Trash Panic

After all, being a waste technician can be very amusing.                                                                                

Developer:  Sony Online Entertainment
Publisher:  SCEJ
Release Date:  Jun 4, 2009
Platforms:  PS3
Genre:  Puzzle


It's surprising, but authentic – Trash Panic has the same addictive qualities as Tetris. The conception is simple, there's a container on screen and objects are dropped or wrecked from above into it. The junk mounds up and you need to keep shattering pencils into TVs and chairs into pens in order to crush it down and so leave more room for additional trash. When all the garbage is packed, you triumph in the round.

The simpleness soon sorts out as you advance into the game and the simple office trash like cups, T.V's and computers is replaced by skyscrapers, airships and oil cisterns, all the way up to mountains, tankers and ships. The guidelines remain though: some pieces are more easily packed than others, some have unclear weak spots and others need to have something crashed into them slightly than the usual.

Some pieces can be scorched, too. Paper and wood junk goes up nicely, as does oil – which floats on the surface of water flooded from toilets. Oil refineries and tankers explode when heated, taking more junk with them than simply burning. The skill to burning is to close the top on your bin, which makes the flames burn more violently, but starves the fire of vital air. A meter shows you when to whip off the bin's lid and feed the flames. Studying how and when to use fire is crucial – you must expert it. In addition, water plays a decisive role. Some components won't burn, but they can be disintegrated when used with Eco Balls – small purple spheres that eat trash when immersed. Associating a wet Eco Ball with a dry one further up the bin allows you to pour water into parts of the bin shut off by a random garbage pile.

As you play, you'll need to measure up which pieces best crash each other up, which can be burnt and what can be melted. Objects that could bounce and fly out of the container need to be placed somewhere rather than wrecked, and bonus items like old explosives and gas tanks can explode when heated, clearing the bin in one single massive sound. There are specific items called Mohiaina, too. These have to be placed gently into the bottom of the box so the character Gomy can gather them. Rescuing Mohiaina earns you Eco Balls or useful items, while smashing these results in hard-to-crush junk dropping from the sky.

Boss fights enter the game on the higher difficulty perspectives – bits and pieces that can only be smashed in certain manner – and this makes things even harder. There are additional ways to play as well, with a survival mode and a Mission mode. Best is a laughter two-player versus mode. There's a YouTube recorder also, which allows you to record up to 20 minutes of footage and upload it for your friends to goggle at. It's not frequently a PSN game earns such high marks. This is a exemplary puzzle game that earns a spot in your library. Fundamental.

Rating: 73 /100


Marco Cecilio, NoobFeed