Game Reviews

Lt. Fly Rise of the Arachnids

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Lt. Fly Rise of the Arachnids

The simple match-three or match-four puzzler has been tagged onto all manner of actions over the years.

Lining up coloured blocks and jewels has been tenuously linked to everything from uncovering the history of Mayan culture to jiving in a New Orleans casino. It means little because the gameplay is all the same.

Lt. Fly Rise of the Arachnids, however, goes further by adding both a quirky new setting and gameplay element. As well as matching up groups of four squares, you also have to shoot leagues of Wermacht spiders dangling down in waves from the top of the screen.

Combining the two might appear a nice idea, but in truth it stretches things a little much.

The square root

With the 5x5 puzzle grid purposefully small, matching squares is incredibly simple. Tapping a coloured token swaps it with a random replacement displayed in the top-right corner. The task, of course, is to match them up in groups of four - L-shapes, cubes, or standard lines qualify.

Once matched, they disappear from the grid and the tokens above filter down to take their place. The aim is to get the squares containing ammunition down to the bottom of the screen. As soon as they hit the floor, they enter your armory, ready for use against your eight-legged foes.

This is where the second element comes into play. With spiders dropping from the top, you tap to take them out. If they manage to reach the bottom, they eat up portions of your health. As such, getting through each level is a question of filtering your ammunition down on the one side, while taking out the enemy on the other.

Attention deficit

When things go right, there's a real momentum to play. Lt. Fly Rise of the Arachnids keeps things relatively fresh by introducing bonuses – tokens that contain extra or special ammo, or letters that have to be shot down for achievements – that also split your attention.

It's finding a balance between both sides of the screen that takes up most time. While each task is far from complex, combined they detract from each other. As soon as one half begins to fall apart – usually triggered my mis-targeting your shots – the whole thing becomes a bit of a stuttered nuisance.

Lt. Fly Rise of the Arachnids lays out a challenge that relies on your ability to make quick decisions on both sides. Managing to keep the required rhythm going at all times, however, calls upon something resembling super-human skill.

Eight-legged anger

It almost feels like two fairly fun games have been shoved together with the hope that the shortcomings of one will be covered up by the presence of the other. Boss stages push this point further by making you wait for targeting windows before you can fire upon your target effectively.

Rather than making boss battles more challenging, it throws you off track. Even when you do manage to get things moving, it feels like an effort more than a pleasure.

Ultimately it's an intriguing experiment, though in the end it this feels like a failed one. Two mediocre games slammed together does not an awesome package make, and Lt. Fly Rise of the Arachnids would do well to focus on one or the other if a sequel comes a-knocking.

Lt. Fly Rise of the Arachnids

Two mediocre games squished together into one package, Lt. Fly Rise of the Arachnids is a master of none, ultimately tasking you with doing too much for too little
Score
Keith Andrew
Keith Andrew
With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font. He's also Pocket Gamer's resident football gaming expert and, thanks to his work on PG.biz, monitors the market share of all mobile OSes on a daily basis.