Not So High Times
HIGH The buzzsaw flying saucer.
LOW Little reason to play more than a couple times.
WTF Why did this alien have to come to Earth to get high?
Despite my inconsistent skill, shmups are one of my favorite genres. So, when I read about Excessive Trim, a shmup-like where players control an alien in a buzzsaw flying saucer bringing destruction to earthly farm fields, I was intrigued. Upon playing, that intrigue quickly faded…
There’s not much story to Excessive Trim. An alien is visiting Earth in search of weed and other drugs. It has arrived in a buzzsaw spacecraft, and for some reason has decided to rain carnage down on procedurally-generated farmland, and that’s about all players get — there is no significant reason why the alien is on Earth, why it needs human narcotics, or why it’s so hellbent on destroying Earth’s hardworking farmers.
The player’s only mode of attack is the large flying saucer. A buzzsaw is constantly circling the craft and charged attacks make quick work of cows, farmers, and tractors roaming the fields. It’s a cool idea in concept, but the procedurally-generated content becomes repetitive quickly, and offers little in the way of variety. Less than ten attempts in, and I was ready to play something else.
The controls in Excessive Trim are simple and precise, but there is no tutorial or even an in-game menu letting players know what buttons to press. A simple intro stage letting players know how to play the game would have gone a long way towards improving the overall experience.
I enjoy the graphics of Excessive Trim, though. A simple, three-color scheme is blended with pseudo-3D characters and landscapes. This creates a unique look, but like the rest of the title, it became repetitive quickly. Players can change the color palette, but I found the other options hard on the eyes and quickly returned to the default mode.
Excessive Trim has great concepts, but falls short in execution. Solid graphics and a buzzsaw spacecraft can’t save it from feeling more like an extended tech demo than a fully-realized experience.
Rating: 2 out of 10
Disclosures: This game is developed by Panda Indie Studio and published by EastAsiaSoft. It is currently available on XBO, XBX/S, PS4, PS5, and Switch. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the Switch. Approximately 2 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was not completed. This reviewer reached level 7 and collected over 200 in-game collectibles. There are no multiplayer modes.
Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated M and contains Blood, Use of Drugs, Violence. No officially summary is available, but this game lives up to its descriptors. While violence is cartoonish in nature, there is plenty of blood-splattering kills of both the human and bovine variety. Drug use is plentiful — the main character is depicted smoking marijuana and players can buy narcotic power-ups, like magic mushrooms.
Colorblind Modes: Thereare no colorblind modes available. However, in addition to the default red, white, and black palette, there are seven additional color schemes for the graphics.
Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game does not offer subtitles, as there is no in-game story or dialogue. Menu text size, including upgrade shops during the game, cannot be altered and/or resized. There were no noticeable sound cues that impact gameplay. This game is fully accessible.
Remappable Controls: No, this game’s controls are not remappable. Players move the alien spacecraft with either the left joystick or left control buttons. The dash/pound move can be executed with either the A button or the two shoulder buttons, ZL and ZR.
When he does find time to play, Brian’s preferred games of choice are platformers, beat-‘em-ups, or a good adventure game.He still enjoys the retro gaming scene, could talk about the Nintendo 64 more than he might like to admit, and misses playing in actual arcades. Brian also gets to pass on his love of gaming, as his oldest son is just now starting to join the fun.
As for that GameBoy - it’s sitting in Brian’s nightstand, waiting patiently for four AA batteries.
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