggles to get loose before seemingly … dying? Here, we arrive at the central conceit: for reasons Mitch doesn’t understand, he can return from the dead, coming back a few moments before his previous demise. After going through the brain-searing experience of passing to the other side, he finds himself where he was before, struggling underwater. Only this time, he’s more careful with his oxygen.
Here, the player takes over to free Mitch before he bites it again, resulting in a frantic puzzle sequence that requires you to use all your previously collected items in clever ways. If you’re successful, Mitch cuts himself loose and floats to the surface as his mind races about what just happened. As things wrapped up, a trailer showcased a larger playable cast navigating graveyards and other creepy locales, hinting at a sprawling, conspiratorial narrative.
The Drifter’s initial 30 minutes feature a strong hook that showcases the game’s sharp visual style, foreboding tone, and intriguing sci-fi scenario, all of which have put its July 17 release date for PC on my radar. Its pixel art catches the eye, and so far, it nails a certain era of grungy genre fiction full of exploding prosthetic heads and oddball conceits—any number of Kurt Russell characters would be right at home in these firelit back alleys. But most essential of all, The Drifter passes a crucial test: I’d really like to know what happens next.
Elijah Gonzalez is the assistant Games and TV Editor for Paste Magazine. In addition to playing and watching the latest on the small screen, he also loves film, creating large lists of media he’ll probably never actually get to, and dreaming of the day he finally gets through all the Like a Dragon games. You can follow him on Bluesky @elijahgonzalez.bsky.social.
