Awesomenauts is a 2D MOBA (massive online battle arena) released on PC, PSN and XBLA. The game is developed by Ronimo Games the developers of Swords & Soldiers, Awesomenauts is also published by DTP Entertainment.
Set in the far future a war has broken out between two conveniently coloured armies, red and blue. Both sides have hired mercenaries to aid their robot minions in victory on the battlefield.
Awesomenauts is a 2D shooter/platformer twist on the traditional MOBA genre; the initial concept sets the game for an easy pick up and play style that most MOBA never offer. The game is easy to understand for anyone with experience in Defense of the Ancients or League of Legends, and should feel at home with Awesomenauts. Players start in teams of three versus three selecting from a small pool of characters, each offering a diverse style of play and theme.
The core gameplay works around two opposing sides that defend and attack each other’s bases, however they are defended by sets of turrets. The turrets strength means that a straight forwards attack is near impossible, to alleviate this issue sets of bots are spawned that charge the turrets to allow players to attack them. Players must control their waves of robots to destroy the turrets, all the while collecting solar the in game currency, to power themselves up and kill the other mercenaries.
Each character has a basic repeated attack, a unique jump and two special moves, all of which are customizable through different 
loadouts chosen at the start and then purchased in game. The amount of impact this has on each character allows you to have astounding amount of change on how you use them.
Awesomenauts features many subtle changes that allow it to be enjoyable from the start, rather than after hours and hours practice like most MOBAs. One of the small joys that Awesomenauts offers is the spawn system, players spawn in a drop pod hurtling to the ground while able to lean into solar gaining money before they’re even in the fight.
The subtle tweaks to the game really aid Awesomenauts to be a highly enjoyable and easy to learn MOBA game, however there are areas of the game that are still left rough. Matches can be over in minutes but can also last for a long while; one of the games main issues is the inability to get back on top if your opponents establish an early foothold. In these situations the game can 
change from fun to downright tedious depending on how much stronger your opponents are, it’s fair but far from enjoyable in these situations, leaving you feeling forced to either lose or hope your opponents make a mistake.
Awesomenauts comes with a wide selection of maps that not only offer a nice aesthetic change but also an enjoyable and tactical twist on gameplay. These changes can range from an area with natural monsters used for gaining solar to activated death traps. Most MOBAs only offer a couple of maps normally so several maps at the start is fairly astounding and adds a nice Varity for the game.
The game has a great cartoon Sci-Fi aesthetic giving the game a charming and edgy look to all the environments and characters. Each mercenary has their own cheesy stereotype that they adhere to from cowboys to French laser sword wielding chameleons.
The games soundtrack…wow, the soundtrack for the game is astounding, it’s more than “just” above the bar and stands as the best part of the game. It’s difficult for me to get across just how good the soundtrack for the game is, so the only advice I can give is to go look it up yourself in one of the trailers. The music jumps from pre 2000 cartoon theme tunes to retro feel electro.
Gameplay
The gameplay is the good parts of a MOBA injected with a great 2D shooter platformer allowing the game to still have that addictive, customizable, and tactical gameplay that most MOBAs offer, but at the same time allowing players to pick up the game much easier without a need for hour and hours of practice
Awesomenauts sadly gets held back by its design, while excessively fun when neck and neck or winning against your foes, it falls to just depressing when an opponent gains much more solar then you and is constantly at a much greater advantage.
Presentation
A great cartoon look and one of the best soundtracks I have heard for a game, it’s a joy to look at and listen too. It has left me wanting an actual in depth story just so I can get more of the music, sound and characters.
Longevity
The game doesn’t offer much more then versus mode and several maps, however due to its MOBA gameplay it becomes highly addictive as each match end being a unique experience. The game also hints at more content being on the way.
Overall
A great game, it’s got great merits across the board and works perfectly together, there are sadly a few hiccups in the gameplay department that hold it back from being always enjoyable, but hopefully since the game has content planned we could see this issue easily fixed.
Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.
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