Monaco: What's Yours is Mine Review

[WMDogma]

Monaco: What's Yours is Mine Review

Crime doesn?t pay much in Monaco.

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[Parakeettheprawn]

So, as with every multiplayer game, it leaves you wishing people would actually just work together... *sigh* I have heard though that there were two cut competitive modes that may get later added, so that may help open up some of the mechanics to newer players.

Was waiting the Escapist's review. Game Informer and Kotaku were being far too positive about it, and when they're positive about something, I've found there's reason to be worried. Glad to hear what sounds like a far more honest, grounded opinion.

 

[BrotherRool]

So, as with every multiplayer game, it leaves you wishing people would actually just work together... *sigh* I have heard though that there were two cut competitive modes that may get later added, so that may help open up some of the mechanics to newer players.

I really think it's only an issue if you're a)Not playing with friends or b)Playing with friends but are a bit try-hardy

I've heard so many people describe the chaos it creates as practically transcendent, and watching it on a stream as people run around setting off guards everywhere and hastily reviving each was entertainment in it's own right.

The best thing is, not only is it chaotic but it's a chaos that you can win, and it's a pretty incredible feeling if you've managed to succeed in the mad dash to the escape vehicle.

Even if you're with friends and try-harding, if you've got friends who are try-harding too then there are really complicated tricks and strategies that you can pull off. Distracting guards whilst the cleaner sneaks up behind them and knocks them out etc.

I can see why it wouldn't work on a random search though

 

[MooseHowl]

Resources aren't shared, so whoever picks up all the coins first will get the benefit of extra item uses, while everyone else will have to scrounge for the leftovers. There's also no bonus given for using your items or character skills to assist your teammates in getting past a bank vault full of lasers or escaping a team of guard dogs.

Ouch. That seems like a pretty big pair of design oversights. Assist bonuses are desperately important for teaching newbie number-hunters how to work as a team, and if they're ALSO grabbing as much money as they can and depriving the rest of team of it in the process... yikes.

I was thinking of buying this, but... I guess I'll wait til my friends have it and it goes on sale, maybe after checking out some youtube LPs. I really dislike the headache of trying to wrangle fun out of a team of people who may or may not feel like screwing each other over.

 

[Tanakh]

I am just waiting for a sale to either buy 2 or 4 and hook up some friends! Would pay full price tag but sadly my friends are as poor as hobos or cheap as heck and I would need to gift them in order to play.

 

[l3o2828]

I probably wouldn't play this simply because the screen and maps look really fucking messy.

 

[tzimize]

So, as with every multiplayer game, it leaves you wishing people would actually just work together... *sigh* I have heard though that there were two cut competitive modes that may get later added, so that may help open up some of the mechanics to newer players.

Was waiting the Escapist's review. Game Informer and Kotaku were being far too positive about it, and when they're positive about something, I've found there's reason to be worried. Glad to hear what sounds like a far more honest, grounded opinion.

It just depends what your cup of tea is really. I love coop experiences, and solo experiences for that matter, but Monaco is just an experience all of its own.

If you are the type that presses F5 after every nanosecond in a mission, waiting for the perfect score...monaco is not for you. But if you can thrive on a bit of chaos...the fun is almost endless. There are very many possibilities in how to approach missions because of the different thieves, and honestly...a blaring alarm in Monaco does NOT spell game over, far from it. In fact, I have to agree with the kotaku review I believe who said the game is actually at its best when shit hit the fan.

I would not recommend playing it with strangers, this is a friend game. If you're fortunate and have 2-3 friends to play with...this really is a gem.

 

[Parakeettheprawn]

So, as with every multiplayer game, it leaves you wishing people would actually just work together... *sigh* I have heard though that there were two cut competitive modes that may get later added, so that may help open up some of the mechanics to newer players.

Was waiting the Escapist's review. Game Informer and Kotaku were being far too positive about it, and when they're positive about something, I've found there's reason to be worried. Glad to hear what sounds like a far more honest, grounded opinion.

