Where to start with 'Lightracer Spark'?
Its gameplay feels like it’s technically a real-time strategy game, but it feels more like a "choose your own adventure" story. These aren't bad things, far from it. For a studio of this size to have created a game like this is quite an achievement.
'Lightracer Spark' relies heavily on narrative, and the decisions you make can lead you to war or to peace, with each being not totally obvious but quite well signposted if you know what to look for. It's well written overall, some parts are a bit corny/cringy/overly dramatic, but that doesn't really take away from the general quality of the dialogue. If you enjoy story-heavy and action-light games you're likely to feel engrossed in this, even starting again to play through the story with different decisions and different consequences.
As stories go it is a bit of a slow burner initially as it has to accommodate the tutorial, which is un-skippable and especially on your first (or even second) playthrough, you won’t want to. The mechanics become quite in-depth quite quickly, and it's easy to miss instructions from your "AI" companion. The tutorial also feels a bit disconnected from the rest of the game. Unlike games like 'Halo', where the tutorial might be set in a massive spaceship which is currently being invaded, the tutorial of 'Lightracer Spark' ends and there is very little connecting it to the rest of the game. It simply says "oh well, that’s about all we can do here" conjuring images of the Jeremy Clarkson meme.
This game was not, however, made for everyone. In a world of instant gratification, 30-second TikToks and fast-paced, fast-action games like 'Call of Duty', 'Lightracer Spark' needs and expects more from you. It requires your full attention throughout, you cannot watch YouTube on your second monitor or watch Twitch on your phone while playing - well, technically you can but you'll be doing yourself and this game a disservice. With 'Lightracer Spark' you reap what you sow, if you skip through the dialogue and story you're going to miss out on the most important parts of the game, and not everyone wants to play this kind of game.
If any of the above has piqued your interest then for under €13 on Steam you can hardly go wrong, but be warned it does take time to pick up steam. The care for the game from the developers is clear to see, and average Steam reviews of 80% show that the people who have played already care for it too.
