Today marks the inaugural edition of a new feature here on EWC! It’s amazing how much thinking you get done when you’re watching your team lose by 31 points in a playoff game. As I stared blankly at the screen during this OKC and LA rout, I found myself considering what I should do this week on Everyone Who Cares. I’ve mentioned before that I’m very much interested in keeping readers updated with out development process. So, I’ve decided to do a weekly post detailing the work we’ll be putting in each week. This week starts off pretty hot as we’ll be posting a review for the PS3′s latest exclusive, Starhawk. Stay tuned for that.

Additionally, I’ve been kicking around ideas about ways I can cover older titles. I have a huge back catalog I’ve been plowing through and there are certainly some games worth discussing in that. Most recently, I’ve been playing Dragon Age 2 so I’ll either write something of a commentary on that game or perhaps a review if I manage to finish it this week. I’m still not even sure if it’s worth it to review games over one month old, but that’s another conversation for another time.

Thanks for reading, stay tuned, Like us on Facebook, and remember to stay motivated, people!

Please, have a seat. I have something to tell you.

Awesomenauts is best described as a combination of three things: Mega Man, DotA, and early-1990′s cartoons. While this is a comically unlikely mash-up, it works pretty well. The product is a 2D side scrolling game with a lot of style and the simple, competitive, strategic gameplay of a MOBA.

The game follows a pretty standard format. Each match puts red against blue. Each team has a base on opposite ends of a symmetrical map housing a core the other team must destroy to win. Defending those bases are multiple turrets and somewhere in the middle of the map is a neutral threat just to make things interesting. Teams consist of three players, each controlling one of six different Awesomenauts (which is a much better name than Hero). In addition to the player characters, each side automatically spawns AI-controlled drones to help with the fight. If you’ve ever played a MOBA game, this is pretty standard stuff.

After you spawn into a game, you play a neat, short, little minigame which tasks you with collecting “Solar”, the game’s currency. Solar is spent to purchase upgrades which level up your character during the match. As you would expect, Solar is also gained by defeating enemies, as well as just finding it lying around. Once a match is over, your characters are reverted back to level one. Again, it’s surprisingly standard MOBA stuff, just presented in a (much needed) new format.

True to its genre, Awesomenauts has a fairly varied roster. Despite the fact that there are only six Awesomenauts to select from (although the character select screen itself promises more via DLC) choosing the right one is a strategic decision. Most of the archetypes are serviced here including healers, tanks, and stealth-focused characters. What makes this an interesting game is the application of those archetypes.

Since the game is entirely 2D, combat is more action oriented than in other MOBA games. This is where the Mega Man comparison rears its head. Being able to run, jump, and shoot on a 2D plane is a really fun twist on a genre that would otherwise be unplayable without a mouse and keyboard. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention this play style creates a remarkably accessible game. MOBA games are infamous for being incredibly hard to get into, even for people who play video games literally every single day. I was able to just pass the controller off to a female friend of mine who prior to this point had only ever played Donkey Kong Country, LittleBigPlanet, and similar titles: a “casual gamer”. Within an hour, she was a valuable member of our team. Kudos to developer Ronimo Games for making one of gaming’s most hardcore genres a pick-up-and-play affair while maintaining that genre’s competitive depth.

Additionally, the Awesomenauts themselves are ridiculous near-stereotypes of things you would see in an old cartoon. I thought it was absurd that Froggy G is a gangsta frog with an afro and a gold chain who says things like “Dat’s pimpin,” but then I remembered the TV show Street Sharks emactually exists/em. Nothing is too ridiculous for a late 80′s, early 90′s cartoon -emnothing/em- and Awesomenauts certainly understands that. Not all the characters are entertaining, and I’m sure people will find a few of them annoying, but they all present unique gameplay styles while bringing an important layer of strategic depth.

Awesomenauts (I just never get over how much I love typing that) features online and splitscreen multiplayer with options to take your local allies into online battles. There’s also an offline practice mode which serves as the game’s single player option. Given that this genre is entirely about the competitive multiplayer aspect, Awesomenauts can come off as being a bit lacking in the content department. Save for the tutorial, there’s no story mode. There aren’t cutscenes save for this. That’s not to say that it won’t keep you playing for a while given the complexities of each Awesomenaut and how they interact, but if you go into the game expecting to “beat” it, just know it’s not that kind of thing. Keep in mind it is available as a pretty inexpensive download and it even launched free on the PS3 for PlayStation Plus members. If you’re interested in a hectic, tactical, team-based multiplayer experience that isn’t another shooter, Awesomenauts will likely keep you attached for quite a while.

