Laserpitium Review

Laserpitium is set in the year 2357 on the planet HELOS where the leaders of the galaxy S-08G signed a peace and cooperation treaty. To optimize the management of goods, the control of military forces and the well-being of the population, the leaders created an A.I. program called EVA. But as you’d expect, EVA caused social unrest and military forces are now fully automated. Your mission is to restore freedom for all the planets.

Laserpitium is a side-scrolling shoot’em up, or shmup, where players will need to kill and survive enemy onslaught to reach the level’s big baddie and survive to move on to the next level. Rinse and repeat; typical shmup experience. Unlike most shmups however players do have a lifebar here albeit a short one; three hits from projectiles and you’re dead. But if you directly hit an enemy, it’s one hit kill.

When starting the game you can choose from three different ships; all of which have two different attacks; for example one of the ships will allow you to shoot forward or backwards, whereas another with have a single direct attack or a limited spread attack with two bullets. You can also pick up power ups for some extra (not really) power. And you can also refill your health.

The game also offers a bevy of difficulty settings for players of all skillset… in theory. The biggest difference in between the difficulties is the number of projectiles on-screen. And interestingly enough, the game isn’t as linear as you’d expect. When completing a level you have the option to choose between two levels giving players a bit of replay value. Levels also have mid-bosses and end level bosses. Also no matter the difficulty, the game rewards you with extra lives after you complete a level.

The game looks great as a whole; there’s a decent enemy variety and the bosses are quite well designed and thoughtout. Each level is also uniquely designed. While you can’t really expect that much variety in space, the development team managed to create challenging levels with their unique theme and hazards. The soundtrack is a mix of rock and electronic music to match the settings. Although it does sound a bit stale and familiar while being new tunes. It’s fine for what it is, but don’t expect to hum these in your free time.

The game’s biggest problem is its controls. While it does control fine as a whole, it is way too sensitive. If you press slightly too hard on the d-pad or move the right joystick too much, you’ll flail about. During levels, it’s fine, but against bosses and their unique patterns, it can caused unjustified damage or deaths. Another little nuisance is that when fighting mid-bosses, they don’t react to damage, you can’t really tell if you’re hitting their weakpoint. You only know if you did good if and when they die.

Despite its over-fragile control, Laserpitium is a fun and addictive entry in the shoot’em up genre. The vast array of difficulty settings and having the freedom so choose your path allows for some decent replay value. And add on top of that three different ship that plays differently, fans of the shmup genre will have their handsful with this one. However, if you’re a newcomer to the genre, this might not be the ideal game to dive in with.