Awesomenauts Assemble! is a hybrid experience which blends the action platformer genre with the tension of a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA). Have you played Cobalt on Xbox One? It’s somewhat like that except you won’t have to roll and do other gravity-defying stunts. You have to destroy the other team’s core but there are multiple turrets blocking your path, not to mention the constant assault of computer-controlled and player-controlled enemies. As expected, whoever manages to take out the core first, wins.
The game has no proper story but some exposition is provided by the developers. The year is 3587 and a conflict spans the stars as massive robot armies are locked in an enduring stalemate. In their bid for galactic supremacy, they call upon the most powerful group of mercenaries in the universe, the Awesomenauts, to turn the tides. The game has hilarious undertones and apart from fighting the generic MOBA-filler enemies, you also have to battle fellow Awesomenauts. You’re mercenaries, there’s no loyalty to one another.
The battles takes place in a three vs. three-player fashion and dying is part of the experience. You respawn and then pass through an area which makes you choose certain upgrade depending on the currency units you collected. I went with the standard recommended character for most of my matches and his ability to throw multiple sticks of dynamite and call a holographic bull to push back enemies came in handy.
You usually take a lot of damage so managing health is important in each match. Be sure to be cognizant of your meter and retreat when you’re low. There are multiple health orbs scattered throughout each arena and eventually you get familiar with their locations. The longer you stay in the match, the better it is.
The multiplayer portions of the game worked well and I encountered no lag. You can play online or in local split-screen mode depending on who’s around you. The best part is that you never have to fret about waiting for an online match because Awesomenauts Assemble! has drop-in matchmaking. This is definitely a great feature and I was able to quickly play many matches whenever I wanted. Each match for me lasted around twenty minutes so keep that in mind when deciding if you have enough time for one.
The visuals of the game are striking for a multiplayer-only title and look like they belong in a futuristic setting. The game runs at a constant frame rate too and I was never able to perceive any dips in the smoothness of gameplay. Then again, it is a platformer-type game and doesn’t really feature complex graphics.
Awesomenauts Assemble! doesn’t feature any single-player campaign and that to me is a missed opportunity. The universe seems intriguing and having a platformer set in this environment would’ve elevated the experience. Aside from that, there’s one major compliant I have with the game that truly detracts from the package. As of right now, there must be around 100 add-on items for the game. If you want to get any of the good characters, you have to pay. If you want to basically do anything that doesn’t involve the standard gameplay, you have to pay. I realize that developing games is expensive but there has to be a limit here. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this much content for a game at launch.
Usually I’m not one to question such decisions made by the developers but in this case you feel like you’re missing out on a significant portion of the game if you don’t buy the packs. Doing so makes the game considerably more expensive and even approaches the price of some older AAA titles. It doesn’t seem fair to me.
Summary
Overall, Awesomenauts Assemble! is a great competitive MOBA which will draw you in. It features great graphics and the upgrade systems are definitely unique and expansive. Unfortunately it feels like all the good content is hidden by a massive paywall and I wish Xbox One owners—who waited for this game for many months when it was out on other platforms—would at least get something for their troubles. That’s not the case and you probably will have to spend an additional $20 to access the truly spectacular characters.
Xian was a regular ICXM contributor between 2015–2017, publishing 162 articles across game reviews, Windows and PC, and Xbox news. Their work focused on hands-on reviews, platform commentary, and breaking-news reporting during the Xbox One X launch year and Microsoft’s wider Play Anywhere / UWP gaming initiative.