Laserpitium

Laserpitium is a horizontal 2D shoot-'em-up for up to two players. You pilot one of three ships across different planets, fighting the military forces controlled by the EVA program while avoiding hazards in the scenery. The game has hand-drawn graphics, parallax and multidirectional scrolling.

The resistance mission

In 2357, the leaders of the S-08G galaxy sign a treaty of peace and cooperation. They create the EVA computer program on the artificial planet HELOS to manage goods, military forces and the well-being of the population. Years later, EVA makes inconsistent decisions that cause social unrest, and its automated military forces attack rebellions. You join resistance fighters in attacking EVA's military bases and destroying HELOS to restore the planets' freedom and independence.

Choose a ship

Each of the three ships has different characteristics:

• The Horizon: a military ship whose primary fire shoots forward and secondary fire shoots backward.
• The Second Fox: a compact resistance battleship with high firepower and handling. Its primary fire shoots forward; its secondary fire launches two weaker projectiles diagonally.
• The Proto.26: a ship with a computer that automatically locks onto the nearest enemy, marking it with a bright target. Both fire buttons send energy blasts directly at the locked enemy.

You choose your ship and its color before a campaign, and cannot change ships during it. Weapon bonuses increase the ship's weapon power, with weapon levels varying by ship. Losing a life removes all bonuses from your current weapon level.

Combat and bonuses

Destroy enemies while watching for dangerous elements in the scenery, and collect bonuses to strengthen your ship. Green modules provide an energy bar; if your energy is already full, the bonus instead gives the equivalent of a large point bonus. Red modules increase your weapon gauge, or provide a large point bonus if that gauge is full. Point bonuses are placed in the scenery, and earning points by hitting enemies or collecting bonuses can grant extra lives.

The heads-up display shows your ship's energy and lives, weapon power and score. Each hit removes energy. When it runs out, your ship explodes and you lose a life; if you explode with no lives remaining, the game ends.

Campaigns and planets

You choose a difficulty, from an easier setting for beginners to a harder one for advanced players, then select a campaign mode. Classic lets you choose the next level after each stage and takes about 25 minutes. Full runs through all 10 levels, with a choice of order for the five starting levels, and takes about 40 minutes. The game supports local co-op for two players.

The campaign's 10 levels take you through:

• Botalia: forests and vegetation valued by EVA for their rare woods and medicinal plants.
• Hypth: a former cradle of humanity, where EVA machines have corrupted the sacred temple and ancient civilization.
• Royc-3: a rocky hideout for EVA ships, with caves, falling rocks and enemies.
• Silsius: an ice-covered planet with hidden enemy bases, optical camouflage and dangerous ice peaks.
• Advitam: a planet in perpetual fusion, used by EVA as a foundry. Its corrosive, toxic atmosphere requires you to fly close to the ground.
• Triltex: a heavily armed, fast-moving goods convoy carrying electronic components for EVA's military machines.
• Nova: a technologically comfortable planet protected by EVA, where you travel through supply ducts to reach your objective.
• S-08G: a space crossing where you eliminate the last enemy fleets on the way to HELOS.
• Helos: the artificial planet that houses EVA; you must destroy its general power source to make the program vulnerable.
• EVA: the final confrontation with the program, which can now only defend itself.