Review: Awesomenauts PS4

It’s the year 3587, conflict spans the stars. Huge robot armies are locked in an enduring stalemate. In their bid for galactic conquest they call upon the most powerfull group of mercenaries in the universe: the Awesomenauts!

Pros:

• HD cartoon style graphics that look big and bright.
• Huge roster of characters, Including the first lot of new characters from the Steam version.
• Has full online play and offline play in the form of split screen.
• Handful of levels all varying in difficulty, all levels are multi layered.
• The game is a 2D MOBA (massive online battle arena) game where you must take down towers before you can get to the base and blow it up. The game will spawn grunts at intervals that are auto and will just keep going ahead and attacking towers. You must use their shields so you can get close to the tower. Towers have a auto turret on it and will destroy any player quickly.
• Private games can be played online and you can still rack up trophies and have stats tracked. In this mode you can also face AI so you can in theory use it as a co op style event.
• The whole game, from graphics to the music, reeks of 90s Saturday cartoons. That is in no way a bad thing and only adds to the fun. The game has an FMV at the begininng and with a catchy as anything theme tune, They have the 90s down!
• You rank up in game, Killing grunts,towers, collecting solar and healing people. The rank is only good for that game and next time you reset to level 1.
• Solar is the Awesomenauts equivalent of money and is used at the shop in your base to buy upgrades, new weapons etc.
• You do have an overall rank though that is used for unlocking of new characters, abilities and levels. This rank increases as you acquire exp from playing games.
• Customise your loadout and what will be available for you to buy in the in game shop.
• Matchmaking can be sped up with a quick button press, Everyone ready but one person is stalling? No problem, hit the button and watch the timer fly down.
• Grunts are AI controlled soldiers that spawn at set intervals and will just mindlessly attack the towers/enemies in frnt of them. They cannot be ordered around and will never aid you, Instead they spawn and follow a set line and never deviate. One good thing about them is when your attacking a tower with them, they provide you with much needed cover.
• Your goal is to destroy the towers and get to the enemy base and destroy it first.
• Controller layout is simple and easy to use. The analogue stick for movement allows you to aim where you are shooting with ease. Teleport back to base button is on the bumper button and needs to be held down, handy as you cannot accidentally hit it and return home.
• Every charcatcer is unique and plays in very different ways, Some will be more support than assault whilst you will have a few all rounders. Check out the characters starting stats before deciding.
• When you spawn in you come in a drop pod. You can control the drop pod and have the opportunity to collect some much needed solar on the way.
• Your spawn is on a timer so depending on when you die, determines how long a respawn will take.
• Every level is different, some have multiple levels while some will be a bit more basic. Each level will have an area where you can kill AI enemies for health and provide you with some cover.
• You can call out to your team in game with a commands section. On the d pad press you will instantly call out for help or attack/defend commands and also highlight on the map where you are.
• Simple HUD design with a mini map at the bottom showing everyones location. When a turret is under attack or a player needs help, a big helpful icon will flash on the map showing you where you are needed.
• The game has a sort of in game commentary with a sports announcer type voice shouting out if your under attack, in the enemy base or  someones been killed. Also booms out when you are aon a killing streak.

Cons:

• AI can be really dumb at time and will not always respond to your commands. You can literally see your team mates continuously walking to their death at times.
• Matchmaking can suffer from long searches every now and then and may be a bit unbalanced.
• Not a huge amount of maps and could do with a few more.
• Very repetitive.

In Summary, This is one of the better console conversions to date. Adding in a slew of new characters that first came out on PC. This version will always be behind the PC version in terms of updates but overall it has its place. With Twitch integration and fast loading times, It is still so much fun to play. New players will be able to jump in at any point and have fun while pro players will still get a challenge. The way in which you can play online with just bots is a brilliant addition and one that I wish more devs would adopt. The game does not force online mp on you and instead gives you many options. The huge roster of characters will keep you busy for many months whilst the gameplay will do nothing more than encourage you to try new things. A brilliant birght fun game that everyone needs to try!