Insomniac launches Outernauts, a 'gotta catch em all' game, on Facebook

Insomniac Games' first non-Sony game has launched today on Facebook. Outernauts is a brand new monster-collection RPG--and it shares more than a few similarities to Nintendo's popular pocket monster franchise.

As an Outernaut, you'll explore the universe, all while capturing and training exotic alien beasts and you battle pirates and evil corporations trying to control the universe. Before you catch 'em all, you'll start with a trainer monster--one that will evolve as you continue to level it up.

The turn-based battles will be familiar to anyone that's played Pokemon. Yes, there are elements, and yes, you'll want to perform "super effective" attacks on enemies. Should you encounter a wild beast, you can always lower its HP and try to capture it, and add it to your collection.

As a free-to-play game, Outernauts employs an in-game currency which can be used to heal your creature mid-battle, level up individual stats, and buy better orbs to capture creatures. You'll also be able to connect with other Facebook friends to asynchronously battle.

Outernauts is published by Electronic Arts and is now live on Facebook. The next game from EA and Insomniac is Overstrike.