Tag Archives: Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime

2016 and all that jazz – IDL NEWS

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Hello, once again, internet.

Rocket League’s Xbox Release
Rocket League will finally make its debut on the Xbox on Wednesday, February 17th. Bundled with the game will be the three previously-released content packs: Supersonic Fury, Revenge of the Battle-Cars, and Chaos Run. The Xbox One will also include two unique vehicles inspired by Halo’s Warthog ad Gears of War’s Armadillo.

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Rocket League Hype Everywhere

Star Wars Battlefront Double XP Weekend
Star Wars Battlefront will host a double XP weekend February 12-14 after the SWB community successfully completed the recent Community Challenge.

I’ve found the game to be quite fun, and will try to log sometime this weekend to help rank up.

Tom Clancy’s The Division Umpteenth Beta
Ubisoft has announced another Division Beta, this most recent one running Feb 19-21st. I played the closed Alpha, and enjoyed what it had to offer, but NDA prevents me from discussing it further. And unfortunately I slept through the most recent closed beta, but I heard that it included the same missions and Dark Zone. I will try to take part during this new window to see where the game has improved, this close to release, and then share my opinions.

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Titanfall Sequel Will Have Single Player Campaign/Multiplatform
The sequel to 2014’s Titanfall, expected to release late 2016/early 2017 is confirmed to have a single-player campaign and will no longer be exclusive to the Xbox One.

“One of the shortcomings of the first game was we just did not have the mechanism to tell everyone ‘here’s who you are, here’s where you are, and who’s around you,'” Stern said. “We knew all the answers; we just could not deliver it.”

I loved Titanfall, and still play it from time to time. I felt that its lack of solid single-player was its only lacking element. That being said, I wouldn’t have played the online component as much as I did, if it had.

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New Releases – Feb 9

Assassins Creed Chronicles – Russia (Xbox One, PS4)
Wrapping up the trilogy, Russia has come out, just a few weeks after part two, India, came out. I played ACC China, and thought it was a unique 2.5D game, beautiful art and fun runner sequences. As I progressed through the game, it did become quite difficult in parts with a couple insta-fails parts. From what I’ve read India and Russia is very similar, but Russia has some unique sniper gameplay mechanics and a 2nd character, so I am looking forward to giving both of them a try. Here were my initial thoughts on China: ACC CHINA

Unravel (Xbox One, PS4, PC)
Unravel caught a lot of eyes at E32014 as this little indie darling being revealed by a very nervous dev showing off his baby for the first time, and not really know what to expect. The game has garnered quite the emotional response over the year that followed with fans sending in photos of their own little Yarny dolls. The game is finally out and I got to try the first two levels last week and found that the game was very pretty with some unique puzzle ideas. Excited to play through the full release.

Firewatch (PS4, PC)
Locked away as a PC and PS$ exclusive right now, Firewatch looks like a unique story driven game with brilliant voice acting. Not my typical genre but I’ll keep my ears peaked to news of any Xbox ports. One of the unique features of the PC version is you can order physical prints of the photos you take in-game.

Dying Light: The Following Enhanced Edition (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
Dying Light’s big expansion is here – The Following – and alongside it, comes the full Enhanced Edition package. Myself and Illestrader will be picking this up as we’re in need of another lengthy co-op game.

Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime (PS4)
Lovers makes its PS4 debut. Here’s my impression, for the Xbox: Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime

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In somewhat of a gaming rut, trudging through some and hesitant to start others, I recently sat down and played through the Beyond Good and Evil HD re-release. This was in-part because I wanted something fresh, but also because I wanted to give the Xbox One Backwards Compatibility a try, as I hadn’t to date. I’m going to put up a review for it later this week.

I’m also still working on the website re-alignment to include art and other projects. It’s been slow as other priorities have shuffled my website obligations some.

-iRogan

 

ACHIEVEMENT OF THE WEEK – Lovers In a Dangerous Spacetime

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Last Tuesday I picked up Lovers In A Dangerous Spacetime as my Tuesday game of the week. It’s a fun little co-op game built around relationships and communication, in space. You can check out my review for it here: iReview – Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime

The nice thing about the game is it’s designed around co-op, so both participants in the game get achievements, which is nice, and sorely lacking from other co-op games: Rayman, and Chariot, to name a few.

Also, there’s co-op centric achievements, like playing the game in co-op, augmenting a turret while it’s being used by your partner, and having two missile turret weapons collide. All original, fun achievements.

The rest of the game’s achievements are dedicated to defeating bosses, and boss specific actions, and collection types. All pretty expected.

