What do you get when you combine a 2D plaformer with a multiplayer shooter? You get Ronimo Games’ latest PSN and XBLA game, Awesomenauts! The game can be played with a bunch of bots offline or you can play against others online. In time, you can find the bots to be predictable. So that’s why it’s recommended you play online as you’ll never knew who you’ll run into and what kind of skill level he or she has.
Awesomenauts takes place in the future where the robot factions, Zeros and Ones, are fighting each other. When you participate in a game, you’ll become part of one of these groups as you help escort some robo drones to the base where they’ll end up destroying it. Each team is made up of three players or bots which means you mainly have six participants.  While escorting these drones, you’ll need to protect them from your opponents. Actually, you’ll most likely need to shoot them down as well as their own drones since they’ll also try to destroy your base.
Right from the start, Awesomenauts has a very cartoonish look that is friendly and pleasing to the eye. The characters look pretty good as they fire away at each other, showing off the graphical effects that this game has. Also, the environments in outer space are beautiful because of the color scheme.
People who love to listen to techno or electronica will find Awesomenauts to have some really good soundtracks. They help to keep the game upbeat and exciting. When you’re playing a game that’s full of action like this, it’s important to have the right type of music. For Awesomenauts, the audio does the job well with the nice voiceovers and dynamic sound effects.
The game lets you choose which characters you want to use. They all have their own set of abilities and are equipped with unique weapons. The controls are tight and easy to manage as you have the buttons mapped out in a logical fashion. There’s the standard attack and jump that you’ll have to keep track of, which is simple enough.
Later on, you’ll work with more buttons when you obtain new skills. This is done by purchasing upgrades. Because the currency or resources to make these purchases aren’t easy to come by, you need to decide carefully as to what upgrades you want. Do you want your character to move faster? Or do you want to gain special attacks? Depending on how you upgrade, your character will turn out to be unique in comparison to the players you encounter in battle online.
As a result, Awesomenauts is able to retain its replay value not only for because of the number of upgrades you can perform but also the different characters you can also include in your roster. This means that players get rewarded for spending time with the game. And that’s pretty awesome!
If you have been playing for a long time, you get to reap the benefits, especially over the newcomers that just happen to get introduced to Awesomenauts. It may not be great for the noobs when they get pummeled by the more experienced, but that’s the price they have to pay for joining in too late. But even so, they still have equal opportunity of getting the same rewards as you. As long as they have patience and determination, it’ll happen.  Therefore, if you want to stay on top of things and refine your skills, you’ll need to keep on playing.
Overall, Awesomenauts packs a punch with the amount of destruction and mayhem you’ll be facing as well as causing. This game is available for $9.99 in the PlayStation Network and 800 MSP in the Xbox Live Marketplace. If you’re looking for an awesome multiplayer game, then it’s time to invite the Awesomenauts to your console.
