Overview
empest is a fixed-screen tube shooter in which the player controls a claw-shaped spacecraft moving around the near rim of a three-dimensional geometric web. The web is divided into lanes extending toward a distant vanishing point, and enemies travel outward along them toward the player. The ship can move between adjacent lanes and fire rapid shots directly down the one it currently occupies. Because shots require time to reach distant targets and remain confined to their lanes, careful positioning and anticipation are important.
The arcade game contains 99 numbered skill levels built from 16 differently shaped webs, including closed tubes, open figures, a flat line, and a figure-eight pattern. Closed webs allow the ship to travel continuously around the rim, while open ones have endpoints that restrict movement. After the 16 designs have been completed, they repeat with different colors, faster action, and more dangerous combinations of enemies. At particularly advanced levels, the web itself becomes invisible. The SkillStep system allows experienced players to begin a new game near a previously reached level rather than always starting from the first.
