Awesomenauts Assemble! review: fast, retro fun

4/5PS4 (£7.99)

(Sony)

Awesomenauts Assemble! my TV screams at me with the enthusiasm of a saturday morning cartoon from the eighties. The MOBA from Ronimo Games is one of those titles straddling retro and modern with a foot firmly planted in both. It's fast, fun action wrapped in a jacket of vintage cartoons and it wears it well.

Awesomenauts Assemble! (which yes you do have to shout every time) is a 3v3 team based 2D MOBA out on the PS4. The game 'Awesomenauts' originally released in 2013 across previous gen and PC. This version gets the 'Assemble' as it's updated for the PS4 with all the additions since that original release.

The game-play is fun, light and works incredibly well with the 2D visual style they've gone for. Set in space where two rival mercenary factions try to destroy each others defences, it hits the MOBA tropes well. Minions with an obvious purpose, sectional game-play and a wide range of dynamic, specialised characters. However it is definitely a much more relaxing game than a lot of other titles from the genre.

It doesn't quite have the same depth or intensity, but it does carry a certain amount of charm and fun hard to find. It has that nice, retro arcade play-style where it's fast and exciting but you don't feel like ripping your hair out when it goes wrong. It's more basic, yet doesn't feel like it's missing anything. The cartoony graphics are great, with a decently varied character roster and a handful of maps.

What it does have an issue with is that you'll find a lot of players already have their favourite mercenary so expect to get a few losses at first. The DLC characters seem to be incredibly powerful, almost unbalanced and you'll see one every game. The fox lady is so irritating to a new, inexperienced player it almost made me want to bring back fox-hunting.

However if you find some friends to play with, which works both online or locally it is a great team game and heaps of fun. With the customisable loadouts adding an element of freshness to each game, it's something that can be played for a long time.

Currently only on PS4 though there is a fabled Xbox One version announced. If you want a game to relax and play with friends but keep an element of team play and tactics, it's definitely worth looking into.