LUFTRAUSERS

by Devolver Digital for Windows 8.1

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Explosive and addictive air action in small doses

LUFTRAUSERS is a small and crazy action game where you’ll enjoy brutal aircraft battles over the sea. At your disposal you will have 125 different plane part combinations that you’ll unlock as you progress in those impossible-to-win air battles.

Fly and die

The most important thing you should know before playing LUFTRAUSERS is that you don’t stand a chance to win. The game has been conceived to make you lose. Once you’ve understood that, the question is how long can you hold before madness drags you into the ocean.

LUFTRAUSERS would be one of those “infinite games” that are so popular for mobile devices. But here your aim is to fight and destroy your enemies with no hope to survive. As soon as you leave the aircraft carrier with your aircraft, the only goal is to destroy everything on the screen: the enemy’s aircrafts, missiles, fighter planes, war ships, and submarines. The longer you stay alive, the stronger and more furious will be your enemies.

The first battles only last a few seconds. And that’s because the game is designed to give you more experience with each battle and helps you reach higher levels (meeting a series of challenges). Each new level will let you modify your plane: Gunshot, Engine, or Shield. With the improvements you’ll be able to make battles last a few more minutes, but only a few.

Before taking off, you choose the different parts of the plane to create a custom model. With different configurations you’ll soar the skies towards your imminent death. Depending on the plane, the battle might be stronger or more agile. Everything also depends on luck and skill. One thing is clear: you will die. All that matters is how many points you achieve before you do.

Fun and original

The plane you control has a fun and unrealistic inertia. You can accelerate and make the plane spin in a two dimensional plane, but the key is to gain momentum and use the tailspin in your favor, to turn and kill the other aircrafts by surprise. You’ll get the hang of this technique after a few battles and from then on you’ll look for the best way to kill without being killed.

And there’s not much more than that. LUFTRAUSERS is a simple game to control, but difficult to master.

Four colors are enough

The graphics aim for absolute simplicity. The game uses only 4 colors to represent everything on screen, and airplanes and boats have a flat texture in gray.

Yet the result is amazing, with so many planes on screen, and gunfire and explosions everywhere. When you see LUFTRAUSERS in motion you can appreciate the technical mastery of its simple graphics.

The worst thing is the music, a single track of great quality that can be tiresome after the countless games you’ll play.

Wrapping up

LUFTRAUSERS is an awesome little gem. While you play, time will fly. The progression system and the one or two minute battles will get you hooked and will make want more and more. But be careful, that could also mean that you’ll grow tired of it as quickly as it got you hooked.