I’ve chosen two achievements of the week though, for this game, and both dedicated to the co-op portion. I chose two because they’re similar: play one way with a friend, and try to play the exact opposite.

Achievement of the Week – Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime

106008-hiCouples Dance Lesson – 10G
Pirouette 15 times in a single level.

To get this achievement, you have to cross paths with your partner 15 times during the level. It may not come naturally. Every time the two players cross paths, they perform a little pirouette dance before moving on.

105998-hiCooties – 50G
Finish a level without crossing paths with your partner.

This one is a lot harder to accomplish and will require an effort. Essentially it’s the exact opposite of the achievement above – do not cross paths with your partner. It’s a lot harder than one might think, and both people have to be on the same page to accomplish it – as the levels can get hectic at times.

The rest of the achievements this past 2 weeks were mainly in Lovers, WWE2k15, and Metal Gear Solid V. There was a break for a bit when I went down to PAX 2015.

Wednesday, Sept 2nd – Sunday, Sept 13th

Halo: Master Chief Collection

  • Bro Hammer (Complete any co-op level on Legendary) – 10G
  • Gunslinger (Halo 4: Beat the par score on Dawn) – 10G
  • Dawn (Halo 4: Complete Dawn) – 10G
  • Dark Fortress (Halo 4: Beat the par score on Requiem) – 10G
  • Requiem (Halo 4: Complete Requiem) – 10G
  • Lord of Admirals (Halo 4: Activate Terminal 2 on Forerunner) – 5G

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

  • Awakening (Completed “PROLOGUE: AWAKENING”) – 15G
  • Captured (Captured an outpost or guard post) – 15G
  • Phantom Limbs (Completed “PHANTOM LIMBS”) – 15G
  • Extraction (Fulton extracted an enemy soldier) – 15G
  • Interrogation (Interrogated an enemy soldier) – 15G
  • Undertaken (Completed a SIDE OP) – 15G
  • Platoon (Increased Moth Base staff to 50 or more personnel) – 15G
  • Beekeeper (Completed “WHERE DO BEES SLEEP?”) – 15G
  • To The Rescue (Extracted a female prisoner) – 15G
  • Enhancement (Developed 50 or development items) – 15G
  • Battalion (Increased Mother Base staff to 250 or more personnel) – 15G
  • Cry Havoc (Made D-Dog available for deployment) – 15G
  • Gears Turn (Completed “HELLBOUND”) – 15G
  • Apprentice (Completed a mission using a Combat Unit staff member) – 15G
  • Trusty Steed (Raised bond with D-Horse to the maximum) – 15G

WWE2K15

  • Ringmaster (Strike or wrench an opponent in 5 different chain hold positions) – 15G
  • Tap! Tap! Tap! (Make an opponent tap out with a submission that is not a Signature) – 30G
  • Gas tank never on empty (Win a match without reaching Stamina Level 3) – 15G
  • One foot in the grave (Win a match by a leverage pin) – 15G
  • True Champion (2KShowcase – Complete Hustle, Loyalty, Disrespect) – 20G
  • You’re so desperate! (Win a match using a Desperation Pin) – 15G
  • Read for the big leagues (MyCareer – Completed the NXT part) – 20G

Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime

  • Romantic Getaway (finish the tutorial) – 10G
  • Seat Warmer (Use every station in a single level) – 10G
  • Generosity (Throw a gem into a station that is being used by another player) – 10G
  • First Date (Beat any level in two player mode) – 10G
  • Clearing the Air (Finish a level after removing all fog of war) – 50G
  • Couples Dance Lessons (Pirouette 15 times in a single level) – 10G
  • Bear-Knuckle Boxing (Defeat Ursa Major) – 50G

Back to newsy type stuff tomorrow, new games Tuesday, What i’M Playing wrap-up, Preview, potentially not a Review (depending how much further I get in MGS V) and all that good stuff.

Bye…

-iRogan

WHAT i’M PLAYING/iReview – Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime

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Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime

“Wanna go to – wanna go to space.”

Publisher: Asteroid Base
Developer: Asteroid Base
Platform: Reviewed on Xbox One
Availability: Out on Xbox One and PC September 8th.

On a whim I picked up Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime last night, as my New Game Tuesday ritual dictates new games forever and always.

I’d previously seen the game at PAX Prime 2015 on display, but didn’t give it its due, instead only acknowledging its existence, and moving on. But after mentioning its launch yesterday in my wrap-up, and watching the trailer, I picked it up.

