14 DAY TRIAL // 
Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime is an optimistic, hard and beautiful indie title that manages to create a very interesting set of two-player cooperative mechanics which will encourage players to manage limited attention resources and to constantly communicate as they seek to deal with some powerful enemies and bosses.
The development team at Asteroid Base understands how to create suspense and how to make sure that the atmosphere is always light, even when weird creatures destroy a universe through hate.
Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime is not as poetic as the name suggests, but the game can serve as a sort of instant relationship counselor for the pairs of gamers who are brave enough to stick together until they save the universe from Anti-Love.
Story
Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime is a video game about love, bunnies and hard challenges, an experience that has a simple premise and then manages to create a very cute universe around it.
The story focuses on the Anti-Love that threatens to take it apart and the efforts of a team of two characters, which can be selected after the starting screen, to use an experimental spaceship to take out a variety of colorful and deadly enemies and some very powerful bosses.
Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime offers four core campaigns and the actual levels for each of them are created procedurally even if the actual long-term goals remain the same, offering a level of replayability that's a great asset to the title.
The various characters are limited in their range of expression, and the plot of the title is limited, but I love the optimistic nature of the universe created by Asteroid Base and how the studio has managed to make positive feelings such a central concept of the entire experience.
In a video game world that's dominated by the dark and the gritty, Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime is a breath of fresh air and can make even the most jaded player smile.
Gameplay
Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime is part action, part platformer, and part 2D shooter, with players having to carefully manage the various stations on their ship in order to progress through levels and take out powerful bosses.
The game is centered on limited resource management because the player can only rely on two characters, either two humans or a human and a loyal space dog, when it's pretty clear that around four would be required for normal operations.
Each ship has weapons, a shield array, a drive combined with steering, a superweapon, and a map section, all of which are important at certain moments.
The fact that only two pairs of hands (and/or paws) are actually available means that gamers will need to deal with each crisis by deciding which of the featured systems are crucial and which can be ignored for a while.
The two players (or the single player and an AI) will frantically move in the small interior of the spacecraft they travel in, shooting a gun at a cluster of enemies before re-orienting the shield to gain a moment of respite to then fire the superweapon and get a chance to use the drive to get away.
The levels that Asteroid Base created are randomized to some extent, although gamers will have to reach the same objectives, and the general theme is preserved, and gamers will mostly hunt down the rabbits that need to be rescued to progress, even if my attention was often attracted by mysterious question marks that show where other rewards and clues are featured.
The Artificial Intelligence that powers the numerous and varied enemies is very solid and carefully protects the rabbit targets, with reinforcements and an increase in mobility making them even more of a threat when the player is heading to the gate that ends a level.
“Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime is a frantic game and initially it's very easy to fail, especially when learning exactly how to deal with the various stations and how the opponent types behave and attack.”
I played on Normal difficulty, which can be punishing at times and does not tolerate too many players mistakes, but some gamers will find the Casual difficulty a better suit.
The AI-driven dog companion can often be a lifesaver, especially when manning the gun turrets, although I never trust him to fire the superweapon.
The ship can also be upgraded, both with gems that tweak how weapons and other systems work and with more general new features that improve its overall capabilities.
Graphics and audio
Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime is a bright and colorful game that uses a retro touch for its look and has one of the most optimistic presentations I have seen this year, with pink and yellow dominating the palette.
The 2D view feels limiting at times, focused a little too tightly on the spaceship, but it's simple to always see which station should be covered and the kinds of threats that need to be dealt with, from creatures to walls that always seem too narrow.
Even the enemy design is somewhat cute in Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime, and the bosses are especially impressive, both when it comes to their celestial inspiration and when it comes to their attack routines.
I like the feeling of optimism that the graphics deliver, even when the situation is very complicated, and gamers are very close to failure, which makes it easy to deal with the difficulty level and the sometimes unfair enemy tactics.
The music of Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime is equal to the graphics in terms of quality, a mix of genres and tempos that is continuously engaging and upbeat and often had me and my coop partner quietly dancing while trying to improve our coordination and progress through the levels.
Multiplayer
Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime is designed from the ground up for two players who are engaged with the game at the same time, ideally standing side by side and communicating a lot as they experience the core mechanics.
Expect to fail a lot initially because there's a tendency for both players involved to try and do the cool thing, like shooting at aliens or using the shield or superweapon.
It's a great idea to decide early on that one player will deal mainly with the drive and the shield while the other will focus on weapons fire and map work.
Maneuvering can sometimes be a chore, and my friend and I quickly established a system where we alternate in order to make sure that each of us experiences everything the game has to offer.
Even with players who have clearly divided their responsibilities and communicate well, Lovers in Dangerous Spacetime can be very difficult and it's a great idea to take breaks at times, especially when frustration seems to set in.
The Good
- Cooperative mechanics
- Universe design
- Boss battles
The Bad
- Some difficulty spikes
- Limited narrative
Conclusion
The game looks great, distinctive and bright, and asks players to carefully use limited resources of attention and actions, creating challenges that feel both difficult and fair.
The need to constantly communicate and synchronize action, when playing locally with another human being, is one of the most attractive elements of Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime and anyone who has a close friend who's into video games should give the experience a try.
