Luftrausers (Video Game Review)

Luftrausers is the newest release from Dutch developer Vlambeer. The two man team of Rami Ismail and Jan Willem Nijman have made a name for themselves with a library of indie games that includes the free-to-play Super Crate Box and Steam Early Access hit Nuclear Throne. Luftrausers is based in shooter gameplay but is still very different from the games that came before it. Players take on the role of a fighter pilot in what appears to be a World War II pilot over the water. The game plays like a modernized Asteroids in which players can customize their ship with unlockable upgrades and easily track their stats and progress through the game. Luftrausers is really addictive and difficult, so once you've set an objective for yourself in the game, you could find yourself restarting for hours until that goal is completed.

Luftrausers is overly simplistic to pick up and play. After a short opening sequence, players are thrust into a tutorial where the game's basic mechanics are introduced. Using either the arrow keys on keyboard or left joystick on an Xbox 360 controller, players will turn their plane and hit the up direction to travel in the area the plane is currently facing. The game does a good job of measuring momentum and allowing planes to stall in the air some before gravity takes control and starts pulling the plane down towards the watery depths below. Fly too high, and your ship is toast; fly too low, and you're sunk. Flying has a slight learning curve, but anyone that has played similar arcade and downloadable titles will pick up on the controls quick enough.

Once flying has been mastered, shooting is introduced, and players will have to carefully control the ship while aiming and firing guns at enemies. There are a variety of different guns in the game, though the starting weapon is a basic machine guns that automatically fires bullets while holding the fire button. Once in-game missions have been completed, players can rank up and unlock some new weapons that include a laser and a bullet barrage that is similar to the blast of a shotgun among some other unlockable weapons that come later in the game. Most weapons come with some drawback such as less maneuverability while firing or less damage per second while the ship loses no speed. It's also important to not fire too often, since health is regenerated slowly when weapons aren't being used.

Additionally, players can unlock new ship bodies and engines. The bodies give health boosts and similar benefits. One unique body we unlocked drastically reduced health of the plane, but allows the ship to crash into enemy vehicles without taking any damage. Players can also customize their engines with unlockable items that do things such as increasing a ship's speed or allowing the boosters to be used as weapons. Luftrausers features over 125 unique vehicle loadouts once every unlockable item has been obtained, and typically each new weapon, body or engine is better than the next, so there is always a sense of progression and something new to work towards in the game.

Destroying enemy ships builds a combo meter. The combo meter allows more points to be obtained from kills. More points makes more enemies and tougher enemies worth more points attack the player. It's a good formula that rewards players for quickly chaining together kills instead of running from fights, but most ship builds can be taken out with only a few bullets hits or a collision with enemy ships for about one second, so even the best run can come to a quick and sudden end. Luftrausers sessions can quickly turn into a bullet hell game, where players are frantically looking for a safe place in the sky when none is to be found. Death sends players to a previous game statistic screen and players can get back into the game by hitting up twice, so the game is really fast paced.

Luftrausers packs over 100 different missions or in-game objectives into the game. Skilled players can easily blow through these challenges in just a few hours though despite what seems like a lot of content. Players who aren't as good at the game will eventually hit a wall and struggle to progress further in the game. Unfortunately, this means some players will have fun with the game for only a short time before boredom or frustration sets in. The game does have a good presentation that helps keep players addicted though. Classic game graphics borrows some sprites and animations from other Vlambeer games, but Luftrausers has a color palette and art style that feels truly unique to this game. The main theme song of the game is also pretty addictive and builds the excitement of a match over time.

For a $10 game, Luftrausers is a pretty smart purchase. The game allows players to get in and play the game quickly, and it's a fun game to play for 10 minutes or 4 hours at a time or longer. Matches never seem to last too long, but their is a good variety of enemies and mission objectives to keep each game feeling a bit different from ones that came before it. The game may not stay fun for many players for long, but others will find it terribly addictive if it matches their skill level. Luftrausers is currently available on PlayStation Network and Steam, so enlist today!

Luftrausers is now available for PlayStation Network and Steam and can be purchased for $9.99. Luftrausers is rated E by the ESRB. For more information on the game, check out the official Luftrausers website.

Download the Luftrausers soundtrack right here.

Game Features:

• Single Player
• Over 100 Missions and Over 125 Vehicle Combinations
• Bullet Hell Gameplay and Retro Look
• Online Leaderboards
• Trophy/Achievement Support

Game Information:
Developer: Vlambeer
Publisher: Devolver Digital
Platforms: PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, PC (reviewed), Mac & Linux
Release Date: March 18, 2014

Score: 7.5 out of 10