Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime might seem like a strange name, but given its theme of love featuring adorable creatures, it’s quite an appropriate title. The game is designed to test how two co-op players work together to defeat the forces of evil. The title primarily involves controlling different elements of a spaceship’s exterior like guns and shields to destroy oncoming enemies. It’s not as simple as it sounds because you have to navigate the interior of the ship to reach different weapon systems and maneuver the ship itself through obstacles and narrow passageways.
Despite its cute appearance, the game can get very hectic. If you’re playing alone, you have to control which station your pet mans. Just instructing your pet is very stressful and requires constant maneuvering. Playing with a friend is just as stressful because you have to constantly jump around the ship to get to various controls. Enemies come at you from all directions and it’s a fight for survival more than anything else. The key to survival is figuring out how to effectively operate the cannons and quickly transition over to the shield station to block incoming attacks.
There’s a surprising amount of depth to the game apart from the stressful mechanics. You can use gems from presents to upgrade turrets and create stronger weapons. This comes in handy when you have dozens of enemies swarming you at once. Another one of the main goals is to go around the levels and free your furry rabbit companions. This can get challenging as freeing them triggers an alarm and usually vigorous firefights ensue. Each level has ten bunnies to rescue even though you only need to free five to move to the next level. I would recommend freeing all of them as it comes in handy during later parts of the game.
Something you should know is that the game is procedurally generated so you get a new experience every time. Whether it’s because you’re backtracking to collect more bunnies which are needed to unlock more areas or if it’s just replaying a campaign for fun or with a new partner. This keeps the game fresh and fun whenever you play it.
This may seem like strange criticism but Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime sometimes becomes so hard that it’s unplayable and frustrating. I’m pretty sure I was playing at normal difficulty too. There was this one time where there were so many enemies that my friend and I couldn’t keep up. The sheer number of projectiles coming at us from all directions was too much to handle. It took multiple tries to overcome that section. Even the casual difficulty setting seemed really hectic for some odd reason. Maybe balancing the difficulty would have done this game some good. Or maybe I’m just terrible at these types of games. I don’t know.
A playthrough of the game can be completed in almost six hours. However, there’s a lot of replayability. As mentioned earlier, no two levels are alike so it’ll be just as fresh as the first time around. Well, except you’ll have more experience playing the game which will come in handy no doubt. The type of missions vary considerably as they include rescue, survival, and boss objectives among others. The design of the game is very creative and always amazed me when I was playing it.
I nearly forgot this, Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime features more than one ship. The ships themselves also significantly alter gameplay. As you progress through the title, you can unlock more elaborate ships that introduce new mechanics to the game. I remember there was this one ship that had special doors that only one of us could pass through. That has to be the most memorable spacecraft out of them all. I bet you’ll agree if you play it.
There’s just so much depth and variety to the game. I could write a thesis on the super weapons that pretty much destroy everything on the screen once activated. You have to experience it all for yourself.
Overall, Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime is a fun and extremely challenging title that is best experienced with a friend. The controls are smooth and responsive too. Sure, you can play with a computer-controlled companion but so be honest it’s not as fun. The banter and exchanges the game leads so when you’re playing with a co-op buddy are great. While it can get stressful, completing a level is indescribably satisfying. I would definitely recommend this title but don’t expect a casual experience if you buy it. Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime is pretty hardcore.
Xian was a regular ICXM contributor between 2015–2017, publishing 162 articles across game reviews, Windows and PC, and Xbox news. Their work focused on hands-on reviews, platform commentary, and breaking-news reporting during the Xbox One X launch year and Microsoft’s wider Play Anywhere / UWP gaming initiative.