Luftrausers
Arcade Shooter
1 Player
System: PSN
Developer: Vlambeer
Year of Release: 2014
Beat: November 4th, 2014
Playstation Plus is a hell of a service. Between the massive discounts and the several free games you get monthly I've gotten a ton of value from the service. November 2014's release schedule is odd for me. On the one hand, Binding of Isaac Rebirth is released for free on fucking launch day. On the other hand, I lack a Vita or a PS4 to play it on. Depression quickly set in as I looked to my now ancient computer surely unable to handle the PC release. Sulking I went ahead and claimed my PS+ titles (even without the systems you can "buy" the free games and download them whenever you do get the systems) and see Luftrausers, a game that had a nice aesthetic look and I was mildly interested in it. Jaded by time, I didn't let hope set in but I booted the game up. It didn't play anything like I expected, the controls were weird, I died basically instantly and it seemed like there was no progression. I hated it. I almost deleted it on the spot. Then I kept playing, and I saw the light.
It doesn't fill that Binding of Isaac shaped hole in my heart though...
The game is incredibly simple upon boot up, the aesthetic is plain but very appealing, stark colors are used to depict everything, and it all has an older arcade look to it. If you're like me you'll start the game without even realizing it. Pressing up immediately launches your plane from your submarine and you're off in an attempt to obtain that precious high score. That first launch was met with a swift death, as did the next several. At first it was really off putting but then I started noticing things. But I'm getting ahead of myself. I intentionally held off on describing what the game is to simulate my feelings of bewilderment I first experienced when playing.
The setting is a faux-WWII sort of world where you are a pilot fighting to murder as many of the enemies as possible. There is scant story cutscenes, and I honestly can't remember any words spoken or otherwise that describe what's going on but it simply doesn't matter as that's all a backdrop to incredibly solid arcade action. When playing you press up to move forward, and left or right to turn and down to brake, in other words tank controls. The four face buttons all shoot. Very simple tight controls that work perfectly for what they're aiming for. The game consists of only a couple of screens, there's the in game action where you're flying over an endless ocean shooting down the opposition until you inevitably come crashing down, which leads to the result screen showing mission progress and letting you head straight back to the action or head to the hangar.
Missions and unlocking parts are the main mode of progression here, and at first it's easy to over look. You start out with three basic ship pieces, the default body, shot and engine. Each of these parts have a variety of missions associated with them such as shoot down so many enemies, or kill a specific enemy in a specific manner, etc. As you beat more missions more ship parts unlock leading to more missions and more variations in play. As you mix and match the parts the game has a name for every single variation available, it's a small touch but I really appreciate that attention to detail. Most of these parts are fairly typical for arcade shooters, but the different combinations are fun to play around with. Some allow you to dive under the water and literally drill through ships to destroy them, some drop bombs and after you die a nuke goes off killing everything on screen for some last few points, there's even an engine type that shoots a bullet behind you as a means of propulsion and attack. It doesn't work very well, but the idea of a "gungine" is at the very least humorous.
Obviously I enjoyed this game enough to write about it, but I struggle to find something meaningful to say. Luftrausers is a simple arcade game that while nothing mind blowing has plenty of content to keep you going for at least a little while and has a bit of longevity in short bursts down the road. So while I recommend it heartily, especially for fans of old school shooters, if it's more than cheap or free I wouldn't bother. That feeling of careening around the screen whipping about haphazardly shooting enemies above and below you only to crash land into a giant battleship exploding into a glorious nuclear cloud is hard to come by now a days. And it feels damn good.
Also, LUFTRAUSERS is just fun as fuck to shout out loud. Do it, don't mind those looks. LUFTRAUSERS!
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