Show the Power of Love in Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime - Preview
by Karl Koebke , posted on 15 June 2013 / 3,337 Views
Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime is an indie game that takes cooperation to an extreme. Basically you and your lover (or friends with benefits) man a spherical ship and are defending it from constant attack. Each function on the ship requires that someone man it so the minute to minute gameplay involves running from position to position to deal with whatever is coming. You can change the position of a 90 degree shield and turn it on when things are getting rough, fire turrets from several points around the ship, pilot the engine, or fire a powerful laser that spins around the circle automatically. It's quite a hectic game and can take a lot of effort and coordination.
The demo I played was an arcade mode but the developers told me that they were planning to make a campaign mode as well with multiple ship layouts to keep things fresh. In arcade mode the goal is to live as long as you can, but fighting off the hordes of enemies isn't the only thing you can do. There are also planets around with innocent civilians being harried by tanks. Take out the tanks and the inhabitants of the planet will reward you with replenishing a bit of your constantly waning health. You need to be careful, though, as the civilians are just as susceptible to lasers as the tanks, which I learned quickly when I fried the planet's surface with the automatic laser (it really seemed like a reasonable idea at the time...). You can get upgrades for your ship by destroying asteroids. These include things like faster engines, a reflective shield, and more powerful weapons.
The only thing that makes me worry about Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime is I don't know who I'll force to play it with me, but the concept is fantastic. Here's hoping that when the full game releases the campaign is just as enjoyable as the arcade mode. Look for more on Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime as it gets closer to release which is... whenever it's finished, because that's how indie games work.
