Han…erm, eyes on the Laser Guy demo

Who hasn’t gotten nervous before a big life event, most of us knuckle up and get the job done, others might falter and lament what could’ve been, however for our cycloptic protagonist Harold’s coping mechanism is a bit more destructive…a unending laser beam that will cease when his heart rate returns to normal. That’s the premise of the comedic puzzle title Laser Guy.

Since he inhabits a world where self preservation doesn’t exist, it’s up to Harold to skillfully weave out of rooms, avoid hurting anyone in his way, collect CDs (cause physical media rules!) and get to the point where he can calm the hell down. The game recently released its demo on Steam and I took it upon myself to guide our rosy colored protagonist to safety.

The first scenario features your first day of work at Sovereign Entertainment as a coder. During a meeting with the CEO, your affliction kicks in and you need to get out of dodge. You take control and you move with the left stick and “aim” your destructive output with the right stick. You quickly learn how powerful your beam is as most living things will die within a second of being subjected to its force. If you happen to kill a person, you’ll have to restart the room. It’s then you learn the basics, hug the walls, be situationally aware when you’re turning your head and watch the movement patterns of the people in the room as you make your way to the exit. As you traverse more rooms you’ll run into more elements which will either help or hinder you. Fire extinguishers which create a burst of vision obscuring smoke (It doesn’t disperse the beam though), furniture which are impervious to the beam, glass panes which allow your beam to fire through and switches which can be powered by the energy of your beam.

The first chapter will conclude when you’ve made it to an open balcony where you calm down. After a chapter is completed you’re shown how well you did in each room, time to exit, number of deaths and whether or not you’ve collected the CD if there is one in the room. If you’re a completionist you’ll want to get that fastest time, zero deaths and go out of your way to get the optical disc media. The game is also gracious enough to let you select specific rooms, so you won’t have to do the entire chapter to improve your performance.

Next Harold, who has garnered the nickname of Laser Guy is entrusted to go to Good Games Incorporated to seek funding for Sovereign Entertainment’s next project…and comedically Harold folds under pressure and starts causing chaos in another office (How has this guy not shown the door is beyond me…). Chapter two is a fraction of Harold’s time at Good Games Incorporated, but this office introduces walls which reflect your beam, something which you can use to hit items that you can’t hit in a straight line, a VR helmet which can block your blast for a short amount of time. The demo ends after you’ve activated two out of four switches of a locked door.

Conceptually Laser Guy turns the power fantasy on its head, rather wanting to destroy anything that stands in your way, your goal is to do as no harm to living beings as possible. The twin stick control is perfect and the general indifference of anyone who sees you walking into a room blasting adds to the game’s comedic charm. The game’s Windows 3.0-ish ui feels apt, although sometimes it’s really hard to tell what button or tab you are focused on. If the game stays relatively brief I can see it as an enjoyable experience.

Laser Guy is developed and published by Point N’ Sheep and it will be released on PC sometime in the future.

Laser Guy – Official Demo Trailer | Free Demo Out Now
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-J0hE_Ehxg

Laser Guy screens: