First Impressions - Monaco: What's Yours Is Mine

wysiwigbaby

Yes, I know this game is pretty old now - about a year and a half old actually, but bear with me while I go through my backlog of games released in 2013 :). I've now managed to clock about 4 hours of this game and played a few rounds with friends and the public too to get a feel of its multiplayer co-op capabilities. This is what I reckon about the game so far:

What I like

  • Characters: Each character seems to have a real personality that's revealed while playing the single player campaign. You've got the everyman Locksmith, the hobo Pickpocket (complete with pet monkey), the natural leader simply known as the Lookout, the silent but violent Cleaner, the dumb guy who likes to break down walls called the Mole, the 1337 h4x0|2 Hacker who talks at a hundred miles a minute, the seductive Redhead and the gentlemanly... er... Gentleman. Not only that, but each have their own strengths which are definitely greater than the sum of their parts.
  • Co-op: This is probably the main reason you got this game and I'm happy to say it works pretty well. The more friends you have the easier the levels will generally be (provided you've got something like to VOIP to coordinate your plans with) because you'll have more skillsets at your disposal.
  • Music: Austin Wintory is in charge of the soundtrack so it's no surprise that it's pretty good. The themes are mainly solo piano pieces reminiscent of soundtracks that accompanied silent films or comedy capers/heist films.
  • Level Editor: I haven't really dabbled with this but apparently there is a level editor where you can design and share your creations. Neat!
  • The citizens of Monaco speak French: IKR? Where's the English spoken in an outrageous French accent? Sacrebleu!

What I dislike

  • Confusing interface: I took me awhile to figure out the interface and I'm still a bit uncertain about how everything works (and this is after playing the tutorial) - however this maybe intentional since only by continually practising and experimenting with the levels and the different characters do you improve.
  • Graphics: I know that not every indie game has the budget to have superb graphics and while the graphics are most of the time passable for the kind of game it is, there have been times where the lack of detail makes me wonder what object I've picked up or what exactly I'm looking at. If you're not a fan of minimalist pixel art... well you would've probably already ignored this game!

Verdict

The game is fun and I don't suspect it will take much longer to finish. It's extra fun when you're able to play with a mate and chat to them on VOIP; that way it's easier to devise strategies and vocalise your panic when things don't go to plan. I'll likely play this game to the end of the campaign and then give a review.

[ LINK: Official Monaco website ]

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