The Last Argonaut Demo

Being a fighter pilot is not a job for everyone, especially since it requires many years of intense training and good discipline. The planes in question each cost a few million dollars, so the people piloting them need to make sure that they bring them back in one piece. Not only that, but a crash is highly unlikely to leave any survivors, unless the pilot manages to eject in time.

The Last Argonaut is a shoot ‘em up that requires fast reflexes and enough patience not to give up after the first few game over screens, as well as a passion for dynamic gameplay mechanics. The rest of the elements are not exactly top-notch, but if you consider the fact that it was developed by an amateur game designer and it barely featured anything close to a budget, the end result is more than appropriate.

To begin with, there is even a story running in the background, in case you needed a reason to shoot down planes from the sky. The plot and the cutscenes in between the missions do not really make too much sense, and you can theoretically ignore them and still have the same experience from start to finish. As a bonus, that way you can at least forget that the main characters call themselves “argonauts”.

As previously mentioned, the gameplay mechanics are fast-paced and demanding, because you constantly have to shoot the enemy aircraft and avoid their missiles as well. However, even if the controls are usually tight and responsive, your plane moves significantly slower than the others, which means that you’ll sometimes have a difficult time avoiding a bullet, even if you see it beforehand.

To make matters more interesting, a boss awaits you at the end of each level. Besides their magnificent visual appearance and size, these bosses also have special attacks that can deliver substantial amounts of damage. On the other hand, they feature predictable attack patterns and you can easily avoid them after a bit of practice, although you still need a tight grasp on the controls to do so, otherwise you get destroyed.

In the end, The Last Argonaut certainly doesn’t try to revolutionize anything in the genre, but it does a good job when it comes to offering the players a good time. Hence, if you enjoy fast-paced shooters and you do not mind the cheap looks, the game is worthy of a try.