Preview: Mutants, Madness, Meat Piles, Death Trash
Screenshot: Death Trash
I never thought to ask the question, ”what would Fallout be like, but with more piles of meat?” But I’m sure glad someone did, because Death Trash is the answer. I’ve been following its development over the last couple of years (or so) and I’m glad to say that based on the time I’ve spent with it in Early Access, it’s shaping up to be as fun—and weird—as I was hoping it would be.
Death Trash is an open world meatpunk isometric role-playing game. You play as a survivor, cast out from their underground bunker into a nightmare world of mutants and meat. While it looks and plays like a combination of CRPG and ARPG with a little bit of twin stick shooter, it manages to be its own strange beast full of gross outs and weird characters with amazing pixel art. Seriously, the art is one of the things that got me to first notice Death Trash, and I’m glad it got my attention, because it turns out to be pretty damn fun.
Screenshot: Death Trash
In Death Trash you’re stuck on a strange alien world called Nexus. It’s habitable for humans, and for some reason, oozes meat from under the ground. Nexus is essentially a wasteland of rocks and sparse vegetation. It’s a world full of ruins to explore, and lots of creatures and people to get into fight with. It doesn’t hold your hand, or force its story down your throat, Instead, you’ll have to piece together the lore bit by bit as you interact with insane outcasts and sentient meat creatures.
While Death Trash is a lot of fun solo, it can also be played locally (or with Remote Play Together) with a friend via splitscreen co-op. There’s also an option for dual monitor split screen, which is a novel feature that allows the second player to play on a second hooked up monitor if it shares the same resolution. It’s an experimental feature, but it actually worked pretty well for me.
Screenshot: Death Trash
Since Death Trash is still in Early Access, it’s technically still in development. Right now, it feels extremely polished and fun, but a tad difficult. Only the first chapter is currently available, and that nets about a six hours or so, especially if you take your time exploring all of Death Trash’s meaty nooks and crannies. According to its Steam Early Access information box, the Early Access period will last for about a year.
Death Trash is special. I haven’t played a game quite with a world like it—a body horror meat pie where outcasts are trying to survive against vicious mutants and murderers. Honestly, they had me at Fleshkraken—its compellingly strange world is enough to keep me wanting to know more. It’s just luck that the gameplay is pretty damn good. I can’t wait to get my hands on the finished product.
Death Trash is available now in Early Access on Steam
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