So for those who don't know, there's this awesome thing that comes out periodically called the Humble Indie Bundle. If you call yourself a gamer and haven't purchased one of these packs, hand over your membership card to me now. Every few months, a bunch of Indie developers package some games together, and give you complete control of what to do with it. There are incentives for beating the average being paid for the games, but you can pay as little or as much as you want. The other great feature is you decide how much of your moneys goes to the devs, how much goes to charity, and how much goes to "tip" the humble bundle to keep the bundles coming.
While I had seen this game played before, I never really got interested in it. But it was part of the last humble bundle..so I figured why not give it a go?
I'm glad I did.
There's a new genre I've noticed seeping out that alot of indie companies and was trying to decide what to call it. Any game where you have teams battling each other to defend your base with online multiplayer is now being referred to as a MOBA. Multiplayer online battle arena. For a frame of reference, think League of Legends, DOTA, or Heroes of Newerth. I'd even call certain game modes in TF2 MOBAs. In most of these games you pick a character with specific skills at the beginning. As you play, killing other players or doing different tasks, you receive in game currency to level up your moves until you can run through their best defenses and fuck their shit. I usually can't get into these games as I don't have a lot of online friends who game, and especially that play these things.
Awesomenauts took so long to load on my mac that I wondered if it was frozen, but a lot of games (including Valve products) take forever to load for me so I decided to wait it out. What you have here is a cartoony looking game with fun characters but a strategy all of its own. Like to stealth and melee? Pick the french Lizard. More of a blow shit up kinda guy? Pick the cowboy. Wanna tank? Grab a robot. 3 vs 3, with base defenses that include turrets and droids. First one to destroy the others base wins. During the game, you pick up "solar" to upgrade your moves/powers. While Solar is pretty abundant, don't save it. The game moves fast and you better keep up. Only once have I had a match last long enough to buy almost all of my upgrades. As you play, after each match you level up, unlocking new characters and options. I've only played against computer bots, but I have to say? It's a hell of a lot of fun. I'd love to get 6 people together and play this shit for real.
What surprised me is the balance. No one character expressly stands out as "WOW THEY ARE SO MUCH BETTER" They all have their weaknesses and strengths, and the important thing is finding the one who fits your play style most. But I've played each round with a new character and have only found 1-2 I didnt enjoy playing as. Hell, some of my best ones were classes I never thought would be my style like a healer robot.
So, overall thoughts? Despite the cartoony look, this is an extremely well honed balanced, fun as hell game. If anyone else picked up the bundle and wants to play, just let me know.
-Oz
No comments:
Post a Comment