Developed by: Pocketwatch Games
Published by: Majesco Entertainment
Platform
Reviewed: Microsoft Windows (Using Xbox
360 Controller)
Monaco, that's where I've been... Well, not in reality, I have actually been super-incredibly-overwhelmingly busy, hence why I haven't posted for a while. Sorry.
Anyway, in the time I haven't been posting blog updates, I have managed to play Monaco. 'What the devil is that, Adam?', I hear you cry. I will tell you, good sir/madam!
Monaco: What's Yours is Mine, is an indie heist-em-up (thank you, Tim), seeing you placed in the setting of the game's name - Monaco. You play one of up to 8 characters, who are part of a gang going about robbing various establishments in Monaco – from a regular bank, to a casino, and even a yacht.
The look of the game is truly unique, with its top-down view displaying the areas you can’t see as a blue-print of the building you’re there to pilfer, and the areas you can see as colourfully detailed rooms with the field-of-view spilling around corners as you move. Monaco’s music is atmospheric, drawing you into your new criminal lifestyle. When you alert a guard or when you’re being chased by 5 guards Benny Hill-style, the music’s tempo increases and causes you to have fleeting moments of panic – ‘Where can I hide?’, ‘Should I use the shotgun!?’ (always use the shotgun).
 |
| Areas you cannot see show up as the blue-print of the building. |
The story begins with a prison breakout, seeing you picking locked doors and sneaking past guards to get to your escape vehicle. There are two campaigns, telling the same story, but from two different perspectives - witty and humours narrative and the interesting story, which pulls a little inspiration from Hollywood, it keeps you invested into why you’re robbing such a variety of places.
The game does well to ease the player in to the mechanics of the game in the first few levels, with blatant pointing arrows and prompts on the ground, indicating where to go and what to do. The controls are some of the simplest I've ever come across: walk into stuff to use it - doors, computers, ladders... There is the odd button to press for using one of the many different items you can wield, such as a shotgun, smoke bomb and EMP to name but a few. You gain extra uses of these items by collecting the numerous coins strewn about the levels - the main objective is to collect the trophies and escape, although collecting all the coins as well will indicate you've 'cleaned out' the level.
 |
| Earlier levels indicate where you need to go, with the super-helpful pointy arrows. |
After the first few levels though, you're on your own, and you'd better wise-up fast unless you want to spend most of your time staring at your skeletal corpse, after a mob of guards has beaten you to death with their truncheons. The locations you’re robbing increase in their complexity and security coverage as you progress, forcing you to adapt and think-out your routes before taking a deep breath and darting for those trophies.
 |
| In contrast to the early levels, the later ones offer up all manner of obstacles. |
In single player mode you get 4 lives, so if you die as, say, the Pickpocket; you can respawn as the Cleaner and carry on from where you left off. Character choice is important for the later levels and prior planning is almost completely essential. Each character has their own unique ability: the Pickpocket with his coin-collecting monkey: The Cleaner, who can snap peoples’ necks like balsa wood: or even the Hacker who can, you’ve guessed it, hack computers and electrical points with speed. Choosing any one of the characters will still see you trying figure out how you're going to get that singular trophy, surrounded by alarm lasers which are spinning in a 360 degree motion, without tripping them and alerting the guards. And this is one of the easier trophies to snatch.
Planning is fun, especially in multiplayer, as you can be there for 5-10mins at a time just talking about what’re you’re going to do and how you’re going to do it: whether you take one side of the level to yourself or you both work on one section together, trying to time your moves perfectly as to not cause undue attention. I've mostly been playing Monaco online with a friend, we’ve cleared out most of the levels, of which the later ones have taken us up to and over 30mins each to complete and that's with multiple attempts and an uncountable amount of deaths and F-bombs. You can play with up to 3 others online, either in an open lobby or private game with friends – and multiplayer, for me, is definitely where this game shines. The amount of unique and random experiences when playing with others is seemingly infinite. When playing with my friend, who is much better at Monaco than I, I found myself dying in the most inconvenient sections of the levels, prompting us to plan how he would revive me. This happened a fair bit, and I can only imagine that he is a much better player now because of my inability to keep my character alive.
 |
| More experienced friends can have their skills, and patience, tested by lesser players who like to die in hard to reach places. |
The only real criticism I have of the game is that in the early stages, when you’re still learning what icons on the blueprint indicate and when there is a lot of movement when guards are alerted, I found myself losing my character or not knowing exactly where to go to find that last bunch of coins. This all comes with time, and much trial and error, but stick with it and you’ll be a dirty criminal in no time.
I’ve been playing on PC, using an Xbox 360 controller, which I highly recommend as the analogue sticks give you that extra bit of manoeuvrability over using the keyboard – always handy, as I found myself alerting guards more often than not.
There are leaderboards for each level, and you can filter the results between your friends, single player, and multiplayer. Many hours of trying to climb the rankings and beat your friends is testament to amount of re-playability this game offers, and for only £11.99 on Steam right now, it’s a steal. Unintentional pun, but I’m leaving it in there – go on, ridicule me.
Monaco isn’t my usual type of game, but it has lured me in for more hours than I expected to devote to it. So if you’re after something innovative and fun, unbelievably hilarious in multiplayer, and won’t leave you scrimping for cash to pay for it, this is the game for you.
 |
| 4 out of 5 stars to this super-stealthy Benny Hill-'em-up! |
Have you played Monaco? Does it interest you? Are you a dirty criminal? Please post your comments below!
No comments:
Post a Comment