When I first had a little read into Laserlife, developed and published by Choice Provisions, I was really interested in it. Billed as a rhythmic game, you have the task of collecting “Memories” that will belong to a dead astronaut that is floating in deep space. You have the chance to extract these memories by collecting them in a series of songs and missions. Think a little of something like Child of Eden. Now, to start with, the game I thought was quite fun. However, that was the start.
Let`s take a look at the controls. You use a lot of your trigger buttons on your controller, as these are what you use to collect the memories. Now, that may sound simple, and a little too easy in my opinion. You then have to use your bumper sticks to move and direct the “light beams” I call them, in order to collect the memories. Now, at first, I thought this was going to be pretty simple. However, the further you get down the game, the more and more complex it becomes. You do tend to get the rhythm and get a beat going to it, and that helps with getting it in time with the memories, but it can be quite a challenge by having to switch from top to bottom and left to right in quick succession.
Now, as far as the story goes, it is probably one of the quickest games I have ever completed. The main story is broken down into 3 sections, each with 4 memories to collect within. You can earn up to 3 stars per one, and the outcome, is the exact same. Collect memories, and these memories will show you at the end the story of the fallen astronaut. For example, the first section is based on his childhood, and growing up, and we see many memories that you would associate with a youngster, i.e. a teddy bear. Moving through the sections you find memories based on his older life, such as meeting a companion. Now, the outcome of the whole game is no different, to what you understand at the start of the game. The astronaut is dead, and you have collected memories that tell you a little bit about him. If I`m being honest, it doesn’t really have a story. It`s not linear or non-linear. It`s a case of collecting memories to find out about his story. I found that completing all 3 sections, took me just over an hour and 10 minutes.
Now, at first, I thought it was pretty fun, and was something a bit different to what`s out there on the market. However, after the first 20 minutes or so, of the exact same thing over and over again, I found myself getting a little bit bored with it. The soundtrack within the game is also quite limited. Before you start the main memory stage (as each memory has 3 parts to it, a pre-memory synchronization, the main parts to collect the memory, and a fun little mini game where you have to dodge obstacles to get to the end of a tunnel) it was the same song over and over and over again. I could probably sit here and hum the tune to you. That`s how many times over and over it was played. I remember some games back on the SNES where you had a game that a song was played the same over and over and over again. Now, thankfully, there are a few other tracks that are played within the game (and to be quite frank, thank you as I don’t think my ears would of taken much of hearing the same song over and over again) that are played within the main section of each memory.
Now, I do quite like an achievement hunt. I like trying to fully complete the games, as I find that when you try and aim to fully complete a game Gamerscore wise, that`s when you find things within a game that you didn’t find the first time you played it. Within an hour of playing it, I was on over 500g. The achievements are pretty bog standard and pretty simple and easy to achieve. They mainly are just playing through the memories, and hitting each note. There are a few that are related to the last mini game you play within a memory where you have to get through a tunnel of light without hitting some obstacles, but it`s mainly about playing the game and hitting each note. Now, some memories that may take a few turns as some come very quick and can catch you off course, but it is in no means a difficult task to face.
Now, Overall, Laserlife is a game that is very quick to complete, if you can last it out past the first 20 minutes without getting bored. I quite like the rhythmic games, and I imagine that`s what kept me going throughout, but if you`re not a fan of the rhythmic games and don’t have patience, this isn’t the game for you.
A huge thank you to XCN for supplying us with a Review copy.