Is it better than…

strongDotA, DOTA, League of Legends, Heroes of Newerth, etc. /strong(The games that popularized and pioneered this genre)strong: /strongNo. I am absolutely not the person to judge those games as I tend to avoid PC games but I’m sure it would be an insult to their legions of fans to say this is better. They feature hundreds of characters and have been fine tuned over years to be perfect competitive titles. At the same time, Awesomenauts is built for console players and is accessible, something that can’t be said about the aforementioned titles. You can play it, love it, and compete without dedicating your life to hotkeys. It has no competition on consoles, except possibly…

Monday Night Combat (the other console MOBA): Yes. I haven’t played a ton of Monday Night Combat but the twists on the genre presented by Awesomenauts make it capable of a little bit more than Monday Night Combat accomplishes.

Street Sharks (perhaps the craziest thing to happen in the 90′s that NO ONE SEEMED TO NOTICE): Yes. Oh God, yes.

Played PS3 version for upwards of 12 hours as a fan of games with awesome names. Played both single and multiplayer.

Not every game aims to accomplish the same tasks. There was a time when video games were simply a fun diversion. Over the last few decades, it has become fairly common for a game to exist just to give the user an experience. It may not be a “fun” time, but it’s one that will hopefully leave a lasting impact on the player. No other developer seems to have adopted this idea like thatgamecompany.

Journey is thatgamecompany’s shortest title, but it tells its story better than flOw and Flower all while being more of a video game than its predecessors. Flower was something like a cross between social commentary and the sort of thing a hippie might tell you about after returning from a “spirit walk”. The game was literally about the dreams of a flower. Journey moves beyond that somewhat pretentious idealism and seems intent to tell a simpler story. You control a being and that being is on a Journey. I didn’t infer any deeper metaphorical meaning than that and at no point did I feel like my enjoyment of the game depended upon it.

The act of playing Journey is simple, but more involved than you’ve probably come to expect from thatgamecompany. You control a character (Yes) with the analog stick (No kidding) and there’s a jump button (WHAT). Your other ability is what we’ll call chirping. If you tap the Circle button, you’ll make a little musical note. If you hold it, you’ll charge up a louder sound with greater range. Without really ever telling you what you need to do, the intro nudges you towards a massive tower in the distance and you just…well, start heading in that direction. Every now and again you’ll need to climb a structure by jumping and sometimes you’ll leap large distances by chirping near a group of banners. While this is significantly more complex than “tilt the controller to control the wind’s direction” it’s still intentionally simple, which will certainly put off certain players. It’s a testament to great game design and visual cues that without ever being told what you should do, you’ll never get stuck in this game.

As much as I hate to say it, this game really is about the journey. There’s little in the way of story, purpose, or other things that drive a video game forward. However, it is 100% experience. You may just be walking across a desert, but this is possibly the best-looking desert ever. While it is a technical powerhouse with detailed textures and whatnot, the driving force behind Journey’s ludicrous visual production is the artistry applied to each scene. The camera always seems to frame each area in the most picturesque way possible. The sunlight hits the sand in a way that literally makes individual grains of sand shimmer. And while the environments are stunning, the animations of your otherwise soulless character are also fantastic. I’d liken the game to the film Wall-E. There are clear, profound emotions felt by these characters but at no point are these expressed with words, nor are they ever unclear. Journey’s story is basically “Dude has to talk walk a really long way,” but it’s the prettiest walk ever.

While the game is devoid of dialogue and really any sort of communication to the player, Journey still manages to get its emotional hooks into you, and in the most unpredictable way possible: online play. At seemingly random moments, the game drops another player into your world (or drops you into theirs?). There’s no voice chat, no co-op system, no invites, not even a screen name. There’s just you in the vast nothingness and sometimes there’s another you out there. It’s almost impossible to express why in words, but something about that other guy being there gives you a feeling of nervousness and excitement akin to going on a first date. Since you literally have no idea what’s on their mind it just creates dozens of questions. Are they bored? Who’s following who? Should I slow down? Am I taking too long? And just as suddenly as the other player appears, the game randomly removes them from your world as well. In a two-hour game, it’s kind of amazing that you can feel such a high level of social tension followed immediately by absolute loneliness multiple times. This is easily the best reason to play Journey.

Yes, thatgamecompany has again churned out another weird art…thing that we’ll struggle to call a video game. Journey, like Flower before it, is a title that makes you constantly wonder what the hell they’re trying to get across. It’s a $15 PSN download that lasts for about two hours and has no replay value. But it is about the emotional highs and lows of the experience. If you look at it like a movie you control, it is worth the price tag. I imagine every player will walk away from this adventure with a story to tell, and maybe that’s the point.

