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Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime

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Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime
Developer(s)Asteroid Base
Publisher(s)Asteroid Base
Producer(s)Jamie Tucker
Designer(s)Matt Hammill
Jamie Tucker
Adam Winkels
Programmer(s)Adam Winkels
Jamie Tucker
Artist(s)Matt Hammill
Composer(s)Ryan Henwood
EngineUnity[1]
Platform(s)Linux, Microsoft Windows, OS X, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
ReleaseMicrosoft Windows, Linux, OS X', Xbox One'PlayStation 4
Genre(s)Action, Platform
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime is a video game developed by Asteroid Base for Microsoft Windows, OS X, PlayStation 4, Linux, and Xbox One. The project is part of the ID@Xbox program.[2] The game's title is a reference to the Bruce Cockburn song "Lovers in a Dangerous Time".

Gameplay

The game can be played alone or with two to four players. The players pilot a spaceship with a variety of stations located inside it. These stations control the ship's weapons, engine, shield, Yamato cannon, and map. Each player controls only a single avatar (as well as commanding the AI pet in single-player mode), and thus must constantly move from station to station in order to balance flying the ship, protecting it from damage, and attacking enemies. During the course of gameplay, gift boxes can be discovered which may contain gems. These gems can be attached to the stations, giving them new, enhanced powers.

The game consists of four campaigns; each contain four levels and a boss fight. The goal of the regular levels is to find and rescue an assortment of captured creatures including bunnies, frogs, foxes, and ducks. After capturing five such creatures in a level, a heart-shaped portal to the next level is unlocked and the players may enter it to complete the level. A few levels feature an alternative gameplay mode in which a special engine is attached to the ship which the players must protect as it warps the ship to a new area. Up to ten creatures may be rescued per level. Creatures saved count towards improving the effectiveness of the ship by allowing two gems per station, or unlocking new ship layouts.

Campaigns

There are four campaigns, all named after constellations: Ursa Major, Cetus, Orion, and King Cepheus. Each campaign has four levels and a final boss, which takes the shape of the constellation in that chosen campaign.

Ursa Major

The first of four campaigns, Ursa Major has four levels: Forest Cluster, Planetoidia, Wormhole Outpost, Cavernous Core, and the final boss, The Great Bear.[3] The objective of the campaign is to collect and save all of the bunnies.

Cetus

The second of four campaigns, Cetus has four levels: Skybeach, The Four Queens, Big Seas, Undercaves, and the final boss, The Sea Monster.[3] The objective of the campaign is to collect and save all of the frogs. This campaign introduces sun and water surfaces, which can be used to strategically defend against enemies.

Orion

The third of four campaigns, Orion has four levels: Celestial Snowfields, Solar Vents, Winter Wormhole, Melt Zone, and the final boss, The Hunter.[3] The objective of the campaign is to collect and save foxes. This campaign contains winter and ice-themed maps.

King Cephus

The final of four campaigns, King Cepheus has four levels: Lost Gates, Stellar Collapse, Flooded Ruins, Maelstrom Core, and the final boss, The Star King.[3] The objective of the campaign is to collect and save all of the ducks. This campaign introduces white dwarves, which have a gravitational pull that must be used to propel the spaceship in different direction. The map contains mecha-like surfaces, and portals which lead to different areas of the map.

Gems

There are three types of gems: Power Gem, Beam Gem, and Metal Gem.

Each gem can be used as an additional power-ups to add to each station (Shield, Engine, Weapons, and the Yamato Cannon). Each station can hold up to two different gems, which can be applied successively to create a combined power-up. Thus, each station has a normal version, three single-gem versions, and six double-gem versions. Gems can be collected by shooting or running into stationary boxes with question marks that are found on every map.

Ships

There are six different unlock-able ships: Gumball Zero, Banana Split, Jelly Roll, Gumball P, Gumball B, and Gumball M.

Ships can be unlocked throughout the game by collecting points for saving animals on each level.

Development

Designer Matt Hammill described the development of Lovers as "almost an accident" having wanted to create a game for a game jam that "was supposed to be this small three-day thing".[4] However, after the jam was over the development team wanted to continue on with the concept.[4] The team sought to avoid "default gunmetal, chrome, cyberpunk textured-look." with Hammill stating that they've " all OD’d on it".[4] Instead the team focused on a brighter aesthetic based on such sources as Sailor Moon and Katamari Damacy.[4]Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime was showcased in July 2013 at PAX Prime.[5] The game was released for Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, and Xbox One on September 9, 2015.[6]

By 2016, the developers added 4-player co-op on top of the original 2-player co-op mode.

Reception

Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime received positive reviews from critics. Aggregate review website Metacritic assigned a score of 83/100 for the Xbox One version.[7]

Simon Parkin from Eurogamer, playing the PC version, recommended the game.[8] Destructoid awarded it a score of 10 out of 10, saying "If you've got a loved one to play with, do yourselves a favor and play this game as soon as possible, you won't regret a your lovely journey through space." [sic][9]

Awards

Winner of ‘Best Gameplay’ at Big Festival 2014[10]

Winner of ‘Best of Pax East’ at Destructoid 2014[11]

Received ‘Official Selection – Night Games’ at Indiecade 2013[12]

Finalist in ‘Excellence in Visual Art’ for IGF 2013[13]

References

  1. ^ Cifaldi, Frank (March 13, 2013). "Road to the IGF: Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime". Gamasutra. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  2. ^ "Dangerous Spacetime". Asteroidbase.com. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
  3. ^ a b c d "Constellations - Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime". loversinadangerousspacetime.gamepedia.com. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d Campbell, Collin. "WHAT IS LOVERS IN A DANGEROUS SPACETIME?". IGN. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
  5. ^ Birnbaum, Ian (July 30, 2013). "PAX 10 list of outstanding indie games announced". PC Gamer. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  6. ^ Whitaker, Jed (September 8, 2015). "Review: Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime". Destructoid.com. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  7. ^ "Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  8. ^ Parkin, Simon (September 9, 2015). "Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime review". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on September 9, 2015. Retrieved September 9, 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ http://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-one/lovers-in-a-dangerous-spacetime/critic-reviews
  10. ^ "Asteroid Base". www.asteroidbase.com. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
  11. ^ "Our top 10 must play games of PAX East 2014". Destructoid. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
  12. ^ "Night Games | IndieCade - International Festival of Independent Games". www.indiecade.com. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
  13. ^ "The 17th Annual Independent Games Festival Finalists". www.igf.com. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
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