Lasers is a free-to-play multiplayer platformer that drops all subtlety in favor of a ruthless competition where the losers get cut into tiny, bloody pieces. It’s a mix of Fall Guys with those popular obby games from Roblox, with a hint of Squid Game thrown in for good, violent measure. The concept is meant to be addictive and instantly playable, but some flaws prevent it from becoming the go-to game for those looking for a hair-tearing challenge.

Buffed Up Gladiators

Clearly developed by a small indie team, Lasers doesn’t hold back on its adult nature. Violence is patent in almost every step, as contestants get sliced up by countless lasers or fall to their untimely death. The eye-candy is noticeable as well, with buff alpha males proudly showcasing their muscles, and females sporting exaggerated shapes, supported by the generous physics and see-through shirts, giving this game a strong vibe of recklessness and clearly aiming it at players who are always in for some visual excitement.

But it’s hard to see Lasers as anything other than a concept that is likely to wear out fast. It’s extremely hard, infuriatingly so, with 20 short levels where you don’t get any respite. Learning the layouts and managing your timing to the extreme will take you places, but this difficulty choice alienates a large group of players who just aren’t into taxing challenges where the slightest mistake is equal to restarting the room, over and over again. This would be easier to digest in case the game provided a flawless control system and animation flow, but it’s not perfect in this regard as well.

The issues start when trying to assign other buttons to the gamepad layout, as the game fails to recognize the triggers by mixing it up with menu navigation, and doesn’t allow players to switch the sprint function to something more intuitive than the surreal “Y” default. How would a player use that key to sprint and “A” to jump in a natural way, unless they are an octopus in disguise?

There’s also something peculiar about the animation chain, as the transition from walking to running lacks smoothness and this gets in the way of a good feeling for control, heightened by the strange jumping, especially when walking, making it very hard to properly judge distances.

But the main offender here is how most of the time you can’t see a thing ahead of you, and this severely hurts gameplay. Characters don’t occupy a solid space, clipping through one another, and it’s frequent to have other players blocking the view of your avatar and making you lose the run. Since this is a game where timing is crucial and difficulty is merciless, having no way of making other characters transparent, or at least the ones right behind you who are more likely to block your view, is something beyond comprehension. When several players are standing on a small platform, timing your next move is almost like having blind faith and hoping for the best.

Fun with Lasers

If you manage to ignore some of these blatant shortcomings and be obstinate enough to complete some of the easiest – let’s call them “not exasperatingly hard” instead – levels, maybe you can enjoy Lasers for a few moments. The balance parts are fun to play, and there’s this undeniable sense of reward when you reach the end of a level before the timer runs out. Like other games, it’s about persistence and perfecting your timing, and eventually you may get some enjoyment from it.

The question is why would you choose Lasers over superior games such as Fall Guys, Crab Game, or Stumble Guys, all of them equally free. Maybe it’s the thick girls who bounce around with glee, or perhaps the way limbs are torn in bloody ways; but there’s no cost in trying, and if you love a challenge where you get to punch the desk a few times per minute, then this Squid Game of Lasers could be your go-to game in the end.

Pros:

• Balance challenges are few but fun
• A rewarding feeling when you finish a circuit
• Some eye-candy for those who like it in their games
  
  

Cons:

• Other players constantly blocking your view
• Movement isn’t as smooth as it should be
• Default keybinds are weird and the game doesn’t accept all our choices
• Frustratingly hard (but this may be a positive for some)

Rating: 5/10