Game review: Clean Up Earth (Xbox Series X)
There are lots of games out there that require you to shoot enemies or even become a criminal. If the game is non-violent, it's usually a sports title where you can assume the role of real athletes.
Well, there is one new game that has no violence whatsoever, and you actually save the environment. This new game is called 'Clean Up Earth,' and it's your job to clean up all of humanity's rubbish that has polluted the whole land.
Clean Up Earth does not have a proper storyline, but you are part of an organisation tasked with cleaning the mess left behind by polluters. Since rubbish has been a huge problem in the future, humanity has started to throw their garbage in the past and leave it there.
As the player, you must travel back in time and restore the natural environment to its original state. Litreally tons and tons of rubbish have been left behind, and you have to make sure nature thrives once again without the pollution ruining the environment.
In order to clean the environment, you are armed with a Portal-looking vacuum gun called the Terra Cleaner. It can suck up tons of rubbish without getting full, and you can also recycle trash when you find the Recyclabs that are located in each location.
The gameplay and controls of Clean Up Earth are very simple, so it's a type of game that anyone can enjoy. If you are playing the game on Xbox, the right trigger is used to suck up trash, while A is used to jump, and X is used to interact with the aforementioned Recyclabs.
The cool thing about Clean Up Earth is that there are some puzzles to solve and hidden rubbish that you have to find. For example, when you recycle trash, sometimes it will give you tools like wood or ropes to construct a bridge or ladder.
Sometimes there might be a hidden cave you have to find, and it may require you to suck up boulders to reveal a hidden path. There are also special tips you can collect for the special vacuum that helps you suck up specific types of rubbish.
The default tip is the aqua-coloured one, and this sucks up normal rubbish like cans and debris. The next tip is dark blue, and this can suck up heavier trash like trash bags and furniture.
If you collect the orange tip, this one can collect heavy rubbish that is buried underground. The last tip glows green, and this is used to suck up radioactive waste. If you collect two green tips during a level, you can then suck up heavy barrels of radioactive rubbish.
Aside from seeking out tips for your vacuum, special gadgets can also be found to aid your search for rubbish. You can install something called the 'Blipman,' and this will blast out a sound to let you know if you are near a rubbish pile.
Another gadget you can find is the 'turbo boost,' and this allows you to suck up heavier objects like fallen planes or huge doors. Sometimes you may have to suck up huge shipping containers, and this can only be done with the 'turbo boost' gadget installed.
The only problem with gadgets is that they constantly run out of battery, so you have to pay currency to use them again. You can hire any previously found gadgets at the closest Recyclab. I found it annoying that the in-game radio gadget ran out of battery, so I played music from my Spotify playlist instead due to this flaw.
Another small issue I had with the game is that some rubbish is literally hidden inside the ground or inside the walls. In order to seek out rubbish that is literally hidden from the naked eye, I had to use the previously mentioned Blipman gadget to see if I had fully cleaned an area.
Clean Up Earth is also a game that I feel will have a limited audience. The message it sends serves a good purpose, but I believe most people might think this game is boring. I tried telling my brothers to play this game, but they refused to play it because they said it looked mundane.
In order to make the game less repetitive, Clean Up Earth has an online co-op to allow more players to help you clean the environment. I played this game solo, though, and cleaning 30 to 100 tons of rubbish can get really repetitive really quickly!
That said, the game can be relaxing, and I found myself playing this game for around 30 hours in total. Getting three stars in each level can be exhausting, though, because finding every scrap of rubbish can be a huge chore if you missed one small piece.
Overall, Clean Up Earth is a decent game if you want to turn your brain off and pick up tons of rubbish. It might not be for everyone, but if you can get over its repetitive style of gameplay, there are hours of content available for you here.
Verdict: 7.5/10