Scrap Pirates

Probably the worse thing you could see out the window in a spaceship is another spaceship, a huge one that does not belong to your kind. However, if you are brave enough and ready to face the ultimate risk, a huge spaceship could also mean the perfect place to scavenge some resources. As long as there are not too many vicious aliens on board, what could go wrong?

Scrap Pirates is a 2D platformer in which the puzzles are more important than the actual platforming, although there’s plenty of that as well. In essence, it’s all about collecting scraps from an alien spaceship, while using your magnetic devices to push objects and even levitate, depending on the situation. It’s not overly original, but the recipe is fun enough to keep you entertained for a while.

As with real magnets, you can activate one of two “shields”, one blue and one red. Obviously, the opposites attract, so you have to figure out how to use this to your advantage. As an example, the blue boxes can be pushed using your red shield or repelled using the blue one. Some sections allow you to perform huge jumps using the magnets, although it can be tricky to do so.

Since this is an early Alpha build at the moment, it’s only natural to stumble onto bugs and annoyances. In certain cases it becomes impossible to push crates over small indentation in the floor, which practically requires you to restart the level. There are no tutorials to get you started, so it’s easy to mess up in the beginning, especially if you start pushing and pulling objects around.

Visually, the game looks rather pleasing, especially when it comes to level design. The stages are not very complicated at the moment, but you can tell that the developers paid close attention to every little detail. It’s a shame that the bugs make it a bit frustrating, not to mention the controls that are a tad too unpredictable and inaccurate for a platformer. Still, all of these issues can and probably will be improved in future versions.

All things considered, Scrap Pirates has the potential to turn into a hit with the gaming community, especially if the glitches are ironed out. The 2D perspective is great for the genre, because it allows you to get a better look at the environment.