The year is 2288. 100 years have passed since Noitu Love defeated Darnacus Damnation and his robot army of “Darns”. Things seem peaceful, but suddenly all hell breaks loose. Not only have the Darns been resurrected, but parts of the city appear to have reverted back to several different time periods. You play as Xota Rap; an agent of “The Peacekeepers League”. Not only do you need to find out exactly what’s going on, but you get to kick a lot of robot ass along the way.
The control mechanics are very simple in Noitu Love 2. So simple, in fact, that as I was going through the training, I thought this game was going to be very repetitive and boring. Your left mouse button is your primary attack. Clicking it swiftly will allow you to unleash high speed combos on your enemies. The mouse is a crosshair, and clicking on an enemy will cause you to dash to them to start your attack. Holding down the left mouse button will allow you to charge a power ball attack or if you’re close to an enemy, grab and throw them in any direction you want, hitting other enemies if they’re around.
Your right mouse button produces a shield that can block most projectiles. The shield appears wherever the crosshair is. This becomes a factor in some boss fights as well as making it through some obstacles in the levels. Holding down the right mouse button and moving in different directions will allow you to do your burst attacks in said direction. You can also do burst attacks by double tapping one of the directional keys. Besides that, you can jump off of walls by double tapping up while next to a wall. That about covers all the controls.
If the game was purely a beat’em up, this would probably be one of the most boring experiences in recent history; luckily it’s not. Throughout most of the levels, enemies are unlimited. If you stay in one spot, they will just keep coming, and coming, and coming. The challenge of the game is plowing your way through these hordes of enemies while traversing various obstacles without losing health. You’ll come across spike pits, lava pits, swinging axes, gravity switches, and more. Obstacles are different based on the levels, and so are the enemies. In one level, you’ll face off against robot Samurais while in another you will see 1950’s gangster robots. Each level is definitely unique and is loads of fun to move through.
As much fun as that is, the most fun I had was with the boss fights. One thing you really don’t see too much of these days are crazy boss fights that are unique and just really fun to have. No boss fight will feel like a repeat. One boss you will be using a piano keyboard to call down attacks, another you’ll be rolling down river rapids trying to keep your balance on a spinning wheel while attacking the boss at the same time, and then another may consist of a boss that changes their attack based on what’s on TV. There are more than three bosses, but you get the point.
There are also sub-bosses in each level; sometimes several. Sub-bosses are also unique to each area, so you won’t come across the same one twice. The thing I felt made the boss fights so much fun and I definitely appreciated the most was that you needed to figure out the weak spot. Some bosses had an indicator that would show up once or twice, but for the most part, it was up to you to figure out how to beat the boss. Something that the pansies kids of today don’t really know about.
Noitu Love 2 is not a long game, but definitely has replay value. You receive a grade at the end of each level which is based on time, how many robots you’ve killed, and how much damage you’ve taken. It’s definitely a task to get a high grade. I’ve rolled through levels like a boss and still only received a “B”. There is also an additional difficulty level for those that want an extra challenge. For those of you who aren’t obsessed with getting high grades in a game, there is another reason for you to play through again: hidden characters.
After beating the game as Xota, you get to play as Rilo; one of the enemies you face. Playing as Rilo is a completely different experience than playing as Xota. Xota is primarily all melee. Rilo’s primary weapon is a gun and her charge attack can target multiple enemies at a time. She isn’t as agile as Xota ,though; so while some aspects of play may be easier, there are definitely parts that made me wish she was more like Xota. There may be additional unlockable characters, but Rilo was all I got.
From start to finish I had an awesome time with Noitu Love 2. The look and sound were very nostalgic, but the game play was action packed and had me hooked. While the game is short, the story is still interesting and definitely has a pretty good twist to it. I only hope that Konjak continues with this series and brings us more adventures with Xota in the future. I also wish MTB had a rating called “FUCKING AWESOME!!!” that I could use for games that I enjoyed so much like this one.
