9to5 (dot cc)

Awesome

As a Playstation Plus subscriber I was super jazzed to find out that Awesomenauts was going to be offered to me for free as of launch. I had heard a little bit about the game and it seemed like it was going to be good fun.

If you haven’t heard about it I’ll give you a quick little rundown: the game is a 2D, side-scrolling League of Legends. Except, where LoL has a zillion guys, Awesomenauts (currently) has 6. The typical maps in Awesomenauts are some variation of only 2 lanes. You control your character the way you would in a normal 2D action game; you move with the analogue stick, you jump with one button, your primary ability is assigned to one button, your two upgradable secondary abilities are assigned to the other two.

In short, it’s a MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) game for dummies. Sorry, I meant to say it’s MOBA game for console gamers. Seriously though, I’m terribly intimidated by LoL. We went to PAX East a few weeks ago and they had Dominion matches being broadcast on big screens and the whole thing just seemed terribly daunting to take on all at once. A stripped down version of the MOBA experience with a play-style geared a little more towards my area of gaming expertise (2D platforming) was exactly what the gaming doctor (Mario) ordered.

It’s also very, very good. After tackling the initial learning curve that came from never having played one of these games (and also not having immediate access to Voltar who turned out to be my primary character) I started to understand the strategy and playstyle of the various Awesomenauts (champions by any other name).

All of the maps are a subtle variation of a two lane setup and I have the sneaking suspicion that the only reaseon there are variants at all is to help transition the console gamer who is used to having a huge variety of playing fields in their video game. Matches are 3 on 3 and gameplay consists of attacking one another to try and kill your oponent and benefit from the ever increasing respawn time (towards the end of a match a respawn can take nearly 30 seconds) and help your little creeps approach enemy turrets, knock out the turrets, then finally destroy the home base of the oponent. Obviously all this is done while trying to prevent the enemy force from doing the same.

Now, we all understand how League of Legends makes money, right? They offer their game for free and then they sell stuff that are generally unlockable for small amounts of money. Then they become millionaires.

If you haven’t heard, Awesomenauts developer Ronimo and publisher dtp are both in the midst of some financial difficulties. I can only imagine that by offering Awesomenauts for free.