In The Spearman, the player throws spears at enemies that appear on hovering platforms. You control the angle and strength needed to throw using your finger tip, directing your little spearman on the left side of the screen to fire at any enemies that appear.
At the start, it appears fairly simple and easy. An archer appears, you fire and miss. You soon learn that a body or neck shot kills instantly, while it takes two shots to the leg to do anything useful. After they die, the enemy falls from the platform with a gruesome stabbing sound, complete with the expected ragdoll effects. Alongside this, a strange little gold coin icon appears.
You continue on like, firing at appearing enemies until suddenly, it changes. Now, enemies sometimes come with helmets, so you can’t headshot them instantly! What’s this, now the enemy are appearing two at a time! As if the added stress weren’t enough, sometimes a swordsman comes sprinting at you from the right side of the screen and he’ll instantly put you down. Easy enough, except you’re also under fire from the appearing archers.
Then, quite suddenly, you realize you played, died and restarted dozens of times and it’s been almost an hour.[sc name=”quote” text=”Then, quite suddenly, you realize you played, died and restarted dozens of times and it’s been almost an hour.”]
The Spearman requires a surprisingly immense amount of skill, not the least because it keeps throwing new and frustrating challenges at you. The enemies get more numerous and armored the further you progress, meaning you will always eventually become overwhelmed and die.
Eventually, you’ll finally realize that the gold coins can be used to purchase upgrades for your character that protect him from the arrows of your enemies. In The Spearman, like all good games, you are hurt exactly the same as your enemies; two shots to the legs, one to the head or chest will kill you.
The only way to survive is to hope the enemy misses you, armor up or kill them before they get a chance to put you down. It is highly recommended to do the latter.
The inclusion of Ragdoll physics, while satisfying to watch – especially because you hit their lifeless, crumpling bodies as they fall a second time as a personal challenge – adds an additional layer of strategic gameplay. When enemy arrows at flying at you, it is possible to shift your head and body away from your vital parts. Namely, your head and body.
You’re not able to move fully, but it’s definitely possible to shift yourself slightly by angling your character so as to avoid horrible death.[sc name=”quote” text=”You’re not able to move fully, but it’s definitely possible to shift yourself slightly by angling your character so as to avoid horrible death.”]
The surprising amount of skill, depth of gameplay and variety of options makes The Spearman an overwhelming enjoyable experience. You get to combine the pleasures of firing spears at people with actually good gameplay, with a sense of continuous progression and achievement to back it up.
It’s just like being in high school, playing archer games online when your teacher isn’t looking. Except this time, the gameplay is a lot richer and more rewarding than just evading your teacher.
