The year is 3587, a time when the never ending war between the Ones and Zeroes rages across the galaxy. Both armies fight for the most valuable and scarce metal: Solar. Huge drills pull the liquid cash out of planet cores and asteroids, but these outposts must be defended. Robot armies of Ones and Zeroes hire super-elite mercenaries to defend their mining facilities and assault their enemies. These teams are called Awesomenauts, and they appear in a game of the same name that’s a sides-crolling MOBA created by Ronimo Games. Thanks to a clone-free cast of characters, it’s easy to find a favorite, but all of them are worth playing. The gameplay is smooth, hectic, and addicting. It’s perfect for a quick break from work or to completely neglect all other responsibilities (i.e. bills). At $10 on Steam, this is one of my favorite purchases for all of 2012.
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The space mercenaries each have their own theme songs. Froggy G gets down with his funky self and Leon, the French chameleon, sings a seductive tune that I can only assume is about baguettes. The cartoony style of Awesomenauts encourages the silly and awesome, while firmly adhering to the rule of cool. For example, Clunk, a housecleaning robot that got fired for cleaning “too well…”, eats enemies to recover health and can self-destruct with a large area of effect blast while only receiving some damage. Normally, robots don’t regenerate after eating people or walk away to eat people after self-destructing, but I’m not about to tell Clunk that.
These super rad space mercenaries fight across three maps: Ribbit IV contains a cyclopean frog with tiny, vestigial, T-rex arms, horns, and a boss gold chain wrapped around what one can only assume is a neck. Solar bosses (frog-freaks) give money to the entire team when defeated. Sorona has a worm pit with a ledge above it and a button on top, perfect for the stealthy Leon. AI Station 404 has a room with low gravity and a box that releases flying lane creeps that help push a lane.
A good offense is a great defense.
After the game begins, players burst from a hovering mothership and hurtle down towards the battlefield, collecting solar before they land. This mini game happens each time a player respawns, helps redirect attention away from being dead, and gives the player a little bit of cash to balance the game. However, dying is obviously not the best way to get money; that’s what killing other players and minions is for.
Like all MOBA games, minions march forward from each base towards the other, stopping to attack everything in their way. Turrets do tons of damage, so players should wait for minions to soak up the damage while the Awesomenauts assault the turret. After all of the turrets have been destroyed, or a path has been carved to the enemies main base (solar drill), players can win the game. Even if all of the turrets are destroyed, a strong team can defend and make a simultaneous push to drop enemy towers.
But how does a 2D MOBA work? Well, instead of lanes, different levels of the arena are accessible by dropping through the floor panel or jumping up to the next level. Some areas away from the meat grinder hold neutral creeps that drop health and money when killed, like the traditional jungle of DoTA. Instead of teleporting back to the base, players can hunt down these adorable little creatures to replenish their health. In addition, little neon green health packs spawn (and respawn) throughout the level for players to snag right before dying and turn the tables on their now demoralized pursuer.
Before the game starts, players pick their champion and proceed to the skill loadout screen. Here, players choose between a total of 24 customizable skills: four rows down and six choices across each row. Only three of each column may be picked. The bottom row contains the utility upgrades, such as more health or starting the game with more Solar, but some characters have their own unique utility skill; Lonestar has an upgrade called “Rocket Boots” that increases his move speed and gives him a triple jump. Removing equipment and replacing the customization with different skill modifiers generates a number of different play styles and team builds without devolving into a min/maxing equipment rush.
An alien dumber than plankton riding a mech that shoots laser cats is all I need.
Players can drop in and out of games freely, though they receive less experience from their next finished game as a penalty for bailing. If someone joins a game already in progress, that person receives extra Solar to reduce any imbalance due to the late arrival. This means that finding a game is quick, immediately hectic, and relatively balanced. The games aren’t too long, usually lasting between 15 to 30 minutes. At the end of a game, each player has the option to stay for a rematch.
Thankfully, in exchange for the freedom to drop in or out of live games, Awesomenauts has bots. Joining a group in session solves many issues with people leaving midgame in other MOBAs, but during the interim, bots join the match to prevent teams from getting steamrolled while down a player. Bots are fairly dumb, yet they’re smart enough to help balance online play a bit. Having human allies is important, but if a player drops out, a bot is a much better distraction/meat shield than nobody.
Aside from this user-friendly multiplayer, couch-co-op is possible with online play. A full team of three players can play on the same TV and the game even encourages players to do so via bonus experience (to unlock skills) for playing cooperatively. Players can use a game pad or a mouse and keyboard, though I strongly recommend a wired mouse and keyboard because the controls are more precise and are much more difficult to throw at the wall in frustration due to their tethered nature.
I’ll be right there!
All of those awesome Saturday morning cartoons obviously inspired this game, which excels at being easy to pick up, but remains competitive. Awesomenauts plays more like an action RPG, but retains the recognizable elements of a MOBA. Ronimo Games recently introduced several character skins as well as a new Awesomenaut to the mix; however, there’s room for plenty more and the game hints that “Awesomeness is coming soon” in big, bold letters, with a cast of vaguely familiar black silhouettes. Overall, Awesomenauts is a fun, chaotic, arcade-style beat em’ up MOBA that deserves more heroes/costumes and your attention.
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