It just depends what your cup of tea is really. I love coop experiences, and solo experiences for that matter, but Monaco is just an experience all of its own.

If you are the type that presses F5 after every nanosecond in a mission, waiting for the perfect score...monaco is not for you. But if you can thrive on a bit of chaos...the fun is almost endless. There are very many possibilities in how to approach missions because of the different thieves, and honestly...a blaring alarm in Monaco does NOT spell game over, far from it. In fact, I have to agree with the kotaku review I believe who said the game is actually at its best when shit hit the fan.

I would not recommend playing it with strangers, this is a friend game. If you're fortunate and have 2-3 friends to play with...this really is a gem.

The first point, you had me sold, as I far prefer "continue to work things out even if you slip up" sort of stealth games -- they add a sense of immersion and realism that other stealth games just don't allow. That said... I almost can never get my friends to play the same games I do. Most of my friends either play singleplayer, don't have the money or platform to play the game with me, or don't like the genre it's in. I regularly end up having to play with strangers in almost every game, which sucks since I love co-op and competitive MP, especially the more offshoot varieties like Dead Space 3.

 

[LordFish]

Thanks for a great review Really enjoyed watching it even though the game is totally not for me. Your well presented analysis made me aware of its pros and cons and gives me a wider understanding of gaming as a whole.

Chheeeerrs!

 

[tzimize]

So, as with every multiplayer game, it leaves you wishing people would actually just work together... *sigh* I have heard though that there were two cut competitive modes that may get later added, so that may help open up some of the mechanics to newer players.

Was waiting the Escapist's review. Game Informer and Kotaku were being far too positive about it, and when they're positive about something, I've found there's reason to be worried. Glad to hear what sounds like a far more honest, grounded opinion.

It just depends what your cup of tea is really. I love coop experiences, and solo experiences for that matter, but Monaco is just an experience all of its own.

If you are the type that presses F5 after every nanosecond in a mission, waiting for the perfect score...monaco is not for you. But if you can thrive on a bit of chaos...the fun is almost endless. There are very many possibilities in how to approach missions because of the different thieves, and honestly...a blaring alarm in Monaco does NOT spell game over, far from it. In fact, I have to agree with the kotaku review I believe who said the game is actually at its best when shit hit the fan.

I would not recommend playing it with strangers, this is a friend game. If you're fortunate and have 2-3 friends to play with...this really is a gem.

The first point, you had me sold, as I far prefer "continue to work things out even if you slip up" sort of stealth games -- they add a sense of immersion and realism that other stealth games just don't allow. That said... I almost can never get my friends to play the same games I do. Most of my friends either play singleplayer, don't have the money or platform to play the game with me, or don't like the genre it's in. I regularly end up having to play with strangers in almost every game, which sucks since I love co-op and competitive MP, especially the more offshoot varieties like Dead Space 3.

Well...it IS quite a cheap game. A 4 pack will still set you back less than a "regular" game. I'm on 6 hours played atm. All good fun, and I have barely finished the story for one of the characters....if they all have stories...I'm looking at at least 40-50 hours of fun for 10?. Not a bad deal imo.

Hassle a few friends, its totally worth it ^^

 

[Parakeettheprawn]

So, as with every multiplayer game, it leaves you wishing people would actually just work together... *sigh* I have heard though that there were two cut competitive modes that may get later added, so that may help open up some of the mechanics to newer players.

Was waiting the Escapist's review. Game Informer and Kotaku were being far too positive about it, and when they're positive about something, I've found there's reason to be worried. Glad to hear what sounds like a far more honest, grounded opinion.

It just depends what your cup of tea is really. I love coop experiences, and solo experiences for that matter, but Monaco is just an experience all of its own.

If you are the type that presses F5 after every nanosecond in a mission, waiting for the perfect score...monaco is not for you. But if you can thrive on a bit of chaos...the fun is almost endless. There are very many possibilities in how to approach missions because of the different thieves, and honestly...a blaring alarm in Monaco does NOT spell game over, far from it. In fact, I have to agree with the kotaku review I believe who said the game is actually at its best when shit hit the fan.

