Journey to the Savage Planet: Hot Garbage

When it’s all said and done, “Hot Garbage” is an amazing addition to Journey to the Savage Planet and offers up an entirely new world to explore. With new collectibles and even the ability go underwater, Typhoon Studios built out a comprehensive new planet that adds more to the game in a way that makes it well worth the $7.99 it costs.

Hot Garbage is an expansion that delivers gameplay that I hope to expect in future DLC, where the gameplay is centered around putting the player in situations where combat and skills are essential to progression. Though on a new planet, Hot Garbage falls short of creating an all-encompassing experience that makes one believe they’re on an all-new world.

If the eponymous Savage Planet is your Kindred explorer’s residence, the space rock called DL-C1 is a timeshare. It’s a decent little getaway — probably worth the investment, a change of pace, and the vacation is over quicker than you’d like. But, despite what the name suggests, Hot Garbage is far from a dump.

Journey to the Savage Planet was an exercise in brevity that many, many other games could learn from. It had no filler and let players explore and tinker with the titular savage planet without overstaying its welcome. By that very notion, DLC almost seems counterintuitive to such a lean game. Hot Garbage, the game’s first premium add-on, doesn’t fill the game with some of the aforementioned warm trash, but is instead another carefully restrained yet safe helping of the main course.

Hot Garbage was assumed to be aimed at players who have seen the whole game by now, but it ends up playing best for those still scanning the alien world.