The Lamplighters League

The year is 1932 and evil forces are once again threatening to turn the world into a dark and unpleasant place. However, one man wants to put a stop to this and to help him, he has a bunch of outsiders who don't mince words when the going gets tough.

The Lamplighters League adventure begins and we start with a gentleman named Lateef and an apparently deadly beauty named Ingrid, but gradually more agents are recruited and all come with different characteristics, weapons, and skills. The very first impression is good, it flirts a bit with everything from Indiana Jones to Uncharted, and such references are of course always appreciated. The plot itself is also the classic battle between good and evil. There is no less than three evil factions who have their sights set on taking over some sort of apocalyptic tower to destroy the world as we know it. It's our job, of course, to sabotage their plans in various ways and ensure that this simply doesn't happen.

Usually it's either turn-based or real-time combat, but in Lamplighters both options are available. This in itself is nothing new and has been done before, but it's still an interesting way to go. It's real-time as long as the enemy or enemies in question don't see you when you're sneaking around and switches to old-fashioned turn-based when discovered. It's also possible to quickly activate this yourself if you start to feel that it's simply easier if everyone dies rather than having to sneak past them. You can largely choose yourself and the freedom of choice is nice. But with that said, there is absolutely an advantage to get the number of enemies down as smoothly and quietly as possible, because some are tougher than others and all agents must survive the mission for it to be a success. So, when you are faced with a situation where you are heavily outnumbered, it becomes considerably more difficult to get everyone out in one piece.

Something that really adds colour to The Lamplighters League is the many colourful and unique characters. As I mentioned earlier, they all have their specific traits and weapons, but I think there is also a lot of personality behind all of them. Initially, it's Lateef and Ingrid that we control. Ingrid is a bit of a femme fatale who attacks with pure brute force with her reinforced gloves while Lateef carefully tiptoes forward and thus sneaks very well on unsuspecting enemies and incapacitates them with a well-placed punch, not unlike the judo punches that Austin Powers often used. It's also a bit funny that none of these characters are really heroes, they are all villains of different calibres. The fact that it's this particular gang that's going to save the world has a lot to do with the fact that our unlikely heroes are of course largely motivated by money.

The variety of enemies is also quite good but not quite as colourful, ranging from juggernaut-like, very beefy types to Aryan extremists, which fits well with the time frame. They comes in different types and abilities, and just like our agents, have different characteristics that make them more or less deadly to face. However, it's wise not to underestimate anyone, as this is usually always punished.

There is not much variation in the missions unfortunately. Here it eventually becomes a bit repetitive as it becomes too much of the same. Regardless of what the mission is ultimately about, it mostly consists of leading your little gang of villains from point A to point B and somehow killing everyone who happens to get in the way. It could definitely have been made a bit more interesting. However, it gets all the more exciting between missions when everyone gathers on the headquarters island to talk through the next step and you also get to know the characters a little more closely and get a taste of their different personalities. A big plus here is that thanks to everyone's different characteristics, you can put together what you feel is the best possible team for each mission and thus shine with your tactical skills.

At its best, The Lamplighters League is really charming with colourful characters and a somewhat clichéd but entertaining apocalyptic story. Unfortunately, it doesn't go all the way to the finish line and the repetitive structure is a bit of a let down, because this could have been much better than it ended up being.