First off, an introduction is needed. I’m Brent aka “Jambi Bum”. I’ll be your resident game reviewer here at TS, along with random comic book reviewer every now and then. When I do my reviews, I give a rundown of how the game works and whether or not I think it is worth a purchase. Simple enough right? Now to the bacon of this post.
One of the MNC Arenas
Monday Night Combat is the newest installment in Microsoft’s Summer of Arcade lineup. There are two different game modes in MNC, Blitz and Crossfire. Blitz is the co operative mode that is a mix of tower defense and Horde mode. The point is to defend your “moneyball” against waves of AI robots. You have six classes to choose from; Assassin, Gunner, Tank, Support, Sniper, Assault. For the Blitz mode I would recommend Support, Gunner, and Assault. Although the lower tiers of the mode can be done with just about any class. You can set up turrets which are strategically placed around the map in key choke points as well. Blitz is a fun mode but the core of MNC lies with Crossfire.
They call this move "The Lionel Richie"
The premise of the mode is simple to start, yet difficult to master. It consists of two teams of six fighting it out to destroy the others’ moneyball. In order to do this you must escort your team’s bots to the other team’s base so they can destroy their moneyball’s shields. Once the shield is down your team is free to fire away at the ball. First team to destroy the other’s ball wins. The key to this mode is teamwork. You can try to do everything on your own but if you want to win this will not work. Every class plays a vital role and have varied play styles. The Tank and Gunner are similar in a few ways, but also have their differences. Each class has their own skill tree that you can upgrade by gaining money throughout the game. You earn money by getting kills and assists. Money can be used to build robots and turrets, each being necessary to win the game. If your team does not use its resources wisely you will not win. Simple as that. My favorite class to play as is the Assassin, I love sneaking up on an enemy while he is fighting a team mate and taking him out with a back stab so that my team mate lives.
Everything about this game is great, from the different pro-tags you can earn through playing to the taunts and announcer. Except for one small annoyance: the match making system. The match making is the only problem I have with this game, and it’s not even that big of a problem. It is more of a nuisance than anything. MNC works quite well trying to keep the game balanced and your party together. The only problem is that sometimes the game won’t let you connect to the host or after a game the connection will just drop. Other times your entire team can connect except for you and everyone will have to back out and start again. The connection issues are the only gripe I have with this game. Everything else is pretty much spot on.
Orkin gets a bit excessive in the future.
In short, I love Monday Night Combat. It is at its best when played with friends, but it is also a blast when played alone. I think it is the best thing to come out of the Summer of Arcade thus far.
Monday Night combat gets 4 out of 5 ships.
