If you have $20 to spare, then Microsoft has two games available that fit into your budget this week.
Clumsy platform shooters rarely turn out well, the genre requiring precision and polish to come to fruition. Awesomenauts feels too random, sluggish, and unresponsive to work while the concept dies in these developmental hands. Combat simply isn’t fun, rather imprecise and awkward to handle. Multiple players battling for supremacy (and to take down enemy coring devices) is unique considering the glut of 3D titles out there, but it doesn’t translate into successful encounters. Players hop around hoping to hit their target on busy, overly crowded screens. Yawn.
It’s hard to tell what happened here. With abysmally low resolution art, crowded levels with nowhere near enough room for a constant stream of four players, and sluggish brawling mechanics, this one had no chance. There’s a place for a goofy in-game in the Fable universe, but this is not what the expectation would have you believe. Brawling is half-hearted and lost in a sea of enemies and powers. Chests hold special items which can actually be detrimental, because that’s what people want from a bonus. Post-level mini-games ape the Mario Party franchise while feeling completely out of place. Heroes is trying to appeal to far too many people at once, and doesn’t align with anyone’s needs.
