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Making it big as an indie developer on Steam is like tossing a coin these days, despite Valve’s best “efforts” to improve the lives of independent developers. If the algorithm gods aren’t with you and you’re unable to invest heavily in marketing, chances are that your game will sit in a dark corner of the storefront- only to be discovered by YouTubers or streamers years later and be deemed “underrated.” The fact that dozens of indie games get released on Steam on a daily basis complicates the matter further. Thus, it’s crucial for an indie game to have a unique theme, clever social media marketing, and a bit of RNG on the side to make any sort of sustainable revenue in 2021. I’ve run into two games matching these criteria recently. The first one is Cruelty Squad (more on that in a later article) and the second one is our topic of discussion for today- Death Trash.

Yes my queen

A few months ago, I was taking a much-needed break from nearly 20 years of CRPG abuse. Then I laid my eyes on Death Trash courtesy of the ever-reliable RPG Watch. I was balls deep in my second love- boomer shooters. Yet, I had been keeping a close watch on upcoming RPGs like Black Geyser and Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous. This was the first time I was seeing Death Trash and it was basically love at first sight. From the outside, Death Trash seemed to be a spiritual successor to Fallout (my love for classic Fallout know no bounds) with a unique post-apocalyptic setting and choice-driven gameplay. I immediately added the game to my wishlist, played the demo during the Steam Game Festival, and got access to the Early Access version beforehand thanks to the developer Crafting Legends. Being the lazy bastard that I am, it took me more than a few weeks to finally pen down my thoughts on the game.

Hmmm….cool aid

Remember when I said that the game reminded me of Fallout? I’m all up for spiritual successors and all that, but after years of throwback RPGs, I’m all in for inspired yet original games these days. Thankfully, the similarities between Death Trash and Fallout start and end at the general structure. Much like Fallout, the game takes place in a post-apocalyptic setting where humanity has fallen to shit and what remains of civilization struggle to survive. You play as an outcast expelled from the safety of your android benefactors into a hostile, alien world. But Death Trash goes an extra mile in “fleshing out” the setting (pun intended). The game is a weird mix of cosmic and body horror, sci-fi, cyberpunk, and the standard Mad Max-esque wasteland tropes. According to the lore, blood and flesh rained upon the world some undetermined time ago awakening cosmic entities called Flesh Titans beneath the ground. Blood seeped from the spoil and where there was flesh, life began to bloom. But sadly, it meant nigh-end for us humans. Years later, only scraps of humanity survive in makeshift, derelict ruins of the old world and inside closed shelters (think Vaults, but without the danger of uncertain doom). You play as one of the inhabitants of the shelter- thrown out into the world because of some unknown infection. Who you are is unknown. But what you will be is part of the journey. Thus begins Death Trash.

Took the words right out of my mouth

It doesn’t take a while for Death Trash to establish its tone. Highly pixellated flesh and gore decorate the semi-barren soil and derelict research facilities of the game. One of the first NPCs you meet is a ginormous flesh kraken aptly named…Flesh Kraken. These Flesh Titans are scattered around the world waiting to chat you up or feign ignorance. Sticking closely to cosmic horror traditions, almost everything is a mystery waiting to be unfolded for the player character as well as the player. Who are you? What happened to the world? What are the Flesh Titans? Why is raw flesh so tasty? Why is there a dedicated button to puke? Death Trash convincingly builds up intrigue while managing to gross out the players at the same time. The unique junk-punk aesthetics and body horror are not the only things the world has to offer. Even though the game is in Early Access, the world is filled with mutated horrors, ruthless bandits, nudists, and creeps to meet, greet and eat.

average nude enthusiast

But what about the actual RPG elements, you may ask. Despite the weird lore and aesthetics, Death Trash is a fairly simple RPG. You start out by creating a custom character and assign attributes and skill points to a S.P.E.C.I.A.L-inspired character system. You can invest points into the standard body, mind, mouth, and magic attributes as well as into several skills like melee, guns, lockpicking, stealth, etc. Every time you level up, you gain attribute points as well as skill points that can be used to improve your character. XP is gained by killing enemies, exploration, and by completing quests- pretty standard stuff. Exploration and leveling up works the same as in any other classic RPG.

Where have I seen this before?

In Death Trash, the movement is as smooth as my brain. You can control the characters in a multitude of ways- the classic point and click, using the WASD, or by using a controller (blasphemy, I know). All three schemes are equally viable but I found that the WASD scheme works the best for me for combat in particular. Speaking of combat, there’s plenty of that in Death Trash. The game uses a very simple real-time action combat system you see in a lot of roguelikes these days. Even though I prefer the classic turn-based system for a game like this, I had no issues with the presentation and flow of combat. While in combat, you can use melee weapons, ranged weapons, and cybernetic implants in addition to a very useful stamina-based dodge roll. It’s quite simple but works really well even when aggroing multiple enemies. There’s also a simple to use stealth system in play (more on that later).

I may have showered praises for the game’s setting and tone. But that doesn’t make Death Trash a flawless recommendation. I have a few gripes with the current build. Yes, a majority of them are nitpicks, but here they are anyway. Now, the developer Stephan Hövelbrinks has clearly stated that this Early Access build caters more towards combat rather than speechcraft. Almost every encounter requires you to either shoot or stealth your way out. While I certainly won’t judge the current build for what I want it to be, I’d have liked to see more encounters where I can resolve things verbally. One other thing that gets on my nerves is that a lot of quests are of the “collect 20 bear asses” type. Ok, that’s hyperbole. The game never asks you to find x amounts of materials or anything, but quests are very simplistic in nature and involve you traveling long stretches of sand just to speak to NPCs or fetch something. This was kind of disappointing, considering the potential of the setting. Another gripe is the lack of any worthwhile random encounters out in the wasteland. I’ve only run into some random wastelanders and enemies thrusting for my blood so far. Still, the Early Access version offers only a fraction of the final content so things will probably improve at launch.

The last biggest complaint I have is also subject to change. It’s about combat balance. After messing around with a multitude of character builds (I just love the easily accessible respec system), I found that a melee-bladed build using claws is just too overpowered. Combine this with the easy-to-abuse stealth system and encounters quickly turn into a boring slog. On the other hand, I felt that firearms are kind of underpowered compared to melee (this may explain why they are so easy to get), and “they lack punch”- if I may put it bluntly. Considering that you can heal by eating raw flesh and because raw flesh is literally everywhere, there’s nothing stopping you from abusing healing items after encounters. However, these issues can be resolved fairly easily with subsequent patches. Plus, there is a wide variety of difficulty options if you’re dissatisfied with the standard difficulty settings.

I have to give credit to Stephan for his swift delivery of patches. It seems as if there’s a new patch dropping every day that brings much-needed issues people raise in the community forum. Hell, he was spamming patches even for the demo if I recall correctly. Death Trash seems like a true work of passion and it just makes me all the more excited to see what’s in store for the game in the future.

Much like the average Indian after the 1960s, I’ve been heavily disillusioned, not by politics but by the offerings of Steam Early Access. I usually don’t tell my readers to pick up an Early Access title unless it’s that good. I’m making an exception for Death Trash as well. Even with the roughly 10 hours of average playtime, the game easily pulls you into its macabre and gross wasteland and offers a tasteful slice of what’s to come. So, if you’re ok with having a small appetizer of potentially good things to come, give Death Trash a try. The game is available for purchase on Steam and GOG.

INITIAL RATING: ESSENTIAL

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