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Trash Sailors Review


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632530604_TrashSailorsboxart.jpg.407ef15af71cf97cb38e8bc8e15a8fa0.jpgIn most games you aren't looking to fish up a tire or an old boot out of the water, but that's exactly what you want in Trash Sailors, a hectic co-op focused adventure that mixes the plate-juggling aspect of a game like Overcooked with some survival mechanics of something like Don't Starve. On top of all that you've got a delightfully weird art style that makes trash floating in the ocean look good. But while Trash Sailors makes for a decent wacky co-op experience, the nitty gritty aspects of the game could use some cleanup.
 
When the world is flooded by a trash tsunami, your only hope of survival is setting sail on a raft that can transform trash into useful fuel and replacement parts so that you might find safe, dry land to live upon. It's a hilariously dark premise (and hopefully not a premonition on the world's current issues), though the game never really uses it as more than a backdrop. Even as you unlock new characters or explore new regions, the storytelling is pretty nonexistent in Trash Sailors.
 
The goal of each level is to reach the end with your raft intact and with enough fuel to keep moving. You'll also need to grab maps in bottles in order to unlock new levels (maps may seem like bonus objectives but they are actually required). In order to keep moving you'll need to fish out trash from the water, convert it in your trash grinder, then use it to fuel the engine. You don't want to just grab any trash though—sort of like Overcooked you'll have an "order" to complete, such as a chair, a painting, and a blender, and by feeding the trash grinder the correct items you'll get a lot more resources to fuel the engine or to repair the raft when you (inevitably) crash into things. Basically Trash Sailors is a hectic "keep your head above water" kind of game where there are constant needs to be met, whether it's fishing, repairing, steering, or refueling.
 
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As a co-op game, Trash Sailors tries to hit that sweet spot between frantic and fun. There's always something to do on the raft so it's easy to get some friends (up to four players local or online) and just dive right into the fray. However, the game never quite has the same charm as other hectic co-op games. Part of the problem is that Trash Sailors isn't particularly rewarding. With the goal of just surviving each level you don't get, say, a ranking to hang your hat on, which can make it feel like you're just trudging through the levels.
 
Most importantly, the actual gameplay isn't terribly well polished. Collecting the right trash to fill an order is a fun concept but it's hard to see when the order changes, plus you're not really guaranteed to have the necessary trash in the ocean. It's possible to grab trash and just leave it on the raft until you need it, but that becomes a whole other issue I'll discuss in a moment. Steering is also frustrating at best. You can't stop once the engine gets going, so you're just kind of careening toward obstacles endlessly. It's also, frankly, the most boring aspect of the game. It's cool that there are a variety of hazards to face—waves that will wash you off of the raft, enemies that attack you or damage the raft—but they also feel repetitive after a while. It truly does feel like you're just tackling chores on a raft, and the relentless pace of fishing, steering, and fighting off anything that attacks your raft doesn't really carry a sense of accomplishment. I never felt proud of clearing a level, I was just glad it was over.
 
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The online system also leaves something to be desired. It'll already be tricky to coordinate with players without speaking, but then trying to navigate the murky waters of poor online connections just makes this voyage doomed from the start. And although it is possible to play the game solo, I wouldn't recommend it. Handling all of the raft's needs by yourself (plus a robotic buddy that the game provides) will only make your head spin. Couch co-op is arguably the only way to play this game.
 
Ultimately though, it's the controls that make Trash Sailors so frustrating. Virtually every action is mapped to the A button: fishing, picking up trash, loading cannon balls, climbing the mast to turn on the light, etc. This is a tiny raft and you will inevitably pick up or interact with the wrong thing since everything uses the same button. It is incredibly annoying to be trying to pick up the right piece of trash on the deck of the raft and you keep grabbing the wrong object, taking so long that the order for the trash grinder changes. Why the controls couldn't use more buttons is beyond me.
 
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Although the gameplay and controls suffer through some rough waters, the game's presentation is a definite high point. The 2D art is weird and charming, funky and stylish. It has a slightly "grimy" feel which is perfect for a game about fishing trash out of the ocean. It's really in the graphics where all of the game's charm lies, though granted it can be a little annoying sometimes, when you have a lot of trash piled up on the raft, and it's hard to pick up a specific one you want, though again that's just as much the fault of the controls as the 2D graphics.

 
The concept of Trash Sailors is weird and funny, and a decent attempt at a frantic co-op game, but it doesn't quite come together in the end. The frustrating controls only highlight the game's real problem: maintaining the raft and collecting trash is a hectic game concept but it's not particularly rewarding. The game lacks that special touch to make repetitive actions entertaining. Without that spark, you're better off tossing this one back into the water.
 
Rating: 5 out of 10 Pieces of Trash
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I like the visual style of it, but just reading the review this feels like a game that would be great as a minigame in a different game that is bigger in scope rather than its own thing.  Or even a bite sized version of itself being a minigame in a party game.  I looked up a video of the game and it does look fun but I can see how it could wear out its welcome before long.

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