Judgement: Recommended

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"If you love building stuff and have the chance to actually drive around the stuff you've built, then Trailmakers is a game you might want to check out!"

Trailmakers is a Lego-based sandbox game that is really like no other! Besides the usual sandbox stuff where you can basically build whatever vehicles you want, whether they are physically sound or not, the game also comes with a rally (racing) mode, and an adventure/campaign mode where the goal is to escape from the planet you've crash landed on by collecting all the parts you'll need to build a spacecraft which would take you to orbit and hence, giving you a chance to be rescued by the people who are on their way to help you.

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Watch me play!
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/574531247

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However, these salvages are scattered all over the planet and only by relying on your ingenuity will you be able to build the vehicles you'll need - you can't collect them using your bare hands, unfortunately - to collect them all and bring them over to the drones to be "purified" and converted into usable parts.

Pros
+ Building anything in this game is pretty much a breeze, controls-wise, and it's incredibly fun. You have lots of different components to work with too, and depending on your need and the terrain, you'll want to swap some stuff out like types of tyres or adding floats or weights. Note that you're expected to build a variety of vehicles, including submarines and planes, and not just cars if you want to collect all the salvage in the campaign.
+ Very physics-oriented and if you have a background in mechanics (know how vehicles work in general), you should find it easier when building vehicles that actually work. It really makes building stuff an in-depth task here.
+ You don't get all the components right from the get-go. Instead, you're expected to collect salvage, some of which can be very tricky to obtain, and bring them to the drone thingies to extract the components. Makes for an interesting, albeit tedious, RPG-like progression.
+ Interesting challenges such as the landmines and the explosive salvage
+ Several game modes including campaign, sandbox and rally (racing).
+ Very nice graphics. The sun rises are just picturesque!
+ Lots of replayability if you're the sort who enjoys building things and see them come to life! If so, the game is definitely worth its asking price.

Cons/Feedback
- Bugs and glitches, most of which, I've noticed, are caused by the electromagnet.
- Personally, I find the campaign a bit tedious to play, but this might be so because I tried playing the game for hours in a single sitting.
- The game should have shown a tip on how to use the magnet right after I've acquired the magnet. Would have appreciated a pop-up letting me know that I can easily reset a piece of salvage by pressing Backspace. Labeling Backspace as "Respawn" is a bit vague tbh.
- Trailmakers seems like the sort of game that you can't enjoy without referring to some guide or tips. Trust me, I've tried the whole "figure things out myself" part and it just frustrated me to no end. Thankfully, a good samaritan dropped by my stream and let me know that I should get the electromagnet first and where I can find it. If not, I don't think I would have stuck around this long.

Important tips for the campaign
* Get the electromagnet as soon as you can! Preferably, after you have collected your second energy core.
* Grab headlights (in salvage and not under the Accessories tab where you'll need 3k gold) too. The game has lots of pitch-black caves and nighttime in the game can be a tad bit dark as well.
* Sometimes, it's better to travel backwards when you're carrying explosive salvages. This is especially true for slopes.

Overall
Trailmakers is pretty well-made, video game version of Lego Technics that doesn't only come with a sandbox mode, but also an enjoyable campaign and a rally mode where you can put your fastest vehicles to the test on the race track. Building vehicles that work in this game can be tricky if you're not familiar with names of vehicle parts like suspenders and have no idea where you should put them in your vehicle, but that's actually the beauty of it since, personally, I've learned loads about automotive parts within the hours I've spent in the game.

So, to sum up, I'd say it's definitely worth its full price if you're a massive fan of Lego Technic sets and enjoys building mechanical things and seeing them coming to life. However, for other players, you might want to wait for a discount.


Side Note
If you like this review and would like to follow me for more, please feel free to drop by my curator page: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33780629-The-Midcore-Gamer/

Review posted on 24/03/2020, 13:08:00.