I would not recommend playing it with strangers, this is a friend game. If you're fortunate and have 2-3 friends to play with...this really is a gem.

The first point, you had me sold, as I far prefer "continue to work things out even if you slip up" sort of stealth games -- they add a sense of immersion and realism that other stealth games just don't allow. That said... I almost can never get my friends to play the same games I do. Most of my friends either play singleplayer, don't have the money or platform to play the game with me, or don't like the genre it's in. I regularly end up having to play with strangers in almost every game, which sucks since I love co-op and competitive MP, especially the more offshoot varieties like Dead Space 3.

Well...it IS quite a cheap game. A 4 pack will still set you back less than a "regular" game. I'm on 6 hours played atm. All good fun, and I have barely finished the story for one of the characters....if they all have stories...I'm looking at at least 40-50 hours of fun for 10?. Not a bad deal imo.

Hassle a few friends, its totally worth it ^^

Friends I know with consoles: 4

Friends I know with consoles that could play Monaco: 2

Amount of Xbox 360s I own: 0

Friends I know with gaming PCs: 12

Friends I know with gaming PCs with similar tastes to me: 2

Friends I know with gaming PCs with similar tastes to me that would have money to buy this game: 1 (maybe)

Does that clarify my situation?

Friends I know

 

[Illessa]

I really think it's only an issue if you're a)Not playing with friends or b)Playing with friends but are a bit try-hardy

I've heard so many people describe the chaos it creates as practically transcendent, and watching it on a stream as people run around setting off guards everywhere and hastily reviving each was entertainment in it's own right.

The best thing is, not only is it chaotic but it's a chaos that you can win, and it's a pretty incredible feeling if you've managed to succeed in the mad dash to the escape vehicle.

Even if you're with friends and try-harding, if you've got friends who are try-harding too then there are really complicated tricks and strategies that you can pull off. Distracting guards whilst the cleaner sneaks up behind them and knocks them out etc.

I can see why it wouldn't work on a random search though

This is exactly it. I've clocked 12 hours or so playing this game with friends (have finished the first campaign but not the second as I have a primary group of four I'm progressing with and a couple of other groups who are further behind), and we're really in love. The point (especially in multiplayer) is that planning is great, and sometimes you work like a well oiled machine and that feels really good. But 90% of the time chaos breaks out; all plans go out of the window as the Pickpocket runs screaming around the map with twenty guards and dogs on his heels, while the Lookout watches from a nearby bush, the Cleaner chloroforms innocent bystanders left and right, and the Mole tunnels a frantic beeline towards freedom. That situation is way more fun than a perfectly executed plan because it feels like, well, a heist movie! The job never goes off as planned.

The point is despite how wrong it goes (very!) I think I've only actually lost about 3 games out of the thirty or so I've played. Very few situations are irrevocably screwed if you think on your feet, especially if you pay attention and communicate with your team mates.

Ouch. That seems like a pretty big pair of design oversights. Assist bonuses are desperately important for teaching newbie number-hunters how to work as a team, and if they're ALSO grabbing as much money as they can and depriving the rest of team of it in the process... yikes.

I was thinking of buying this, but... I guess I'll wait til my friends have it and it goes on sale, maybe after checking out some youtube LPs. I really dislike the headache of trying to wrangle fun out of a team of people who may or may not feel like screwing each other over.

The game virtually forces you to work as a team. As mentioned in the review each level has multiple tiers; and to move between different floors (which you'll have to do a minimum of 3 times per level barring shenanigans from The Mole) you all have to get into the same stairwell. What that means is that if you go haring off on your own & manage to get all the resources (and bear in mind the cash is scattered far and wide, and slightly randomised), if the other members of the team get trapped/killed it's you who is going to have to head back and pull them out of the fire if you ever want to move on. Also beyond the number of item uses (which you sometimes want to stack up on a particular person if they're the one with a particularly useful item, or you're going to send them out front to gun down a bunch of guards as the ultimate distraction), there is zero tracking of individual scores. Your final score is the time you took with a penalty for any cash you missed, so there's no individual bragging rights to aim for - it's all on how you performed as a whole.

