The Last Pilot – Special Weapons

I’ve been working away like a maniac on our metroidvania action-RPG The Flawless: Art’s Tale throughout the week but in the evenings I’ve taken a break and done a bit of work on the special weapons for our other video game The Last Pilot.

The Last Pilot is a cyberpunk sh’mup/top-down-shooter hybrid where military cats fly planes and shoot massive guns. It’s full of glowy effects and big explosions. We’ve been showing some screenshots of the sh’mup part of the game. Where the player takes control of the last pilot, Moon, and his gunner, Raith, as they fly a nuclear powerhouse of a plane called ‘The Weapon’ in an attempt to blow the enemy out of the sky and save the feline world. The top-down-shooter element is not ready to show yet but watch this space. Every plane needs some special weapons right? Some powerful guns or missiles that can be used tactically or as a last resort to get out of a tight spot. Well The Weapon has seven such weapons and we’re going to have a gander at four of them in this article. To fire the weapons you need to get a large enough hit combo, then press the trigger and boom!

1. Rockets


Moon fires a rocket into the mass of enemies.

These white and pink beauties are equipped on the plane from the beginning. They are the simplest of the special weapons and as such take the smallest hit combo to activate. They may be simple but when used correctly they are very effective. Pull that trigger and off the rocket shoots in a straight line doing massive damage to anything it hits and some lesser damage to anything in its blast radius. Rockets are a great special weapon for taking down armour on bosses, hitting a precise target, or taking out a closely grouped cluster of weak enemies. Rockets are upgradable in the shop in the main airbase. Each upgrade adds precision, damage, or increases the blast radius making the weapon even more deadly.

 

2. The Blaster


Raith uses the rapid fire of the blaster to get out of a tight spot.

Like rockets the blaster is part of The Weapon from the start of the game. It rapidly fires multiple lines of pinky-purple plasma bullets that do damage to most targets. The blaster rotates with the turret using the right stick on joypads or the mouse. This allows it to be used to give a quick all round 360 degree blast around the aircraft wiping out the enemies close by. It can also be used in one direction concentrating a massive amount of plasma bullets on one target causing massive damage. The blaster is a fairly close range weapon, although its range is upgradable in the shop.

 

3. Homers (Homing Missiles)


Four homing missiles curve through the sky seeking their targets.

The plane does not have homers installed at the beginning of the game. You need to find a blueprint and pay an engineer in the main airbase to attach this special weapon to the plane. Homers are a very powerful addition to The Weapon and make exploring the smaller airbases for blueprints and other items well worth it. The homers start moving slowly after launch as they pick up a target. As soon as they have locked-on their engines kick in and they rapidly cruise towards their target. On impact they cause massive damage. If their target is destroyed they slow down and re-lock-on to another target. If you want to upgrade your homers you can increase the number of missiles fired or their damage in the shop.

 

4. The Laser


The pink laser beam of ‘The Weapon’ burns through an enemy’s light shield.


The laser is the most expensive weapon to both install and use. It is well worth finding the blueprint for this special weapon as it causes massive sustained damage as well as slowing down time when in use. The powerful pink beam is great for burning through shields, blasting down hordes of smaller enemies, or doing massive continuous damage to a specific point on a target. You can upgrade the laser to last longer, slow down time more, and do higher levels of damage. You will need to pull off a pretty big combo to use this beast but during certain boss battles it will be well worth having ready to fire.

Well I’ve better get back to development. We will have loads more information about ‘The Last Pilot’, and  ‘The Flawless: Art’s Tale’ very soon along with a load of screenshots, animated gifs, and videos. Until then you can keep up to date with all our games on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

#TheLastPilot

Ste Wilson is a director, game developer, and programmer at Bare Knuckle Development Ltd. When not coding away on BKD games he can be found playing video games on console and PC. He also makes music under the music maker name of ‘Electric Fan Death’ and loves playing guitar, writing tunes, and producing music.

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