Sitting down and handing the 2nd controller to the person that lovingly sits beside me, we dove in together to this wonderfully coloured space game about rescuing lost bunnies. The game is part of the ID@Xbox initiative, and is about relationships.

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A relationship between you and your cumbersome spaceship traveling through tight corridors, gravitation orbits and asteroid fields. You must first manage your ship’s movements, but also simultaneously manage your character inside the ship’s interior, running from one terminal to the next, up and down ladders, trying to manage the engine, shield, and 5 different weapon booths.

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“WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE THING ABOUT SPACE?
MINE IS SPACE.”

Your view is a side interior shot of an ill designed ship. The steering wheel is in the middle and this maneuvers the engine when maned. The 4 weapon turrets reside at 4 fixed points on the border, in their own rooms. A power weapon, which rotates around the circumference of the ship is controlled in a 5th area. And lastly, there is the flawed shield – only covering about a quarter of the ship’s hull – and, again, is controlled from a separate corridor. You are well tooled to fight space, but are drastically understaffed. Crucial decisions are constantly being made in where to sit.

Because of these choices, the game is also about human relationships. Play with a friend or loved one, and you’ll both assume your astronaut roles, and together must wrestle the clunky ship through space and enemies alike. Success hinges a lot on communication, but almost instinctually, you might find that you’ve resigned yourself to a set routine – one controlling the weapons, the other controlling the engine and the shield when in defense, and a spare turret when overwhelmed. Sometimes it doesn’t work out as smooth, especially when utterly surrounded or on the run, and this is when the game gets frantic. In solo mode, you’re tasked with commanding the AI buddy around to man certain stations.

“WELL TOOLED TO FIGHT SPACE, BUT ARE DRASTICALLY UNDERSTAFFED”

As you find and save the kidnapped bunnies, and progress through each level you can find upgrade gems for the ship and terminals, and each gem can augment its respective station in unique ways. Power gems add more power or higher frequency turrets; Beam gems will change the weapon to a beam type or change the engine to a beam propulsion engine; the Metal gem with change the weapon into a morning star type or change the shield into a metal spiked shield, or augment the engine to lay spike traps in your wake. The game encourages experimentation as each terminal supports a gem, and upgrades to your ship will eventually allow dual gem augments, adding more variety.

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The game is equally fun and stressful, colourful and challenging. Make sure you bring a loving partner along for the ride, as this is a game best played in pairs, but even then, love is far from guaranteed.

-For those who like bunnies, stressful micromanagement games, or doing pirouettes aboard a space ship.

Notable Achievements
Space-man’s Best Friend (Beat any level with the help of your trusty space-pet) – 10G
Cooties (Finish a level without crossing paths with your partner) – 50G

-iRogan

IDL NEWS – Tuesday Goodies and Today’s Top News

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So it’s no secret that I’ve locked myself away to play Metal Gear Solid V. Today I broke for some fresh air, a much-needed split from the Xbox One. I blindingly block the sun from my blood-shot eyes to view the crisp new world that is Tuesday. Breathing new air, I quickly jump to my phone and check what this week’s new releases are, and deals that the Xbox has in store… Not that I need any more games clogging up my library right now.

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New Releases – Sept 8

Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime is a 2-player co-op micro-platformer set inside a neon spaceship locked in battle with hordes of space baddies. Players work together running back and forth between ship control rooms, manning turrets, lasers, shields and thrusters to rack up points and stave off a vacuumy demise. In mish-mash terms you could describe it as Jumpman meets Asteroids meets Han saying “Don’t get cocky.”

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Xbox’s Deals With Gold and Spotlight Sale – September 8 – 14

Xbox One

  • Evolve – 50% following the very popular free play weekend
  • Battlefield Hardline – 50%
  • Battlefield 4 – 50%
  • Assassin’s Creed Unity – 50%
  • Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China – 50%

Xbox 360

  • Assassin’s Creed II – 75%
  • Assassin’s Creed Revelations – 75%
  • Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood – 75%
  • Assassin’s Creed – 75%

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Konami Issues a MGS V Save Corruption Warning
Konami revealed today that there is a risk that your game save file can be corrupted and unusable if you bring Quiet as a buddy on Mission 29 or Mission 42. The issue affects the game on all platforms and a fix is being worked on. (Luckily I am not there yet in the game’s story… phew)

Destiny: The Taken King’s Official Cinematic Trailer

The game’s release is next week, Sept 15th, 2015. This weekend Destiny will be showcasing its two new multiplayer Crucible modes for free, with 1.0 character and powers, as an exclusive look before the Taken King’s launch.

-iRogan