I can't honestly attest to the MP community myself as I've mainly been playing with friends, but on PC at least, the couple of online games I did play I encountered no griefers and I've heard nothing but praise for how troll & obnoxious idiot-free it is on my twitter feed and elsewhere [http://kotaku.com/how-my-game-cuts-down-on-online-gamer-obnoxiousness-493652383]

 

[Eve Charm]

It isn't that bad playing random matches with people. Also it's probably one of the best ways to learn and deal with situations. Your working together and while use someone getting all the gold can hamper a team a team doesn't really need to rely that much on item uses vs someone disabling cameras for another person or shutting the power off.

Even in the most botched missions with 4 people, 1 good player can help everyone up and pull off the mission knowing what has to be done and how to do it. And it feels really good carrying everyone

The game is fun and it won't tell you everything about the characters or even some useful keyboard buttons ;p but it's easy to find out on your own sooner or later the other small things or just look at a guide.

 

[tzimize]

So, as with every multiplayer game, it leaves you wishing people would actually just work together... *sigh* I have heard though that there were two cut competitive modes that may get later added, so that may help open up some of the mechanics to newer players.

Was waiting the Escapist's review. Game Informer and Kotaku were being far too positive about it, and when they're positive about something, I've found there's reason to be worried. Glad to hear what sounds like a far more honest, grounded opinion.

It just depends what your cup of tea is really. I love coop experiences, and solo experiences for that matter, but Monaco is just an experience all of its own.

If you are the type that presses F5 after every nanosecond in a mission, waiting for the perfect score...monaco is not for you. But if you can thrive on a bit of chaos...the fun is almost endless. There are very many possibilities in how to approach missions because of the different thieves, and honestly...a blaring alarm in Monaco does NOT spell game over, far from it. In fact, I have to agree with the kotaku review I believe who said the game is actually at its best when shit hit the fan.

I would not recommend playing it with strangers, this is a friend game. If you're fortunate and have 2-3 friends to play with...this really is a gem.

The first point, you had me sold, as I far prefer "continue to work things out even if you slip up" sort of stealth games -- they add a sense of immersion and realism that other stealth games just don't allow. That said... I almost can never get my friends to play the same games I do. Most of my friends either play singleplayer, don't have the money or platform to play the game with me, or don't like the genre it's in. I regularly end up having to play with strangers in almost every game, which sucks since I love co-op and competitive MP, especially the more offshoot varieties like Dead Space 3.

Well...it IS quite a cheap game. A 4 pack will still set you back less than a "regular" game. I'm on 6 hours played atm. All good fun, and I have barely finished the story for one of the characters....if they all have stories...I'm looking at at least 40-50 hours of fun for 10?. Not a bad deal imo.

Hassle a few friends, its totally worth it ^^

Friends I know with consoles: 4

Friends I know with consoles that could play Monaco: 2

Amount of Xbox 360s I own: 0

Friends I know with gaming PCs: 12

Friends I know with gaming PCs with similar tastes to me: 2

Friends I know with gaming PCs with similar tastes to me that would have money to buy this game: 1 (maybe)

Does that clarify my situation?

Friends I know

Well...time for plan B. Get more friends

 

[Frybird]

If you are the type that presses F5 after every nanosecond in a mission, waiting for the perfect score...monaco is not for you. But if you can thrive on a bit of chaos...the fun is almost endless. There are very many possibilities in how to approach missions because of the different thieves, and honestly...a blaring alarm in Monaco does NOT spell game over, far from it. In fact, I have to agree with the kotaku review I believe who said the game is actually at its best when shit hit the fan.

I would not recommend playing it with strangers, this is a friend game. If you're fortunate and have 2-3 friends to play with...this really is a gem.

