Lichtspeer: Double Speer Edition (Switch) Review

Lichtspeer is a simple game. You stand to the left, and you throw spears at enemies moving from the right. It’s nothing new, it’s nothing revolutionary, and doesn’t do much to mix up the formula. If that sounds appealing to you, then grab the game. If it sounds like a repetitive mess, then nothing I’m going to say will tell you otherwise.

The game starts off saying you will die a lot. The Dark Souls of Pseudo-German Viking Spear Throwing games, if you will. While that’s not a bad thing by any means (my analogy aside) I don’t think the game earns its right to be difficult. Any game can be challenging, take the first level of Super Mario Bros and add 17 Bowsers on the first screen – does that make the game challenging, or just needlessly difficult? The challenge should come in a curve, not an outright wall and I don’t think Lichtspeer really has an exact curve so to speak. It’s okay to start at a challenging peak, games like Super Meat Boy don’t mess around either, however Meat Boy still earns its challenge by providing a baseline other than a tutorial.

Lichtspeer has two difficulty modes from the get-go, Normal & Rage Quit Mode. What’s the main difference? In Rage Quit Mode, after 1 hit, you restart the entire level instead of just one of five portions. While games having 1 Hit KO challenges are nothing new, it just further proves the difficulty is artificial rather than earned. Arcade games were designed around this to suck up your parents’ change. NES games were designed like this to pad out games that lack content. In 2017, it just comes off as poorly designed and puts a sour taste in your mouth.

There are a few powerups to help you throughout the game divided up into Attack, Uber & Defence categories. These range from turning your normal light spear into a hammer, summoning a giant beam that will vaporise enemies, or the ability to slow time to help in the most crucial moments. While there are multiple abilities per category, you can only have one selected at a time and also level them up to be more powerful, or have a faster cooldown. These upgrades can help with gaining a better score, with various combos being awarded for headshot combos and kills in quick succession. Sometimes you might even hit an enemy that comes from offscreen based on purely a lucky throw to get a long throw bonus. The more points you gather up, the more of these upgrades you can purchase.

The art style of Lichtspeer is a great use of combinations of minimalism yet also vibrant neon set pieces. Enemies are also very distinct and this is important, to note what pattern they will follow and when the best opportunity is to take them down. The music, on the other hand, is not so great. Level’s aren’t exactly short – especially if you’re dying a bunch and having to redo sections. When spending 10+ minutes in a level, the music gets really draining, feeling like a 20 second sound sample on a loop rather than a fully composed soundtrack. While I appreciate the tone and style they were going for, repetitive melodies and sound structure only further emphasise how shallow the gameplay is.

Lichtspeer: Double Speer Edition isn’t just a fancy name for a Switch port; the Double Speer action comes through in multiplayer. The game can be played with a single Joy-Con, making it great for Table Top mode, and any level can be played in multiplayer. Since this game is all about the challenge, don’t expect that having a friend will make it easier. The difficulty is further ramped up as your friend hovers above you as a… puppy, for whatever reason. While you have double the light spears, you still do share your abilities, so coordination will be key for knowing when to activate them. Overall the game remains the same, just even more challenging with more and harder to kill enemies appearing earlier and earlier on.

I’m sure there’s an audience for this game, however that simply just isn’t myself. While I have no issues with games being repetitive or challenging, I feel Lichtspeer does not innovate enough in either department to warrant a recommendation. To those, this might interest, with a dozen levels or so the game can be completed within a few hours, making it even a hard sell in that regard.

Rating: 2/5