Is it better than…

Flower and flOw (the studio’s previous games): Yes. It’s shorter than both but it is more fun, more complex, prettier, and more emotionally resonant.

Actually wandering the desert alone with the occasional silent friend (because I literally spent minutes trying to come up with something else to compare it to): Yes. It looks better than real life deserts and you don’t have to worry about food, water, or the heat.

Played as a person with mixed emotions about the developer. Completed the game.

I just wanted to let everyone know that I’m aware of the random formatting issue affecting the home page. I’m working on fixing it! Thanks for letting me know, though. I still have no idea what caused it. I’m sure something about the new WordPress update and me tinkering around working on the redesign broke the internet somewhere. I’ll get to the bottom of it soon.

UPDATE: Aaaaand fixed? I think the re-sizing of one of the tables broke the formatting for our home page. I was messing around with a more narrow, newspaper article style but accidentally made my tables too small. That’s fixed now. Again, thanks for any input, even if that input is “It’s all sideways and junk.”

In the time since my last post here on EWC, I’ve been an incredibly busy man. We’ve made some exciting strides with Everyone Who Cares, getting us closer to becoming a full site. I’ve brushed up on web design skills in a number of areas. I’ve been working with some of my partners on a few other ventures, prepping me for the business side of things. I’ve also had a number of personal and health-related issues. Despite these things, the content is what I wanted EWC to be about, and in 2012, it will be.

So I thought it might be apt to start the year off with a toast to 2011: the best year video games have ever had. Here are my personal top five favorite games of the year that was.

5)  Dungeon Defenders (PSN, XBLA, PC, iOS, Android)

Dungeon Defenders came out of nowhere. I had never heard of it, in any capacity, until my best friend forced the demo on me. It’s a hybrid tower defense/action RPG but it’s hard to say too much more about the game without selling it short. For a $15, barely advertised, downloadable game Dungeon Defenders is shockingly well-made. It suffers from a few design oversights as well as glitches, but how often do we get $15 games with enough compelling content to last us 50+ hours?

4) Killzone 3 (PS3)

I love when I can give a short answer to a loaded question. If you come to me and simply ask, “What’s the best shooter around,” I can easily tell you it’s Killzone 3. While the crowded first-person shooter market saw some great titles in 2011, KZ3 is head-and-shoulders above all comers. Ignore that it’s the best-looking FPS I’ve ever seen, Crysis 2 included. The feel of the game is perfect and the multiplayer is about as tactical as modern online shooters get. It’s a shame that the heavyweights of this genre will likely bury the memory of Killzone 3 in the years to come. If you like online shooters and have yet to play this one, I pity you. It’s better than Call of Duty. It’s better than Halo. It’s better than Battlefield. All of those entire franchises. That’s right. I said it.

3) Dark Souls (PS3, 360)

They just don’t make games like this one! Dark Souls is everything you’ve heard it is. It’s unforgiving. It’s intimidating. It’s amazing. While there’s something to be said for open world games such as Skyrim providing a sense of adventure, nothing in 2011 made me feel as adventurous as wandering around the land of Dark Souls. The game instills a sense of danger from the moment you hit Start and never lets up. The tension of knowing you can die at any moment makes each session with this game a memorable story. It’s not for everyone, but I for one have never been pulled into a game’s world quite like I was here.

2) Portal 2 (PS3, 360, PC)

Valve took a near flawless, five-hour experience and turned it into an even better full game. 2011′s best-written game is also one of the funniest, most enjoyable titles around. Portal 2 is a “hardcore” game that you can be proud of showing to people entirely uninterested in video games. No other entertainment medium made me laugh this hard in 2011. Talk about pushing the medium forward…

1) Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (PS3)

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: this is the best game I’ve ever played. I don’t use that phrase lightly. I am still actively forcing myself to do other things with my time than play Uncharted 3.

Honorable mentions:

I’d like to point out a few other amazing games of 2011 that just barely missed being part of my top 5.

1. Batman: Arkham City (PS3, 360, PC)
2. Assassin’s Creed: Revelations (Ps3, 360, PC)
3. Rocksmith (PS3, 360)
4. Deus Ex: Human Revolution

1. Bastion (XBLA, PC)
2. Dead Space 2 (PS3, 360, PC)
3. Battlefield 3 (Ps3, 360, PC)
4. Atelier Totori: The Alchemist of Arland (PS3)
5. Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One (PS3)
6. LittleBigPlanet 2 (PS3)
7. Trine 2 (Ps3, 360, PC)