I fully agree. Playing with Friends created sooo many great emergent moments, from a Mole going into full panic mode, completely wrecking the level as he flees from guards straight through walls, to hunting guards as a cleaner as they hunt other players or crying for help as that bastard of your partner loots the level as you are being hunted by every enemy of the map, Monaco thrives on everything going wrong in hilarious ways and knows it.

It's not supposed to be a complex cooperative stealth game, it's Oceans Eleven turning into Hitman into Pacman.

 

[Airon]

Thanks. Good review, though sometimes difficult to understand. It would be a good idea to train yourself to speak more slowly and more clearly. Just takes some practice.

 

[Halceon]

"The shadow of the learning curve"? Really?
The game has a very small learning curve in terms of actual mechanics to master. You do a thing, observe the results, you know it. Everything has pretty much immediate effects that can be easily observed, if you take the 3 seconds necessary to actually do so.

The only things that take some real figuring out are the perfect runs. Timing things with your teammates or knowing the precise time a guard stays knocked out.

 

[Parakeettheprawn]

So, as with every multiplayer game, it leaves you wishing people would actually just work together... *sigh* I have heard though that there were two cut competitive modes that may get later added, so that may help open up some of the mechanics to newer players.

Was waiting the Escapist's review. Game Informer and Kotaku were being far too positive about it, and when they're positive about something, I've found there's reason to be worried. Glad to hear what sounds like a far more honest, grounded opinion.

It just depends what your cup of tea is really. I love coop experiences, and solo experiences for that matter, but Monaco is just an experience all of its own.

If you are the type that presses F5 after every nanosecond in a mission, waiting for the perfect score...monaco is not for you. But if you can thrive on a bit of chaos...the fun is almost endless. There are very many possibilities in how to approach missions because of the different thieves, and honestly...a blaring alarm in Monaco does NOT spell game over, far from it. In fact, I have to agree with the kotaku review I believe who said the game is actually at its best when shit hit the fan.

I would not recommend playing it with strangers, this is a friend game. If you're fortunate and have 2-3 friends to play with...this really is a gem.

The first point, you had me sold, as I far prefer "continue to work things out even if you slip up" sort of stealth games -- they add a sense of immersion and realism that other stealth games just don't allow. That said... I almost can never get my friends to play the same games I do. Most of my friends either play singleplayer, don't have the money or platform to play the game with me, or don't like the genre it's in. I regularly end up having to play with strangers in almost every game, which sucks since I love co-op and competitive MP, especially the more offshoot varieties like Dead Space 3.

Well...it IS quite a cheap game. A 4 pack will still set you back less than a "regular" game. I'm on 6 hours played atm. All good fun, and I have barely finished the story for one of the characters....if they all have stories...I'm looking at at least 40-50 hours of fun for 10?. Not a bad deal imo.

Hassle a few friends, its totally worth it ^^

Friends I know with consoles: 4

Friends I know with consoles that could play Monaco: 2

Amount of Xbox 360s I own: 0

Friends I know with gaming PCs: 12

Friends I know with gaming PCs with similar tastes to me: 2

Friends I know with gaming PCs with similar tastes to me that would have money to buy this game: 1 (maybe)

Does that clarify my situation?

Friends I know

Well...time for plan B. Get more friends

What made ye think I wasn't trying? Apparently having a PS3, Wii, PC combo is the -least- common combo for gamers. Go fig...

 

[Illessa]

What made ye think I wasn't trying? Apparently having a PS3, Wii, PC combo is the -least- common combo for gamers. Go fig...

For what its worth, it really doesn't require a gaming PC. I only know one person who has tried it on a machine with only integrated graphics but he had no complaints. The min spec is really paltry http://store.steampowered.com/app/113020/ even cheap consumer laptops should be able to handle it if they're less than 5 years old or so.

 

[Grabehn]

Do the guards do something at all? All I saw during the video was them folowing you around, being right on your face and doing nothing at all. Or did I miss something?