Lichtspeer

Lichtspeer won't have the mass appeal of the AAA games coming out this Fall, but it is more than worthy of your time. With a fun and over the top aesthetic mixed with simplistic game design, Lichtspeer is pure arcade bliss with all the hooks I've been looking for in an indie title.

Lichtspeer is nonsensical, bloody, and a joy to behold. It suffers from repetition, and stages that drag on a little too long, but is a worthy experience for those possessing the willpower to tackle this challenging title.

That being said, I still can’t help but recommend Lichtspeer due to its really fun concept, music, design, and easy to learn controls. If you’re not convinced, just watch their trailer and I’m sure that you will be. It’s a game that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and it gave me quite a few laughs along the way. Pick it up if you’re looking for something casual, hilarious, and fun – the lichtgods demand it!

Lichtspeer is based around a very simple premise; throw spears at enemies to kill them. While the gameplay stays consistent throughout, the variety of different enemies and situations thrown at the player gives the game a surprising amount of depth, even if some levels seem unimaginative and/or repetitive.

Lichtspeer is mechanically simple but stylistically demented. Set in a world that throws more neon at you than a dodgy warehouse rave, its arcade style gameplay is certainly repetitive, but satisfying enough to keep your interest for a while with the solid spear-hurling gameplay at its core. The addition of co-op multiplayer is well implemented, both enjoyable in its own right and extremely easy to jump in or out of. It's a short, repetitious experience, well-suited to the Switch's portable nature, but its occasionally unfair difficulty is used to pad the game out. Additional content and a bit...

It's very funny, very sharp, and most importantly, a lot of frenzied fun. I wish there were more enemy types more quickly - it over-uses the same ones, and redresses them for later levels - but that's my only significant gripe. And you get to die an awful lot.

It is a shame as the rest of the game has had a lot of care put into it. The music by Marcin Sonnenberg is excellent, the ancient Germanic future to the game is a decent angle for some humour, but it ultimately fails to maintain interest due to monotonous gameplay. This is a rare case where the game’s presentation outpaces its gameplay, leaving behind a creative and briefly entertaining, yet inexplicably dull game. Certainly good for passing time, but there are countless similar games on mobile devices for a fraction of the price.

You have to hand it to games that are actually unique. Lichtspeer has you throw arcing spears at oncoming hordes of odd enemies but is it enough fun to appease the gods? Strap a seal to a skateboard and let's find out.