Between Half-Life, Fallout, the original XCOM, and Thief, often, when we think of games from the ‘90s, we remember these tightly designed, mechanics-led pioneers – the exemplary classics that proved what videogames could be. But there’s another side to old-school gaming, back when games were still underground, cheap, and crude. The first Doom, made by just four people, had an abject-art kind of edge. Likewise Carmagedoon, Rise of the Triad, and the first Grand Theft Auto. Inspired by that era, one of the nastiest, meanest new FPS games of 2025 has just landed on Steam, and it’s all yours for a mere $3.
Allow me to introduce Dead Trash, a bleak, sleazy, and brilliant new FPS game created by Crowhill Studios. The city has been overwhelmed by a horrible disease. Quarantined by the government, the last few human inhabitants fight bitterly over the last scraps of water and food – everyone else has turned into ultra-violent mutants, and they stalk the streets with hammers, axes, and nailguns, eager to slaughter anybody they find. The guns sound great. The gore is plentiful. Dead Trash is about as grotty and cheap as videogames get, and I mean this in the best possible way.
If you want more ammo, you need to pick through garbage bags full of biological waste. Instead of 3D models, enemies are played by the developers in costumes – same goes for the cutscenes, so that Dead Trash feels like a visual homage to Max Payne and RoTT. Nevertheless, it plays really well. It’s hard, but every whack and gunshot in Dead Trash feels brutal and impactful. The levels are simple, but also quick and short, and the whole game feels easy to pick up and put down.
If you need more convincing, more than 80% of the Steam reviews for Dead Trash so far are positive. On top of that, you can get the game for a mere $2.99 / £2.50. If you want to try it out, just head here.
Otherwise, you might want to play some of the best horror games, or maybe the best survival games available on PC.
You can follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides. We’ve also got a vibrant community Discord server, where you can chat about this story with members of the team and fellow readers.