After the critical success of Swords & Soldiers, Ronimo Games are back with yet another promising title. The soon-to-be-released Awesomenauts is a 2D MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) game which features an awesome ensemble of characters and weapons.
There are not many games that allow you to pit a jetpack wearing monkey against a frog who moonlights as a pimp, but Awesomenauts is the exception. The game is essentially a 3-on-3 area-based shooter where two teams shoot it out in an attempt to invade each other’s bases (which are located on the opposite ends of each arena). The gameplay is pretty simple, allowing almost anyone to jump in and get knee deep into the action. If you’ve played any 2D side-scrolling shooter you’re pretty much ready to go.
Graphically Awesomenauts looks stunning! As with Swords & Soldiers, the game features 2D cell-shaded visuals and the quirky cast of characters perfectly compliment the artstyle. Each character starts off with a set of unique abilities and weapons, however collecting orbs (which are scattered around the environments or spawn from defeated enemies) allows you to purchase additional items. Once you die you’ll appear back at your base after a brief respawn period, ready to continue to the fight. The match only ends once a team’s defences have been wiped out which means you’ll also have to ensure that your base is being defended. Thankfully, you can hold the right bumper at any time to teleport back to your base, a feature which also comes in handy when you’re running low on health.
Unfortunately as awesome as Awesomenauts appears to be, the fact that it lacks a story or single player campaign will turn a lot of gamers off. When playing offline (or waiting for other players to join an online match) your team mates/enemies are simply replaced with bots and the games fundamentals remain the same. Once I go hands-on with the full game I’ll be able to really put Awesomenauts through its paces but so far the game has showcased a lot of potential.
Awesomenauts will be available via Xbox Live and the Playstation Network later this year.
