Lichtspeer Review

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Lichtspeer is an arcade style game which sees you throwing neon coloured spears at oncoming beasts in a vibrant and colourful world. The game is set in a Germanic future and from the very start it was clear that the game doesn’t take itself too seriously and has plenty of humour throughout. The gameplay itself is hugely addictive and kept me wanting to come back and play more. The Lichtgods have provided you with a Lichtspeer and set you out on the quest to rid the world of various enemies. Your weapon is unlimited and the enemies are tricky to take out.

This is a game that requires you to think quickly and have decent precision if you’re going to be successful and manage to keep the hordes of oncoming enemies under control. The enemies start out easy enough but slowly the difficulty begins to steadily increase and soon enough you find yourself facing large groups of troublesome enemies. Enemies are varied and include things like zombies and penguins.

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The enemies not only increase in terms of numbers but they also start to use new attacks and abilities which make things even trickier. Some enemies require precise headshots and some have heavy armour. The environment and world around you also has multiple hazards and puzzle like elements to contend with whilst thinking about the increasing number of monsters. Once you start to get a hang and feel of your attack the gameplay becomes hugely satisfying and made me play over and over.

As you start to get better and make more progress you are rewarded with LSD, but not quite what you’re thinking, it in fact stands for Licht Standard Denomination which is basically where the upgrade system comes into play. You can use LSD to upgrade various powers and abilities that help you during the game. These weapon boosts can hugely benefit you and taking time to experiment with different powers is well worth your time, I especially found that the Trispeer helped me out a lot in some tricky situations. LSD can be used between levels so its important to think about what you want to use going forward.

Its important to note that you can only use one ability from each of the separate skill tree branches and each recharges after its been used. You have to use the powers at the opportune time if you want to use them as effectively as possible. Lichtspeer can get incredibly challenging, but that combined with the addictive gameplay is what made it so enjoyable to me. There are checkpoints throughout levels and they soon become your best friend. The game also has boss encounters that will challenge you and the skills you have learnt and gained along the way. Like in most games the bosses have specific attack patterns and weaknesses that can be exploited.

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I personally loved the style of Lichtspeer, with its vibrant colour palette and playful atmosphere. The world and characters are crazy and the 2D art style feels polished and slick, with smooth animations and movement. For a cartoon-like 2D game there is actually a fair amount of blood, but it all adds to the satisfying action and gameplay. The world itself is well designed and features a nice variety of scenery and interesting locations. I really enjoyed fighting through the colorful worlds, although it can be tricky to take it all in when there are tonnes of enemies piling in. I also really enjoyed the soundtrack and in my opinion it suits the atmosphere and tone of the game perfectly, with fast paced electronic beats.

I really enjoyed my time playing Lichtspeer and I will certainly be going back to play more. The best games in my view, are ones that manage to have an addictive gameplay mechanic that feels satisfying and most importantly fun and that’s what Lichtspeer does with the spear throwing. The projectiles you throw feel impactful and its hugely satisfying to see that perfect headshot nail a really tough enemy. This is a game the definitely requires practice and patience if you want to get good and quite frankly that’s the point of this type of game. If you want a game that challenges you but ultimately feels fun to play, then I certainly recommend giving this a go.

Rating 8

REVIEW CODE: A complimentary Sony Playstation 4 code was provided to Brash Games for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to editor@brashgames.co.uk.

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