Meanwhile, someone like Lonestar can either level-up his dynamite throw to become a bot-killing machine, or level-up his charging bull technique to become a master of defending turrets. Each of the six characters have multiple leveling paths that change their utility. The best part about this is that all of these disparate paths are well-balanced. Every character is the most powerful character in the game when doing what that class is intended to do.
No matter what you pick, each character has a bevy of customization options, and players who have a plan for their upgrades will emerge with a significant battlefield advantage over players who buy abilities at random.
Moreover, each character has a great personality. From mid-90's R&B-themed Froggy G (who has his own slow-jam) to Yuri, the cosmonaut space-monkey with a jetpack, each character is well-realized and full of charm.
While we enjoyed practically every moment we spent with this game, there are a few negatives to mention. First off, there are only a few levels, and they're not very different from one another. Some levels have different turret placements, and one level has a giant one-hit-kill sand worm in the center. However, that's about as different as they come. The maps are well-balanced though and that's what's most important. Truth be told, we could have spent our entire play time on one single map and it wouldn't have mattered much simply because the base game is so much fun.
It's also not a particularly deep game. This is not a game designed to be played for months or years like League of Legends. There are plenty of unlocks to work toward and the lure of getting access to new characters spurs you on for five hours or so. Getting to the max level takes probably 15 hours.
Awesomenauts is a great game if you're not a hardcore MOBA fan, and in fact, while it’s not long, it’s a good entry point for console gamers new to the genre. Hardcore genre fans will probably rather stick to more complex, nuanced games like LoL and SMNC, but Awesomenauts is a great alternative for everybody else. It's not as deep as other titles in the genre, but it's the perfect game to enjoy for a good weekend of gaming.
