A common complaint of Video Games are that they are generally becoming dumbed down in terms of difficulty. Where as a decade or two ago you would rarely finish a game with ease while now you rarely finish a game with problems. Whether it be for mass appeal or overall enjoyment the encompassing shift that developers have taken has altered the medium for the better. Trash Panic is an excellent example of old school punishment before these revelations in game design and unfortunately is also an excellent example of why these changes have happened.
To call Trash Panic, Tetris but with trash would be generalising but you instantly spot the similarities. You are rotating and dropping items into what is a essentially a rectangular playing field(It’s a trash can really) although the vital change is that instead of blocks you are placing trash made up from a wide range of items. Light bulbs, batteries and coffee mugs are just a handful of the items you’ll encounter during the first stage of Trash Panic and it’s the variation you’ll get from these items that make Trash Panic initially appealing.
Instead of the very rigid and square placement of objects that Tetris offers, Trash Panic uses physics and damage models for every item placed which throws more excitement and chance into the mix. You’ll often be faced with a massive item which you’ll then have to break down by hurling concurrent items at it. The simple integration of physics make Trash Panic dynamic and exciting every time even if you’ll often lose due to a few inaccuracies that the engine naturally generates.
Another vital variant that Trash Panic takes from Tetris is that you aren’t lining up blocks to clear them. Trash Panic has you simply just fitting everything into the trash can with the aim of making it to the end of the stage. You can clear items by burning them away with the various matches or candles that pop up during the stages. The problem here is that if you miss the opportunity to burn away a majority of your items, you are basically screwed and this will happen more often than not.
This is where Trash Panic misses the mark because the item list is 99% pre-set. Puzzle games are rarely linear but Trash Panic somehow manages it. The levels are so scripted that you know that after x amount of items you’ll have to set fire to everything and then you’ll be faced with items full of water that needs to be absorbed. It’s repetitive, way to scripted for a puzzle game and unnecessarily so.
Trash Panic is a smart concept and the gameplay hits that trifecta of enjoyment, excitement and challenge. It’s just a real shame that it’s gravely let down by linearity and strict difficulty issues. Trash Panic will cause you grieve and there isn’t really a substantial amount of content on show but for the cheap price it’s worth a spin. It is however really disappointing to see a great concept that’s well executed on but is still let down by basic and easily avoidable design problems.
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