Indie games are quite something. The developers are far more willing to steer away from the norm, and offer us something different. Lichtspeer is no different.
Gameplay is incredibly simple in terms of the mechanics. After choosing your character, whether that be male or female, name them and off you go through each level that’s split into sections where you’re static during battle, where you ward off a horde of enemies, including hipster ice giants. Immediately you know that the game isn’t taking itself seriously. You have a replenishing Speer that you throw at your enemies, being awarded points for combos, headshots and consistently hitting your targets. It’s not a Deep game in this sense, and the content is light in that respect. In a way, it reminds me of Angry Birds thinking about it. Aim, set your power and launch. If you want to be cynical about it. But that’s where Lichtspeer works, and it works well. It doesn’t request much from you, and scoring them points is essential if you want to buy them upgrades.
Upgrades are expensive and will see you grinding to unlock them all. But it’s an incentive to do so, as once you arrive at the later levels, you’re going to need them as the hordes are numerous and everywhere. Not to mention that you’ll also have to deal with cannons and lasers that will hand out a swift death, forcing you to restart that section of the level. Speaking of death, you will happen upon this frequently, as one hit and you’re a goner.
The soundtrack is good, in fact, I really enjoyed listening to it as I impaled them darn hipster giants in the face, and took delight when I launched a triple speer in the general direction. Visuals are ok and lend to the silly nature of Lichtspeer. As for the back story, it gets even sillier. You’re reason for being here is for the amusement of the Gods, with a Germanic theme, hence the Wurst Zombies and the language used in the game. It raised a few smiles, and all in all, kept me playing a bit more each time. If they game had been taking itself too seriously, I doubt I’d have found it interesting enough to play for a few minutes.
There’s several modes of play available, from drop in and out co-operative play, to standard game mode, New Game + and the dreaded Rage Quit mode, which is appropriately named. It’s a pretty tough challenge as it is in later levels without playing Rage Quit. The chance to add a second player makes the game a lot more fun, and if you have a gaming buddy available, you could well find it quite enjoyable.
Overall Score 7/10
Verdict
Lichtspeer is an enjoyable game with some silly humour thrown in for good measure. Sure the actual gameplay is limited to you just throwing your spear and movement being automatic for each section of the level, but the battles do get quite intense during later levels.
Overall Score 7/10
Developer: Lichtund
Publisher: Crunching Koalas
Release Date: 1st June 2018
Price: £8.39
File Size: 688MB
Xbox One copy provided for review purpose.
Available on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 & Steam